“We should wait with you until he comes.” He looked concerned, but his friends were all for leaving, and they called out to him to go with them.
“No, I appreciate it, but you’ve done enough. Thank you.” I just wanted to get Ellie back to her mother. “Really, you’ve done enough,” I repeated and caught his look of relief as he turned and left with his friends.
“What was that about? Why were they doing that?” Ellie searched my face for answers.
“They were after me, not you. This had nothing to do with you.” Tears spilled out of my eyes and ran down my cheeks. The adrenaline started to leave my body, and I could feel the impact of Henry’s punches. “It’s okay now. You saved me, Ellie. You did just the right thing.”
“John has smiles, and I have screams.” She nodded.
“I’m very happy for your screams.” I laughed out loud, and she smiled back, uncertain. I knew I had to get us out of there now, before I let what happened seep in to freeze my limbs. Everything hurt inside, but mostly in my heart. I had almost gotten Ellie killed. John would never forgive me for this. This could end us.
With jittery hands, I wrapped my shirt around me and snatched up my broken phone before I took Ellie’s hand and we headed toward a nearby coffee shop. My anger grew the closer we got to the safety of the street. When we turned the corner near the shop, and I saw people moving around like normal, it fired an unreasonable anger inside me. The realization that life was going on just a short distance from where I was in a parking lot about to get kidnapped, raped, and beaten to death made me realize how extremely fragile life really was.
“Ellie,” I turned to her, “can I ask you for a favor?” I whispered as more pain registered. My tongue was dry, and my head throbbed. “Hey, Ellie, can you keep a secret just between you and me?”
“Do I keep it from Mom, Dad, and John?”
I am officially the worst human ever.
“Yes. Is that too much to ask?”
She thought for a moment, and with every second that passed, I felt guilty for my request. It wasn’t fair to ask her to do this, but I needed time to mentally prepare for this to be John’s last straw with me.
“I can do that.”
“Really?”
“John and I have secrets, like I broke the lamp in the living room last month, not our dog.” She pulled on an old memory, and I tried to act normal instead of explaining what I was talking about.
I felt a little of the weight on my shoulders lift. It wouldn’t last, but it was nice for now. I guiltily hoped she would forget what happened and our deal, or at least hoped her version of the story wouldn’t be too bad.
“Thanks.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay.” Third lie of the day.
I managed to clean myself up in the restroom and zip up my coat. Ellie was kind enough to give me a moment for myself and kept her back turned while I gathered myself. I hurried so my dirty-tattered shirt wouldn’t be picked up by Kelly, who looked about ten years lighter when she walked through the front door.
“This may go down as one of the best days I’ve had in years.” She hugged me, and I tried not to cry at her mothering touch.
“I’m so happy to hear that.” I smiled through the storm inside me.
“Did you ladies have fun?”
“Yes,” Ellie answered a little monotone.
“Great!” Kelly was on too big of a high to notice our fake smiles or the fact that you could see that Ellie had been crying. Or maybe that was a normal look for her these days. Either way, I felt the guilt seep through what little armor I had left. “Well, Ellie, say goodbye to Sloane. We need to need to leave before traffic gets too bad.”
“It was wonderful to see you both.” I slid out of the chair and slowly walked them to their car.
“I’ll call you later.”
“Actually, I managed to lose my phone somewhere on the way back. I’m going to try to get another before I head back to my hotel.”
“Oh, no, I’m sorry honey. I’ll let John know too.”
“Thanks. I’d appreciate that.”
Ellie gave me a wave goodbye, and I watched as they pulled away from the curb. Once they were out of sight, I covered