Page 20 of Derecho

“Lach?” Birdie’s eyes were locked on mine. “Are you okay? Should we call Sloane?”

“I’m fine! I really am fine. I just needed to get out of here, and I did it. Will I do it again? Yeah, I hope so. But I’m also exhausted, and wasn’t really expecting the pressure of everyone being right here in my space when I came home. I need…”

“What?” Colt crossed his arms.

“Everyone can just go home and stop fussing over me. Isn’t there a bad storm coming through tonight? I’m sure there’s a ton of shit to get ready around the ranch before it hits.”

Dad nodded, his arm slapping Colt’s shoulder. “Lach’s right. He doesn’t need us all in his space. But if you ever feel like leaving your house again, you know, Ma and I wouldn’t mind a visit up at the main house.”

“Same for us,” Colt agreed as he pulled his wife Violet into his side.

“Well, I’d like some help out on the ranch. So yeah, if you ever need to get out of here again, you’re always welcome to ride out with me.” Beau smiled, his eyes still tight with worry.

Jesus. The hope in the rest of my family’s eyes was exactly why I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving. Sure, I’d rushed out of the house only thinking of Lainey…God, the fear rolling off of her when I walked around and found her in the garden…

“Lach?” Violet’s voice called me back into my living room. I smiled as my nephew, Connor, rested his head on her shoulder.

“Yeah. I think I’m gonna try to walk around the ranch more. I’ll come visit everyone. It’ll be good for my physical rehab.”

Ma’s hands clasped in front of her heart. “There’s no pressure, honey. You know we love you and are so proud of you, no matter what. But I’d really love to have all of my family around my dinner table again.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Lainey

The decorative tin box on top of the fridge was empty.

Empty.

All that money stowed away.

The money that was going to be my ticket out.

The money that was going to be how I finally got everything I needed to be ready for motherhood, including a safe place for us to live.

It was gone.

I hadn’t stopped crying since I found it laying on the kitchen table this morning. Greg left before I was even awake. Why the hell had he even looked in there?

It’s why I felt like giving up. Because regardless of what I did, I was never going to get away. More tears streamed down my face.

I’d waited too long. I really was so pathetic. He came for me. The man who hadn’t left his house in God knows how long, had left his house for me. To make sure I was okay. To make sure the baby and I were safe.

He’d offered me an escape, a place to go while I figured things out. But I let the fear win. I pushed him away, and now I was going to pay the ultimate price.

Stupid, worthless Lainey.

“Are you fucking listening to me?” Greg slurred from across the kitchen. I hadn’t been expecting him home; not with the storm coming through. It would be the perfect excuse for him to stay in Dallas. To not have to be in the same space as me. But of course, I couldn’t be that lucky. Because he hadn’t gone to Dallas. He’d stayed in Silver Springs and gotten hammered with his buddies. In the middle of the week. When he should have been working. But that ship had long since sailed.

I didn’t need this added stress, especially when I was already nervous about the possibility of the baby coming. Birdie mentioned how many moms went into labor when it started storming, and even though I was only at thirty-six weeks, every twitch and roll from the little creature was sending me into a panic.

“No. I’m not. Because you won’t tell me what the hell you did with all of that money! You left here with eight hundred dollars, Greg! And you come back with a case of beer, telling me to shut the hell up when I asked where it all went?”

“It wasn’t just eight hundred dollars.” His smile pulled into a sneer as he licked his lips. “Imagine my surprise when I checked your business account and saw two thousand dollars just sitting in there. What were you going to do with that money, Lainey? What were you going to do?”

My stomach sank. The baby moved, kicking out, pulling a gasp from my lungs as I rubbed against the painful jolt.

“Why were you hiding money from me?”