Page 79 of Forever Christmas

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“What?” I ask.

“I have the spare car keys. I’ll get my bag and June’s. I can get a hotel for a few nights. I have a little money.” Her voice shakes. “I’ve had enough.”

For a moment, I don’t move.

“I will never choose him over you again,” she says.“I won’t.”

I relent.

My arms go around her and she clutches at me.

“I’ve had enough,” she says again.

“Come on,” I say. “Let’s get away from him.”

“Alaina!” my father booms. “Where do you think you’re going?”

I put my arm around her and we keep walking. I expect he’ll follow, so as soon as we turn the corner, we duck through a door marked “family break room” and close it tight.

It’s empty,just a couple tables and a counter with a microwave and coffee maker.

“Where is Maybelle?” Mom asks. “She has June.”

“I’m not sure. I’m supposed to find her so she can see the baby.”

“Is he okay? You haven’t said.”

“He’s fine,” I tell her. “He’s early, so he has to be under a heat lamp, but otherwise, he’s good. He’s in the NICU with Corabelle.”

“Can I see him?”

“We have to get away fromDad,” I say. I don’t know what to do about him.

I look around the room. It’s actually positioned between two halls, so there is a door out the other side. A shortcut.

“We can probably go this way,” I say.

The other corridor is quiet as I peek out. We’ve taken a deep cut around the path I took to get to them. The NICU is just one hall down. I duck back inside the room.

“I’ll get you in theNICU,” I say. I don’t know if she’s really going to leave my dad, but if she is, that’s a step in the right direction. But first I have to know something.

I turn to her. “Did Dad hurt you?”

She takes in a breath. She didn’t expect this question.

“Not like you,” she says. “He never hit me. But there are things he has said that possibly hurt even more.”

I gather her against me again. “Okay.We’ll figure this out.”

We stand there for the space of several more heartbeats, then I cautiously open the door again. Hallway still clear.

I’m going to take my mother to see her grandson.

Everything else can wait.

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