better than this.”
“Stop. Quit. There’s just no point. I want you to leave now. I want you to leave my house and not come back until you’ve had a serious change in your attitude.”
Something happened then. Linda’s gaze shifted away. When she looked back at Chloe, she actually seemed worried. Was it possible she’d finally realized she’d gone too far? She said, more softly than before, with a hint of appeasement, “It’s only that I don’t want you to throw your life away. It’s only that you’re special. You deserve the best life has to offer. I want that for you. I want everything for you.”
“I really do want you to go now.” Chloe gentled her tone, but didn’t waver. “Please.”
Linda didn’t get up. She only talked faster. “Oh, sweetheart. I know. I understand. You had it all. And you threw it away. But the good news is, if you’ll only make a little effort, you and Ted can work through this rough patch and—”
Chloe put up a hand. “Get back with Ted? You can’t be serious. I don’t believe you, Mother. How many times have I told you I never want to hear his name? How many times have I told you that he hit me and he cheated on me and there is no going back from that? I don’t want to go back. All I want is never to have to look in his evil, lying face again.”
“You’re overwrought.”
“Oh, you bet I am.” She stepped back and pointed at the door. “Please leave my house. Now.”
Finally, her mother stood—and kept on talking. “Can’t you see? That new wife of his? She’s a pale imitation. She can’t hold a candle to you. Ted realizes that now. And you know that you’re exaggerating about his behavior, making a big drama out of a little marital spat or two.”
“Wait.” Chloe really, truly could not believe her ears. “What did you say?”
“I said, you’re making a big drama of—”
“‘He realizes that now’? How could you know what Ted Davies realizes?”
“Well, sweetheart, now listen. You really need to settle down, so that we can speak of this reasonably.”
“Reasonably?” Chloe echoed in a near whisper. The awful truth had hit her like a boot to the head. Her ears were ringing. “You’ve been in touch with him, haven’t you? You’ve been encouraging him.”
Linda got right to work blowing her off. “Well, I... You know I only want what’s best for you and I—”
“You’ve given him my address, haven’t you?”
“Oh, don’t be foolish. It’s not as if you’re in hiding.”
“So you did give him my address.”
Linda just wouldn’t give it up and answer the question. She let out a low sound of complete disdain. “Don’t make such an issue of it. Anyone could find out where you live with a minimum of effort.”
“But Ted didn’t have to make any effort, right? Because you’ll tell him whatever he wants to know.” She grabbed her mother’s arm. “That does it. You’re leaving.”
Linda squealed. “What are you doing?” She slapped at Chloe. “Let go of me. You’re hurting me...” The tears started then.
Chloe ignored them. She pulled her mother to the door, yanked it open and shoved her over the threshold.
Linda sobbed, “How can you do this to me? You’re breaking my heart.”
Chloe’s answer was to firmly shut the door in her face.
That night, it took Quinn an extra half hour to chase off all the monsters and get Annabelle settled in bed. He performed his monster-removing duties happily. Partly because he was a total pushover for his little girl. And partly because he knew she needed the extra attention on her first night in her temporary bedroom in the log house across the street from Chloe.
After Annabelle finally went to sleep, he and Manny took beers out to the back deck, where they touched base on the usual household stuff, finances and the move.
They were just wrapping up when his cell chimed. A text. From Chloe. The first, he realized, that he’d ever gotten from her.
That made him smile—initially. And then he had to deal with the words in the little conversation bubble. At least it was only one sentence: Can you come over now?
Unease curled through him. Something in the starkness of the question didn’t sit right. Chloe was generally so gracious and well mannered, the kind of woman to offer a drink and ask a man how his day had been before ever getting down to what she needed from him.
Manny asked, “Chloe?”
“Yeah.” Texting was not his best event. He debated the option of turning up the sound on his text-to-speech app and voice-texting her back. Or he could just call her. But she was only across the street and he felt an urgency to get to her. He rose.
“Something wrong, Crush?”
Quinn clasped Manny’s shoulder. “Probably nothing.”
Manny reached up, patted his hand and let him go without a single wiseass remark.
* * *
Chloe must have been standing at the door, peering through the peephole, because she whipped it open before Quinn could raise his hand to knock. One look at her too-pale face and shadowed, red-rimmed eyes and Quinn knew his instincts had been right. Something had gone way wrong.
“Quinn.” She grabbed for him.
He stepped inside, gathered her close and shoved the door shut with his heel.
“Quinn...” She curled against him, tucking her golden head under his chin, her slim arms clutching tight around him, as though she wanted to crawl right inside skin.
It freaked him out a little to see her so out of control. That only happened when he had her naked in bed. The rest of the time, she was the queen of smooth, hard to ruffle. Something had really spooked her. He stroked her hair and rubbed her back and reassured her with low, soothing words. “I’m here. It’s okay now, all right? You just hold on tight...”
She burrowed even closer against him and confessed in a torn whisper, “I never, ever had the guts to stand up to her and now it’s come down to this. Oh, I hate myself. I’m such a wuss. It shouldn’t have gotten to this, I should have stopped her a long time ago. I—”
“Shh,” he soothed. “Shh, now. Take a breath, a long, slow one...”
Obedient as a cowed and frightened child, she took a long, deep one and let it out nice and slow. “Oh, Quinn...” A sob escaped her.
He caught her beautiful face between his hands, tipped it up so he could see her haunted eyes again and took an educated guess. “This is about
