Falling Fast (Falling Fast #1) - Tina Wainscott Page 0,94
“Are we?”
“No. No, of course not.” Rose turned to Raleigh. “I love you for everything you’ve done for me and Cody, for offering, but Mia’s right. As tempting as it is to let you take the fight, I couldn’t live with myself. What kind of person—what kind of mother—would that make me?”
Mia sagged into the chair, the emotions and the adrenaline of the past few minutes draining her. “We’ll talk to Grace and let her handle everything. If you come forward, maybe they’ll do a deal. Your maternal instincts overtook you, something any parent would understand. Because Hank was going to grab the knife, it could even be seen as self-defense.”
Rose nodded, tears streaming down her face as she covered her mouth with her hand.
“Mama?” Everyone turned to Cody, who was sitting up on the couch, confusion on his sleepy face. “You killed Dad?”
Damn, why hadn’t she thought to make sure he was still asleep before she pressed Rose for the truth?
Rose nodded, sobs making her words hard to understand. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
He ran over, wrapping his arms around her. “Mama, I don’t want you to go to jail.”
“I don’t, either, but we have to pay for the things we do.” Rose’s eyes closed as she held her boy tight.
After a few seconds, Cody looked at Raleigh across the table. “You said you’d go to prison for her.” Not a question, so he’d heard enough.
Mia hoped he wouldn’t ask Raleigh to do it to save his mom. “But you know he can’t do that. He’d be lying to the police. To everyone.”
Cody shook his head and rushed forward, hugging Raleigh now. “You can’t do that, Raleigh. It wouldn’t be right.”
“I won’t.” His blue eyes met hers over Cody’s head. “I want to do everything I can to protect your mama and you, but I can’t give up my life…Mia…to do it.”
Cody turned to Mia. “You and Raleigh will take care of me? Promise?”
“Cross our hearts and hope to die,” Raleigh said.
His fingers curled into Raleigh’s shirt. “No, don’t hope to die!”
“He doesn’t like that expression,” Mia said.
“Sorry, I know that. We’re going to do everything we can to help your mama. She’ll have Ms. Grace in her corner, and hopefully she’ll only go away for a little while, if at all. Until she gets out, you’ll live with us.”
Cody loosened his grip, his pained eyes on his mother. “You killed him because of me.”
Rose reached forward and brushed a lock of hair from his face. “It wasn’t your fault, baby. He was a bad man. But I shouldn’t have killed him. I just wasn’t thinking straight.”
“We’ll be here for you,” Mia said softly, stroking his back. “Through the tough times and the good times. That’s what friends and family do.” She slid Raleigh a meaningful look.
He reached over and placed his hand at the back of her neck. “Yes, we do.”
“Like when Mia wouldn’t leave, even when you wanted to protect her,” Cody said.
“Exactly.”
Mia covertly reached over and pressed the stop button on her phone’s recording app. Luckily she wouldn’t need it as a backup.
Rose asked, “Can we go to the police, and talk to Grace, in the morning? I’d like one more night with my baby boy.” She let out a sigh. “Besides, I’m so tired. I can barely put one word in front of the other.”
“Sure,” Raleigh said. Because he’d do anything for them. “Why don’t you stay here? You can sleep out on the deck, under the stars.” He slid Mia a smile. “It’s pretty amazing.”
Fifteen minutes later, mother and son were settled on the deck, one on the couch, the other on the chaise lounge that was pulled right next to it. Cody kept touching his mother, hugging her, as though she might disappear right there.
Mia and Raleigh dragged themselves to the bedroom, and she barely had enough energy to climb into his arms and slide her leg between his. To get as close as possible.
Her nose brushed his chin, and she pressed her hand against his cheek. “You would have gone to prison for Rose.”
“It was the first thing that came to mind. To protect Cody. I wasn’t thinking…didn’t even consider—”
“Me?”
“I did, but in a gut-wrenching, heart-shattering way. Of absolutely losing you. Letting your parents think I was a murderer.” He tightened his hold on her. “Preserving their family was all I could think about in that moment.”
“Family means a lot to you. Because you never really had one. I understand.”