“Are you sure? Matt said the last time a storm this size hit, almost eighty people died.”
“We’ll be fine.”
“I think almost everyone else has left town or are hunkered down in Jackson waiting it out.”
“Wise move. I’m glad Mama and Daddy are on that two week Caribbean cruise. Aren’t they supposed to join up with your parents in Miami when it’s over? I bet Daddy’s chomping at the bit to get back here.”
I laugh. Matt’s father still thinks of himself as the tough old cowboy who can withstand all of this, but thankfully my mother-in-law has convinced him to take it a bit easier these days.
“I’m glad he listened to reason for once and is enjoying a nice warm vacation.
“Me too.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for your ranch while you’re gone, but probably won’t venture out of the house once the storm hits.”
“Don’t put yourself out. I’m sure everything will be okay. You and the girls just stay safe.”
“From your lips to God’s ears,” she says and makes her way across the porch to mount her horse to head back home. Despite the clouds on the horizon foretelling the impending storm’s approach, I can see the beautiful light of the moon breaking across the field through the clouds. The wind is picking up and I shiver uncontrollably.
“Mom shut the door!” Kara complains. “That wind is cold!”
I shut the door and turn around to look at my children who are the most precious things in the world to me.
“Do you three know how much I love you?” I ask.
Jake rolls his eyes at me again. Kara smiles and Graham is too distracted by the game he’s got in his hand.
“You better save that battery power,” I suggest. “We have a lot of travel hours ahead of us.”
“I have backup,” he says, pulling several portable batteries from his pocket. “Besides, they have chargers in the airports these days.”
“True,” I say.
I was just about to tell them to put on their coats and get ready to leave when I remember I left the tickets I printed out on Kara’s bedroom dresser.
“I’ll be right back,” I say and run up the stairs.
I go back into the room and quickly locate the tickets, but decide I need to take one last look around before we leave.
I hate flying. I’ve always hated flying. It makes me have a nervous stomach. Satisfied that all of the lights in the house upstairs are turned off and nothing like a curling iron has been left on to start a fire while we’re gone. I grab the tickets and head out of Kara’s bedroom when I hear her voice telling someone to come in out of the cold.
Did Ava come back for something?
“Mom?” Kara calls.
“Coming,” I answer and mentally prepare myself to expedite the conversation, so we can leave as quickly as possible. We really are going to be late this time and there is no way the pilot will wait for late passengers with this storm bearing down.
I descend the staircase but stop short on the landing when I see my worst nightmare at the bottom of the stairs.
“Hello Sarah. It’s good to see you again.”
Faith
If it’s possible for a heart to stop beating from shock and fear, yet a person remain alive, then that is exactly what was happening to me at this moment.
I stare, gaping at the man I thought was gone from my life forever standing inches from my children.
“Her name’s not Sarah,” Graham looks confused. “It’s Faith. Mom’s name is Faith.”
I look at the smirk creeping along Daniel’s features as he hears my son’s words.
“You lie to your children? Why am I not surprised?”
“Mom?” Kara looks confused and concerned. “Are you okay? Do you know him?”
I get ready to deny it. But I’m sure by the look on my children’s faces and the satisfied expression on Daniel’s that my own face shows everything.
“Yes … what is it you’re calling yourself these days? Faith? Why don’t you tell your children how you know me?”
“Mom?” This was Jake. My oldest son takes a step toward me. He is tall and muscular from all of the ranch work he’s been doing with his father. I never realized how much of a man he’d become until this very second.
He looks protective.
I know that protectiveness. It’s the same protectiveness his father possesses. Something that could get him killed.
“I’m fine,” I choke out. “Why don’t you get your brother and sister in the Suburban and drive into town? I’ll get my friend to bring me in and meet you there.”
It was then that I saw it. The gun. He slipped it from under his jacket so smoothly the motion was almost imperceptible.
“Oh no,” Daniel whispers, his voice dripping with years of suppressed anger. “No one is going anywhere.”
Daniel
I parked my car far down their drive and behind an outbuilding where I sat most of the night, contemplating what I should do. Should I just walk up and say, “Hi Sarah, I’m home?”
But this wasn’t our home.
I waited to find out if the husband was around and what obstacle he may present. It was obvious after a while he wasn’t home. I thought about breaking in, but decided I needed to take my time and be clever about this.
I wanted our reunion to be memorable.
I watched Sarah walk around the living room gathering things and ordering her children about, probably preparing to get out of town before the storm hits.
As I watched them through the window, I realized that Sarah had done well for herself. The truck in the driveway looked more like something to ride long drives around a ranch than to show off any wealth. Still, the size of the house and jewelry Sarah is wearing is a sign of money in this family.
The first thing I noted when I started watching them was that she obviously loves her children. She’s a good mother. I have always known she would be. I decided I would use that to my advantage.
I look at them standing in front of me and anger like simmering lava rages inside me ready to erupt. Sarah was my wife.
Correction. Sarah is my wife.
She’s not dead. I never signed any divorce papers, which means she’s still my wife. Mine.
I look at her two boys, both of whom must look like their father as they do not look like Sarah. Unlike Kara, who is a vision of her mother. I can’t quite pinpoint what it is, but she’s not quite identical. Maybe it’s the height or the color of her hair.
Sarah’s hair is blonder than I remember. She’s still fit and trim. She always liked to work out. Despite having three children she has not let herself go.
If the boys look like their father, I grudgingly admit that he must be a handsome man. They are both tall and have dark hair. Their blue eyes are focused on the gun I’m holding.
I don’t know their father, but I hate him. The oldest boy looks to be about eighteen. That would mean Sarah must have been with his father almost nineteen years ago. Four years after she supposedly died.
My rage at the thought of her lying with another man while I was rotting in that jail cell consumes me.
I tamp it down.
I’m in control now and I’m taking back what’s rightfully mine.
Faith
He motions for us all to go toward the living room area. The children look toward me for guidance.
Graham comes over to me and takes my hand, squeezing it as Kara seeks comfort and almost hides under my arm.