you refused to. You were never there, and even when you were there, it wasn’t for us.” She fell silent, listening for a few seconds, before saying, “That’s bullshit. Where were you when Serena fell off her bike and needed stitches? Thank God Mr. Savage was home to take us to the doctor. Who do you think got Serena on the bus every morning? Who made her breakfasts, lunches, and dinners? Who freaking watched over her when the men you brought home wandered out of your bedroom in the middle of the night?” Chloe swiped at her eyes with a shaky hand.
Justin wanted to take the phone and give her damn mother a piece of his mind, but he knew Chloe had to do this once and for all, even if it killed him to stand back and let her.
Chloe tipped her face up toward the sky, groaning with frustration, and said, “Leaving money on the counter is not parenting.” She paced again and said, “Don’t pull that crap with me. The only time you call us is when you want to show us off to some new man.” Her voice went ice cold and deathly calm. “I’m done being your doormat. I don’t want to have anything more to do with you, and don’t you dare try to get Serena to meet your newest jerk. She’s finally happy, and if you think Drake or I will let you bring her down ever again, you’re dead wrong.”
She ended the call and faced Justin with tears streaming down her cheeks. He gathered her trembling body in his arms, struggling to suppress the anger eating away at him as her body jerked with sobs.
“It’s okay, babe. I’ve got you,” he said, trying to soothe her. “You did the right thing.”
She pushed out of his arms. Frustrated groans spilled from her lips as she shook her fists at the sky. “Can you believe she wants me to meet another one of her boyfriends? It’s like she doesn’t even see what she does to us,” she fumed, stalking across the deck again, swiping at her tears. “I never cry. She is the only person who can get to me like this, and she’s the one person I wish wouldn’t.”
“That’s because she’s your mother, and you can’t help but care about her. That’s normal, sweetheart. What’s not normal is what she does to you and Serena. What can I do to make this easier?”
She shoved her phone into her back pocket and shook her head. She turned toward the woods and grabbed the railing. Her head fell between her shoulders. Seeing her that hurt and defeated killed him.
He put his arms around her from behind and kissed her shoulder. “Whatever you need, whatever you want, I’ll make it happen.”
She turned in his arms and said, “I need to call Serena, but then will you take me for a ride on the bike? I always feel good when we’re riding.”
“Absolutely. But you know it’s the Fourth of July. Traffic will be awful. We won’t be able to ride fast, but we can still ride.”
“I don’t care,” she said, holding him as tight as he was holding her. She tilted her tear-streaked face up and said, “I just want to be wrapped around you and on the road, away from everything.”
He kissed her softly and said, “Put on sunscreen and your hiking boots, babe. I know the perfect place to go.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
THE FREEDOM OF the bike and holding Justin brought the relief Chloe so desperately needed. She soaked in his strength as the motorcycle crawled through the charming town of Wellfleet, which was decked out for the holiday. Flower boxes overflowed with colorful blooms beneath storefront windows, and American flags waved from above the entrances. People meandered in and out of shops, children carried ice cream cones and cotton candy, and couples sat on blankets in front of the town hall. Chloe remembered wishing her mother would want to bring her and Serena to see the fireworks and parades when they were young, but their mother had always done her own thing on holidays other than Christmas, leaving Chloe and Serena to join the Savages instead.
As she’d done millions of times before, Chloe tried to shove years of hurt down deep, well aware that she couldn’t change the past.
If only she could forget it.
Justin turned onto a residential street, and a block later he turned onto another. They picked up speed, and the air cooled as they