Page 61 of Safe Haven

I know what happens when people shouldn’t be parents. Their children grow up broken and looking for love anywhere they can find it. Taking scraps and begging for more.

But imagining Maddox as a father is easy.

Too easy.

Just as easy as falling in love with him is turning out to be.

NINETEEN

MADDOX

“THIS IS UNEXPECTED.” My mother answers her phone on the second ring. “Is everything going okay?”

“Everything’s good.” I rake one hand through my hair, fighting the awkwardness I always feel when I try to talk to anyone in my family. “How are things with you guys?”

“We’re good.” My mother’s tone is casual. “Just ready for the cooler weather.”

“I bet. Has it been hot there?” I fall back into the standard conversation we carry on anytime I call home. I don’t know how to move past it, because the way my mother communicates is so different from how I do, and I’ve never figured out how to bridge the gap.

But I want to try. I want to give her—all of them—a chance, because I’m not sure I’ve really done that before.

“It’s always hot here.” She blows out a breath. “We had record highs this summer.”

I grew up in southern Georgia, right along the coast. It’s beautiful and as close as you can get to a tropical climate without actually being in a tropical climate. Warm and temperate and a great place to go through the winter.

Which is why I’m calling.

There’s a lull in the conversation and Audrey squeezes my arm, curling her body closer to mine where we lay in the hotel bed, enjoying our morning as much as we can.

When I mentioned calling my parents, she didn’t push me either way, just listened as I explained the full scope of what’s going on in my head. Having her here—beside me—made it a little easier to take the leap and dial the phone.

Taking a deep breath, I plunge in. “I was wondering if maybe you guys would be open to me coming for a visit sometime soon.”

I have to believe it will be soon, because imagining Audrey in danger for an extended period of time makes me want to peel the skin off my body.

Then go peel the skin off everyone threatening her. And that would be a messy clean-up.

“Oh.” My mother sounds surprised. “Of course. We’d be happy to see you anytime. You’re always welcome.”

It hasn’t always felt that way, but I’m starting to wonder if maybe that was more me than it was them.

“Great. Good.” I glance at Audrey. I feel like I made my position pretty clear last night, but she could still be surprised by what I’m about to say. “I’ll have someone with me, so if you’d be more comfortable with us getting a hotel room, I am happy to do that.”

My mother is quiet for a minute, and it leads me to believe Audrey isn’t the only one who might have been surprised.

She recovers relatively quickly, clearing her throat before saying, “Of course you can bring someone with you. We have plenty of space.” She pauses. “Would you be needing two rooms or one?”

I reach out to play with Audrey’s hair. “Just one.”

“Then that will make it easy. I’ll only have to get one room ready.” Again, she pauses. “Do you know when you’re planning to come?”

For a long time, my mother’s tendency to go silent as she collected her thoughts into carefully crafted words was unsettling. It made me feel like she didn’t know what to say to me and had to fish around for conversation. But now I’m thinking that’s not what’s happening at all. She just takes a minute to process and consider, where I simply let words fly. Both probably have their merits.

And downfalls.

“I have to wrap up some things at work first.” I pull Audrey closer at the reminder. “I’m not sure exactly how long it will take, but I’m hoping in the next few weeks.”

Audrey didn’t seem surprised when she initially discovered I was planning to take her on this visit, but her eyes do widen at my timeframe.

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