Page 27 of Leland

“Thank you, baby. That was beautiful.”

I blushed and looked away.

He chuckled and added some more hot water to the tub. “Let’s get you clean and some pancakes in your belly.”

***

“These are so yummy,” I said after taking another bite from Leland.

“They smell yummy,” he agreed.

“Do you want a bite, Daddy?”

Smiling, he shook his head. “No thank you, sugar. You can have them all in your belly.” He held the pink plastic fork to my mouth again.

“Do you eat carbs?” I asked after swallowing that bite too. He didn’t look like he’d ever eaten a carb in his life even though I knew he did. All those donuts had to have carbs.

He laughed. “I do. I love carbs. I don’t love pancakes.”

I gasped. “Emily and I lived on pancakes when we lived in our first apartment. A bag of flour was $2.47 and a bottle of syrupwas ninety-nine cents.. We could eat off of it for five days. Emily won’t touch them now, but I still love them.” I gasped again—this time less dramatically. “Leland, I didn’t call Emily!”

His eyes widened too and he pushed his chair back. “I’ll grab your phone, sugar.”

He hadn’t even made it all the way down the hall before someone pounded on the front door.

“Leland Lucas West, you better open this door or so help me…” my sister threatened.

“Oh no,” I mumbled.

“Oh no,” Leland agreed.

He walked over and opened the front door to be met with my tiny twin sister.

“Leland!” she yelled.

“I’m so sorry,” Leland said, sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his neck.

Suddenly watching my sister size him up was funny and I giggled. Then I gasped in pain. Emily and her Daddy, Onyx pushed by him and rushed to where I was sitting.

“Oh, honey. Are you okay? We went by to drop off goodies for you and you weren’t at work. Blade filled us in on everything,” Onyx explained.

“Everything?” I asked nervously.

“Emily sat at my feet and took my hands. “Are you okay? Are you hurt really badly? Why didn’t you call?” she asked before bursting into tears. “I was so scared.”

I felt the creepy-crawly legs of anger climb up my back. My body went hot. Everything was too loud. My head suddenly hurt and there was a lump in my throat. I pushed my chair back and stepped back from Emily, ignoring the pain in my stomach and ribs. “Stop crying. All you do is fucking cry,” I yelled.

I smelled Leland before I heard his gravelly voice. He stood behind me and gently pressed his body to mine.

“Take a breath, sugar.”

Tears still rolled down Emily’s face. Onyx looked confused, probably at my harsh words. Even on my maddest days, I never yelled at Emily. I was so very angry with her, though. She was always so scared. Always crying. Why couldn’t she just grow up? I’d had to carry all the weight when we’d escaped. I’d had to hold her every time she’d had a nightmare. She hadn’t even been through the worst things inside the cult. Did she know when we’d fled the last time my life was on the line? They promised they’d kill me if I ever tried to escape again, but I’d to try—had to save Emily.

Poor Emily. It was never poor Rouge.

“Take a breath for Daddy, sugar,” Leland whispered into my ear.

I did.

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