Page 28 of Don't Leave Me
8
The next day
North Carolina
Marc
I pulledup to George’s cabin and immediately spotted Ash’s car. I sat in my truck, uncertain what to do. Of course, she would have come back to him. I wondered how he took the revelation. Did he faint? Did he clutch his chest? Did he cry?
He might have done all those things, but then he would have welcomed her back with all the love in his heart. He wouldn’t have felt the rage I did. He wouldn’t have immediately felt the need to even the score for what she put him through. No, George would have just been hysterically happy to know she was alive and safe.
Was the kid with her? Or would she have left him behind with the nanny?
Your kid. He’s your kid!
I shook my head. For weeks, I hadn’t thought about them. For weeks, I had pushed every single one of Ash’s words to the back of my brain. Into a box that was closed, so I didn’t have to deal with it.
Now, there was nothing to do but open that box. To remember that when she’d left, pregnant with my kid, she’d done so thinking she might never see me again. She thought she’d been making yet another sacrifice for me.
Fuck that.
I opened my truck and walked toward the cabin, with all the hurt and pain swirling around my gut, but I realized then, the anger was gone.
Ash had done what she’d done to protect her child. My child. She’d cleverly escaped the clutches of two powerful, criminal men. Each of whom had inflicted violence on her at some point.
There were times I spent so much of my energy hurting, it was easy to miss how hurt she must have been, too.
No mother, a loveless father who had sold her off like she was chattel. Men who had hit her and threatened her. All she’d had was me. Who’d spent so much of my time resisting everything she wanted to give me.
George, too. She’d had him. And, because of what Dean and I had accomplished, at least I’d been able to give her real father, the one who loved her, back to her.
I opened the door, not quite prepared for the scene in front of me. George was bouncing the kid on his knees while Ash sat next to him on the couch. All eyes landed on me as soon as I walked inside.
Ash stood immediately, almost like she was getting ready to run again, but this time she stayed put.
“Marc,” George whispered, his eyes never leaving Daniel. “Look at this miracle.”
I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the kid or Ash’s resurrection. Probably both. Because they were both a miracle.
“I drove here last night. As soon as I heard the news,” Ash said. I could feel her nervousness. “You swung and didn’t miss. Thank you.”
“I wasn’t going to miss,” I told her. Not when her life was at stake. The kid’s, too.
“He’s gone. So, I’m done hiding.”
“You going to take your name back?” I asked. I don’t know why that was the first thing I asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know if there’s a point. Everything is in my new name. Besides, it makes sense for Campbell to be my family name.”
She reached for George’s hand, and he took it and squeezed.
“You’ll always be mine, Peanut. I just wish…”
“I know. I’m sorry it had to be that way. I’m sorry I had to hurt both of you. I could say it a hundred more times if you want, but it wouldn’t change anything, and I can’t regret it. I couldn’t take any chances. Not with Daniel.”
“I hate you were alone when you gave birth,” George muttered. “You must have been scared out of your mind.”
“I had good care,” she said. “It was okay.”
