Page 130 of Please Save Me

Her nose scrunched as she stayed focused on the screen. “Her last name won’t be Albright.”

The second the words fell from her lips, a nervous flush crept up her neck and she shot me a fleeting glance as a high pitched hum escaped her. It was so easy to make Mason nervous, and while that was very cute, I didn’t want to stress her out by pushing for the cause of those nerves. But, I could garner a little more information without pressing for the direct cause.

“Oh?” I tried to keep a sly smile off my face. “Then what will her last name be?”

Her shoulders squared as she studied me.

“Castillo,” she squeaked.

The feeling that washed over me could only be described as euphoria. The only reason my sweet Princess could hide something like this from me would result in her reconsidering my marriage proposal. And, considering Lucian would never be anything more than a lowly addict, I couldn’t blame her.

Plus, if Lucian was the cause for something like that, he’d surely rub it in my face. However, a decision like that must be eating Mason up on the inside. So, I tried to play it cool.

“I think Rosemary Jane Castillo sounds good too.”

Her lips pressed into a thin line as she nodded before whispering, “I’ll think about it.”

My elation from just moments prior clouded my ability to take her comment as anything but positive. Sure, she no longer let me have full control of Rosie’s name, but she was letting me pick the middle nameandour daughter was going to have my last name.

For the first time, I allowed myself focus on the television. TV Mason was singing a song calledDNR, one of her most popular songs and a mix of concerning lyrics and upbeat music.

“I’ve been dancing with my demons, infact they know me by name.

When I finally die, the world will forever be the same.

No one will miss me when I’m just a ghost.

It won’t be their callous words, but the silence that hurts the most.

Don’t revive me, just let me sleep.

You say my life’s alarming, I say it’s not that deep.

Because baby, only the good die young, and I’m the best of them all.

Believe me, I won’t wake up just because you call.”

She sang all that while pressing around the stage with a smile on her face. While I didn’t want Mason to die, part of me wondered if she was better off leaving that portion of her life in the past.

Chapter 40

Cameron

My bed was unbearably empty as I stared at the ceiling, listening to the rain pattering on my window. It was so gloomy outside that it barely looked like morning, but the clock on my nightstand said it was just before eight a.m. That meant for the first time since Dale captured me all those years ago,I slept in.

I knew I should be up and helping the kids get off to school, I also had a couple pieces of farm equipment waiting in the old barn for me to fix them up. But, I couldn’t force myself to move. For the first time in over two decades, I wasfree.

That was a thought I could barely wrap my mind around. Dale was actually done with me. When I skipped church on Sunday, I thought for sure he’d pop up at the house. But he never did. That meant I was free to enjoy the last few weeks of Mason’s pregnancy. I was free to hold my baby in a few weeks and watch her grow up. I was free to–

“What do you mean you don’t want to come to the ultrasound tomorrow?” Mason’s sadness carried through the oak door separating us.

And that was my sign to finally get my ass out of bed.

I tugged on the pair of gray sweatpants on my floor before heading toward Mason’s voice.

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to go,” Lucian said, frustration leaking into his words.

“You said you had other plans.” Her voice cracked. “You had other plans last week.”

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