Page 44 of Savage

Mom helped Dalton into his car seat and then hugged him one last time. After she closed the door, she walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tightly. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“No, Mom. I’m not.” I was overcome with emotion—a mix of betrayal, anger, and devastation. I had to know if my mother was a part of it all, so I took a step back, looking her right in the eye as I asked, “Did you know?”

“Know about what, sweetheart?”

“About Dad’s conversation with Malcomb.”

“He talked to Malcomb?” She glanced over at Dad with anger in her eyes, “What did you do?”

“He broke my heart. That’s what he did.”

Without saying anything more, I got in my car and pulled out of the drive. I was an absolute wreck. I felt like my entire world had been turned upside down, and I had no idea what I was going to do about it. Noting my unease, Dalton whispered, "Momma... you okay?"

"Yes, sweetheart. Momma is fine."

I continued down the road, and it wasn’t long before tears started streaming down my face. I tried to hold them back. I didn’t want Dalton to see that I was so upset, but the realization of what my father had done was too much for me to bear. I couldn’t believe he would do something so cruel, especially after everything I had been through.

I was lost in thought until I heard Dalton’s voice again. “Momma, are you ‘qi-ying?”

I quickly wiped away my tears and put on a brave face for my son. “No, sweetheart. Momma is fine. Just a little tired. That’s all.”

But Dalton wasn’t convinced. “I w’ove you, Momma... Don’t be sad.”

His innocent words warmed my heart, and I knew I had to try and put my own feelings aside for his sake. I smiled at him and said, “I love you too, Dalton. Everything will be okay. I promise.”

But I wasn’t sure if I could keep that promise. Everything seemed to be falling apart, and I had no idea what I was going to do about it. I glanced up in my rearview mirror and was relieved to see that Jackson was trailing close behind. I prayed that he would be able to help me make sense of it because my mind was racing with questions and doubts about everything in my life.

When we got home, Jackson helped us get our things out of the car and into the apartment. Dalton was exhausted, so I helped him into his pjs and put him straight to bed. Once he was settled, I went back into the living room, where Jackson was waiting with a bottle of wine and two glasses. “Okay, let’s hear it.”

“It’s so bad, Jackson. I honestly don’t know where to start.”

“How ‘bout you tell me what happened with you and Malcomb first?”

“Okay, but it isn’t pretty.” I sat down and took a sip of my wine. “I got the feeling that he’d come there to try and mend things, but the second he saw Dalton...”

“Well, you knew that was going to be a tough conversation.”

“That’s just it.” I tilted the glass back and took another long sip. “He was too mad to really talk about it. He wouldn’t even listen when I tried to explain. He just kept saying I should’ve tried harder, and honestly, he was right.”

“I don’t know about that. I think you did your part. You can’t help that he was an asshole who broke it off with you.”

“About that...”

I spent the next half-hour telling him about the argument with my father, and when I was done, he looked positively stunned. “You gotta be kidding me.”

“Afraid not.”

“Damn, Londyn. That changes a lot.” Anguish marked his face as he said, “I actually feel bad for the guy.”

“It explains why he refused to see me.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he knew it would only make things harder for you both. That had to be tough.”

“I know.” I tried to push back the tears as I muttered, “What am I going to do?”

“You’re going to give it some time. Eventually, the anger will fade, and you two can figure this thing out.”

“I don’t know.”

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