Page 67 (1/1)

I gave a stiff nod "I’ll keep that in rin as he motioned toward Wheeler "Your boyfriend is pretty hard to forget, so try not to do anything in the vieitnesses They’ll be able to pick hirunt in response as the cop moved out of the way so the server could put his tray down next to our table The sherifffood in his face, Wheeler askeda piece of bread off his plate "A lot of people in this town let me down before I left the first time I should have known better than to come back but I did, and I was let down even worse the second ti to help my mom If they don’t see it or speak of it, it’s not really happening in theirto way too many people, women and children, and even men"

"So, we’ll do e can to help because we know it’s happening and we refuse to look the other way"

I gave hi love you, Hudson"

He replied by shoving a big bite of brisket in hisaway happily We killed the rest of the afternoon driving around town so I could show hih noide-open eyes, I could see that there wasn’t anything particularly special about htly less scary After I talked to my mom, saw for myself that she was alive and well, I kneould never be back There was nothing here forthat mattered behind

We parked around the corner from my childhood home and had to wait for an hour until my father’s sleek, black Mercedes SUV pulled out of the driveway Men of the cloth were supposed to be hus He liked to flaunt his power and position in everything that he did

"He looks like a dick" Wheeler’s softly le when all I wanted to do was cry

"He is" I turned my face to his and leaned in for a kiss when my dad drove around the corner so that there wasn’t even the slightest chance he would see ue and leavinghard and it wasn’t from fear He slipped out of the car and I folloith the key to the house that had never really been a ho able to breathe when I touched the doorknob It turned easily underopen with a barely noticeable creak The interior of the house was dark and silent There were no lights on, no TV going, no sounds of voices or life anywhere It was like walking into a tastefully decorated tomb

I looked overthe door behind him "Their roohtly"

He jerked his chin in understanding as we started to creep through the dreary hallways that had no pictures or art on the walls Everything was so sterile, azine I clearly re every surface until her fingers bled to keep my father happy Without fail, he would come home after a service or a fund-raiser and find some microscopic piece of lint or dust she missed His barely controlled fury would follow and that inevitably led to not justthe wall like I used to do when I was little, walking back in time as memories assaulted ht of repression and judg in the air in this house I re felt cold even though it was never below seventy degrees outside I re how perfect I had to be to s inas every ounce of joy and light was sucked out ofnow much better

We hit the closed door to my parents’ bedroom I put a palm on the wood and took a second to bracethe worst since my dad wouldn’t let anyone speak to her, but I had to hope for the best I felt Wheeler put a hand between ardless of ere about to face

I turned the knob and pushed the door open,in a chair by theof the roo She looked older than she did the last time I saw her There was more silver in her dark hair and her bronze complexion had deep lines carved into it around her eyes and next to her ht Her ars where they stuck out of the bulky sweater she earing even though the house arh to make me sweat

"Mom?" The word escaped as a question because she looked like a stranger She looked like a wootten

Her eyes, the saishly "Poppy?" She lifted a hand to her throat and started to rock back and forth in her seat "A"

Wheeler stepped around hts We all blinked in reaction, and the full extent of how badlyaway hit me Her cheeks were sunken in Her collarbone was sharp, proed on a skeleton She looked like a corpse that hadn’t been put in the ground yet

"You’re not drea, Mom I’m here to help you I want you to come with me to Denver I want you to leave Dad and let ain and it took the time to open back up "You’re here, but you can’t be here It’s going to ry because so with hi?" I walked over to her and crouched down in front of her, puttingold and fat I’ve been dieting"

She was starving herself for the jackass "You don’t look well, Mom Let me help you I’ll take you somewhere safe where they can make you better"