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Rad snatched the donut box, grabbed his keys and walked out the front door, slamming it so hard the picture on the wall rattled.
She and Angela sat in silence until they heard Rad’s truck start up and him peel out of the driveway.
“Well. That went well.” Cyn sighed out her relief that he left. “At least we didn’t have to call the cops this time.”
Angela traced her fingers along the wood grain on the table. “You shouldn’t taunt him like that.”
“I stated the facts. But he’s got his own version of reality going on in his head.”
Angela looked directly at her. “I don’t want anything to mess up my plan for tomorrow.”
Neither did Cyn. “Do you want to load some things into my car right now?”
Angela shook her head and started bouncing her leg on her toes beneath the table. A habit she started after the anxiety kicked in, living with Rad. “I want to do it all last-minute. I don’t want him to suspect anything. He comes home and it’s like he sees every little thing I’ve done. Or haven’t done,” she added, biting her thumbnail.
Cyn didn’t want to push. This was the first time her sister had ever agreed that she needed to get out of here.That she had some sort of a plan already in mind bolstered Cyn’s excitement that this was finally happening.
Angela could finally live her life the way she wanted to live it and not be stuck under Rad’s thumb. She and the baby would be safe.
“I don’t have any money,” Angela blurted out.
“I’ve got you covered,” Cyn assured her sister.
“I don’t want to be a burden.”
“You won’t be. You’re not. I make decent money and I’ve been saving up. I can’t wait for you to see my new place. It’s two bedrooms. The one you’ll be in was my friend Shelby’s nursery for her daughter, Eliza. There are cute woodland creatures on the walls in different places so that it looks like they’re popping out of a baseboard or walking across a bookshelf. If you don’t like it, we can change it. Shelby told me to make the place my own. The crib is still in there, and I’ve added a double bed and a dresser. It’s not much, but we’ll get you whatever you need.”
“I don’t want you to have to support me.”
“It’s only until you’re back on your feet again. For right now, I’m here to help. You’ll have the rest of your life to pay me back, though I don’t expect you to, Angela. You’re my sister. More than anything I want you to be safe and happy. And you will be with me.”
Silent tears slipped down Angela’s cheeks. “You’ve been begging me to do this for so long.”
“It’s okay,” Cyn assured her. “You weren’t ready.”
“I was an idiot thinking he’d change.”
“I’m sorry you had to learn the hard way that people are who they are. Believe me, I’ve been disappointed, too, by someone I thought I could trust or possibly loveor wanted to be my friend. It’s not easy to give up on hope that they will be the person we thought they’d be.”
“I thought he’d surprise me.” The wistfulness in Angela’s voice broke Cyn’s heart because she wanted her sister to be loved. She wanted Rad to have been the guy who changed because she mattered enough to him to do it.
She thought of Hunt, the guy who always seemed hell-bent on laying down the law, but who turned out to have a real heart and genuine concern for others, even if the law sometimes got in his way of helping in the way she’d needed his help.
Damn.Why do I keep thinking about him?
Mrs. Phelps had planted that little seed in her head and the damn thing was sprouting, trying to show her that there were more layers to Hunt than an onion.
She didn’t want to like him.
She just wanted him to help her sister.
Angela fidgeted. Her leg was still bouncing under the table. “You should get to work. I need to decide what I’m taking and what I can just leave. I want to be out of here quickly once he’s gone tomorrow.”
“If you want to walk out with nothing but your purse, I’m happy to buy you whatever you need so long as you never come back here to him. And he’s going to try to make you come back. Oh, he’ll say some pretty words and make you promises, but he won’t mean them, Angela. You have to know that by now.”
“I do.”
“Good. Because then he’s going to threaten you. And I want you to know that I’m ready to hire an attorney. We can file for a restraining order.”
