Page 100 of Guarding My Love

That and her sister.

She tucked her phone in her pocket and walked to Foster’s beachfront and took her normal seat on the bench.

The breeze was warm but not as bad coming off the water.

She took a few calming breaths and started to think about her life.

She shouldn’t bug her sister, but she needed to know if she was overreacting and sent her a text to let her know when she could talk.

It was twenty minutes later when her phone rang in her pocket.

“Hi, Amanda. Is it a bad time?”

“No,” Amanda said. “What’s going on?”

She didn’t want to upset her sister, but she’d have to say she spoke to their mother to get to where she was going. “Mom called me.”

“That says enough right there,” Amanda said. “Why?”

She was going to omit the part about Amanda having another baby. It didn’t need to be said. “She said it’d been over a year since we talked. I thought I was clear the last time but guess I’m never clear enough.”

“Why did you answer it then?” Amanda asked.

“Because I’m weak. I thought maybe there might be an emergency. I don’t want to be completely cold.”

“I understand,” Amanda said. “I have moments where I wonder if I should let them see or meet Liam and Harper and then I say, nope. I’m happy in my life and them coming back into it would take that away. My kids don’t need them.”

“No,” she said. “They don’t. They have Drew’s family.”

“They’ve got their Aunt Charlotte too,” Amanda said. “It’s all they need from my side.”

She smiled. “I want your happiness and independence. Why can’t I get there?”

“Oh, honey,” Amanda said. “What happened between you and Foster?”

“Nothing major,” she said.

“Then I don’t understand,” Amanda said.

“There was one incident last weekend, but I think it’s over. I’m not even upset about it now either.”

“Tell me about it,” Amanda said.

She told her sister about Landon’s visit, Foster’s reaction, then Landon’s threat.

Since it’d been silent and they had a video of what Landon had done, she was pretty sure her ex was smart enough to not make waves as it’d make him look bad if it came across as how desperate he was to the point he couldn’t take no for an answer.

“I think that’s sweet that Foster stood up for you and then immediately wanted you to learn how to protect yourself if he wasn’t around.”

“Honestly, that might have been the part that lessened so much for me,” she said. “He knows I want to do things on my own. He doesn’t think I’m completely helpless even when everyone else does. Mom brought it up again and I think it set me off.”

“She has a way of setting everyone off,” Amanda said, laughing. “Don’t let it get to you.”

“I try not to, but it got me thinking about one thing.”

“What’s that?” Amanda asked.

“That as much as I love Foster and he says he feels the same way, he hasn’t said the words.”

---