Right now, all I feel is the loosening of the hand that’s been wrapped around my throat under the guise of breaking my fall.
I’m going to trust my wings and take my chance on the unknown abyss. The certainty that this is right quells my fear.
I turn away from Duke’s thunderous, dumbstruck face and look at my father.
“I’m leaving, and I won’t be back. There’s nothing for me here.” I almost laugh at the shock on her face.
“What? You can’t. Lizzy, you promised. What about Cameron? Drew…what happened?” Fiona sputters and then looks between the three of us, her mouth is hanging open and her eyes are nearly round with shock.
“Cameron is your daughter. You take care of her.” The words, ones I couldn’t have imaged saying just a few months ago, roll off my tongue before I can think to hold them back. But I feel no remorse as she covers her open mouth with her hands and starts to sob.
My father looks like his head is about to explode and his eyes, wide and stunned, aren’t on me.
They’re on Duke.
“Come on, Beth. Let’s get out of here.” Phil walks toward me, with his hand outstretched. Duke wakes up from his stupor and lunges for me. But Phil is faster and blocks me from Duke’s reach and view with his body.
“Liz, you have to hear me out.” Duke pleads from behind us, his hands locking onto my shoulder in a vice grip.
Phil pulls them off like he’s lifting a feather. In the blink of an eye, he has Duke slammed up against the wall.
His hand is wrapped around his throat.
“If you ever touch my sister again, I swear, I will fucking kill you and go to jail, happily, knowing the world is rid of you.”
“Fuck you, Wolfe. I know you did this.” Duke seethes, struggling in vain to loosen Phil’s grip.
Phil’s shoulders shake with the force of his dark chuckle.
“Oh, I haven’t done anything yet, you sick son of a bitch. But I will. I’m not going to stop until you’re rotting in a jail cell,” his voice is menace laced with vengeance and his words hang in the air between then.
Duke’s face turns red, the veins in his neck and face raised as his panicked eyes dart around the room looking for help.
“Phil, put him down. Please. Let’s just leave,” I say and glance meaningfully at the armed guards who’ve joined the fracas, waiting for the word from my father to intervene.
He lets him go with a shove that sends Duke flying.
He’s smiling when he takes my hand in his and turns us toward the door
“Elisabeth, get back here,”my father bellows.
I turn and face him, my eyes full of all of my enmity for him. He’ stops so fast that he almost tips forward when inertia keeps his body in motion when his feet stop moving.
My heart is pounds with excitement. I’m reaching for freedom with both hands and I’m not afraid. Not even a little.
“If you try to stop me, I’ll walk in there and lay all of your sins bare, too. Then, all your fancy friends will know who you really are. You won’t be able to show your face anywhere but this town you’ve bought with your money.”
His face pales and he looks at me like he wants to ask “what the hell happened to you?” But he doesn’t say a word.
He glances at my grandmother who is standing next to a still weeping Fiona.
Her expression is grim as she surveys the scene. There’s disgust in her eyes when she glances at my father, before she turns and walks back into the church.
His lips pucker in anger and he leans in, looming over me. “You’re nothing to me,” he says in a hoarse whisper.
The menace in his eyes is real. But, I’m not moved by it. My chuckle is sad and hollow. “Then our feelings are finally in sync.”
Just when we reach the bottom of the stairs, my father shouts after Phil, his footsteps thud on the steps behind us and we stop.
He strides toward us, his angry eyes burn straight into Phil.
“You’ll be sorry you did this. You could have had your rightful place. You shouldn’t have come back.” his arm extends and points at Phil, his face full of vengeance.
Phil scoffs. “I came back for my siblings, and for you,” he says with a voice so cold, I shiver under the hot summer sun.
Cold Turkey
LIZ
When Phil asked where I wanted to go as we left the church, I didn’t even have to think about it before I answered. Every single possession I hold dear is stored in an upstairs closet in James’s house. Well, it’s Phil’s house now. He bought it from Erin last year.
We’ve just pulled into the driveway. Ten minutes ago, and I was riding the wave of adrenaline and conviction that propelled me to walk away from everything I’d been minutes away from shackling myself to.
Now, I’m less certain. All of the reasons I had for staying are running through my mind.
Cameron.
Money.
Fear of facing a world that I didn’t know how to navigate and falling flat on my face.
“I thought you were going to do it,” Phil finally gives voice to the emotion that’s been hanging heavy in the silence between us.
Chagrined, I duck my head and reach up to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear before I remember that I yanked my wig off as soon as we pulled away.
“I’m sorry. I wanted to say something when you were walking into the church. But, my mind was reeling from what Will told me.” My hands curl into fists in my lap.
“I wish there was a way to really make him pay. He didn’t know James would have that accident but they were luring him there for something… but what?”
He puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “I’m going to find out. You know you can’t stay here, now, right?”
I swallow hard and nod. “I’m not sure if I’m ready…but I know.”
“There’s never a good time to make changes like this. If that’s what you’re waiting for, you’ll be here until you die.”
I drop my head back on the seat’s head rest and close my eyes against the wave of dread that rushes into me like a gale force wind.
“You need time to heal, and you need to find a way to really forgive yourself. Maybe, find a way to reconnect with Carter.”
I jerk away even as my heart leaps and strains forward at the sound of her master’s name.
“Don’t let shame, misplaced and unfairly yoked, keep people you care about out of your life.”
“Sure,” I say with my eyes on my lap.
“You’ll get over him, you’ll see.” He says, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.
I nod but my throat is dry and tight. The words won’t come. As if heart won’t countenance the lie. Not when it’s rioting so fiercely that my entire body aches from its protest.
“What’s wrong? I’m here, you can tell me,” he says in a voice so soothing, so familiar, that despair coils itself around my heart.
I know he’s trying to encourage and comfort me. But he doesn’t know everything I’ve lost.
“I was pregnant when he left,” I blurt. I brace for the revulsion I’m sure he won’t be able to hide. Phil grabs my chin and forces my face upward until our eyes meet. There’s no judgment there, just compassion and love.