Page 87 of The Banned Books Club

“She blocked it before she called me.”

“And you couldn’t hear anything in the background that might give her away?”

“Nothing.”

“Well, there’s only so much money in her account.”

“She has her own account?” Gia asked in surprise.

“It’s for gas and groceries—the household account—and she’s always complaining there isn’t enough in it. But right now, I’m glad I didn’t raise her budget. That money won’t last long.”

“Sheldon...”

No doubt he heard the ominous tone in her voice, because he hesitated before saying, “What?”

“She told me she has enough to get an apartment and a new car.”

The volume of the radio went down in the background. “Where would she get that kind of money? And why would she want to get rid of the Subaru? That’s a great vehicle!” he said, but the answer to that question must’ve dawned on him immediately after. “Wait, she wants to get rid of it so the police can’t trace the license plate?”

“See what I mean?” Gia said. “She’s not coming back.”

The phone went dead quiet, which scared Gia more than if Sheldon had exploded in rage. “She must’ve taken our savings, then.”

Gia winced.Bingo!“Maybe that’s it.”

His voice dropped an octave, at least, and grew threatening. “If she did, she’d better hope I never find her.”

A chill ran down Gia’s back as he disconnected. She was used to standing up to people. And she’d never been afraid of Sheldon before. But she was beginning to believe Margot: there was something missing, something wrong with him.

23

Disneyland was everything Margot had imagined it would be. She refused to worry about the expense of the tickets or the food. She let the boys buy almost whatever they wanted, and they had an absolutely marvelous time riding rides, eating at Goofy’s Kitchen, taking pictures with the various characters who were stationed throughout the park and buying matching T-shirts along with Mickey Mouse balloons and caramel apples rolled in M&M’s on Main Street. Despite what was going on in her life, she was so far away from Sheldon and Wakefield that she felt safe and free for the first time in ages and wondered if this was how it would be in the future. Could she truly escape him? Make her own money and spend it however she wanted?

She couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to live without his cutting rebukes when she didn’t put enough ice in his Thermos, or she spread too much mayonnaise on his sandwich. It was always something—there was no way to be perfect enough.

She felt bad she’d had to leave her parents and Gia, but she was so happy in this moment she couldn’t regret it.Thiswas what living was supposed to be about.Thiswas building the kind of memories she wanted to have with her children—where they could relax and have fun without the anxiety that ruined even camping when Sheldon was around.

“This is the best day ever!” Greydon exclaimed as he and Matthew raced to meet her after coming off Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

She was smiling broadly, standing with the strollers parked near the exit of the ride, and holding their balloons. “I’m glad we came.”

“Can we come back tomorrow?” Matthew asked.

“Not tomorrow,” she said. “But we’ll do other fun things over the next few months. There are a lot of sights to see in Southern California, including the San Diego Zoo.”

“The zoo?” Greydon said. “Can we gotheretomorrow?”

“I’m afraid not. We need to start looking for an apartment. And I have to put the Subaru up for sale. I should probably start job hunting, too. That might take a while.”

She hadn’t used her degree since she’d graduated, which would most likely make job hunting more difficult. But she didn’t mind living lean and pinching pennies as long as she could feel safe and free, like she did in this moment.

“I’ll miss Disneyland,” Greydon said as they walked toward the Jungle Cruise. It was Margot’s turn to pick a ride, and she’d selected that one.

“We’ll come back here if we can—once a year.”

The boys paused as they saw the character Belle taking photos with some little girls who were dressed up in the same costume.

“Do you want to go over and get another picture?” she asked.

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