Page 76 of This Love
The strident tone of her voice hit something inside me, and her features connected with the woman who’d followed me that one day, the person in the rose cutting video.
Mother.
“I’ve got this,” Dad said. “I’ll throw that witch off the cliff before I let her get her claws on you again.” He’d been incensed when we finally admitted she’d approached me in our neighborhood shortly after the last seizure.
He stormed right up to her. “Geneva, you’re not welcome here.”
She looked around, her eyes falling on Maya. “You’re still around?” She swirled around to me. “You invited that old bat before you invited your own mother?”
Marcus leaned in close to her. “You are not invited because you can’t be trusted.” His voice was even and level.
Her arms flailed as if she could swat away his accusations. Dad stayed menacingly close. He looked like he really might throw her off the cliff.
“I belong here,” she said. “I have done nothing but keep her safe.”
Dad took another step toward her. They were almost on top of each other. “That’s enough, Geneva. This is Ava’s wedding day. You don’t belong here. I’m ready to call the cops. I renewed the restraining order three months ago when I found out you ambushed her in her own neighborhood.”
“As if I was the one who didn’t do all the research for her, tried endlessly to find a solution.” Mother’s face was sweaty and red.
The officiant hooked his arm around my mother’s. “Come along,” he said. “I’ll help you down the stairs.”
Mother looked at him, then me, then my father, who held out his cell phone, his thumb on the dial pad.
“I only wanted to see you be a bride,” she said. Then she turned and allowed the officiant to escort her away.
Only when Mother had disappeared through the trees, did I feel the force of seeing her thunder through me like I’d been struck by lightning.
She wasn’t going to give up. What if she took the baby?
I looked down at the tattoo on my arm, perfectly visible in the sleeveless dress.
Trust only this handwriting.
Maybe she couldn’t change my scrapbook anymore, but she was still a threat. She felt like she was owed a place in my life.
“I’m pregnant,” I blurted. “Don’t let her take our baby, even if I forget I have one.”
Everyone fell silence. Tucker drew me in close.
“You’re what?” Marcus asked.
“She’s pregnant,” Tucker said. “And tomorrow she has to change her meds to one that is safe for the baby.” His voice cracked on the word. “We’ll need all of your help as we go through this.”
Harry was the first to lunge forward and draw us both into his extra-large embrace. Gram fitted herself against us, then Maya.
Dad seemed dazed for a moment, then he came forward, extending his arms around our little group. Tina, Jennifer, and Amanda piled in.
“It’s my fault she found us,” Jennifer said, her voice cracking. “I posted the video of where we were. It’s the only way she could have known.”
Marcus sighed. “We’ve all got to be on Ava’s team. That means protecting her no matter what.”
Jennifer sniffed. “Okay.”
“We’ve got you,” Big Harry said. “No matter what happens, we will all be here.”
I drew a shuddering breath. This was my family. And soon, there would be one more.
I had to have faith in all of us.
