I needed to mark this moment. Recognize what I’d been through. It was time to start living my life again. To be the mom my kids deserved.
Maplewood was home now, and I was ready to embrace it without fear.
After we’d cleaned up the game and the kitchen, I left the kids playing to go for a quick run. Muscle memory kicked in right away, and I headed for my usual hill. But halfway there, I stopped and scanned the property.
The farm was safe. The house was safe. This town was safe.
I didn’t have to sprint up the hill behind my house. I didn’t have to keep my eye on it every second that I ran.
So I turned and headed toward the maple trees, determined to enjoy the cool air and this beautiful pace. My life wasn’t about danger and paranoia anymore, so it was time to retrain my nervous system.
I’d overreacted earlier, but Josh’s overprotectiveness had triggered me, sending me into fight-or-flight mode.
Head down, watching the path in front of me, I pushed myself hard, relishing the burn of the cold air in my lungs.
Josh was a good man. And I was in love with him. I hadn’t planned on this. I never could have imagined I’d fall head over heels for this quirky town and my grumpy landlord, but here I was, and I owed it to myself and my kids to explore the possibilities. I’d been given an opportunity to heal. To grow. And to become the version of myself that Donny never allowed me to be.
I headed back to the house at a slow jog. My breath was still coming quickly when a strange car came into sight. It was parked in front of the cottage, and it wasn’t Stella’s. I sped up, my mind racing. Who did I know in Maplewood with a car like that?
It was a silver Mercedes. And as I got closer, the plates were visible.
Maine plates.
My stomach dropped.
Heart in my throat, I sprinted into the house. As I threw the door open, I was met with the last person on earth I wanted to see.
Phyllis.
Standing in my kitchen.
She was taller than I remembered. Broader too. Built like a woman who’d spent her entire life believing that space would always be made for her. Her hair was swept back in a style that didn’t move when she did, the color of it the same shade as Donny’s.
She moved with the confidence of a woman used to being obeyed, her shoulders squared, chin lifted, gaze level and unblinking.
“This is certainly an upgrade for you,” she sneered, taking in the kitchen.
She pointed to the clutter on the kitchen table, the diamonds on her fingers catching the light, sharp little flashes that felt like warnings. “Still a terrible housekeeper, though.”
My instincts had taken over, my eyes searching for my kids. Ellie stood blocking the entrance to the living room, with Maggie and Julian hovering behind her.
“These children are terrible listeners. I told them I’m taking them on a trip, and they’ve been so ungrateful.”
Ellie met my eye, panic rolling off her. The kids hadn’t laid eyes on their grandmother in almost two years. Not after the bogus lawsuit and several incidents of harassment. Not since I’d gotten a restraining order against her.
Phyllis didn’t pace, didn’t fidget. She just eyed me with contempt.
“You need to leave,” I said. My tone was calm and cool, despite the way I was falling apart inside.
She sighed, like I was a naughty child. “I just got here.”
I stood a little taller. “You’re not welcome.”
With a wave of her hand, she dismissed my protests. “That’s not your decision to make.”
My chest tightened, the air in the room thinning. Dammit.
What made Phyllis dangerous wasn’t her brute strength, it was her certainty.