dad instead and he’s on his way.”
How strange that he couldn’t get hold of Melody. She always has her phone with her. I would think with everything that is going on, she would be quick to answer. I thought she was joking, but maybe her feelings really were hurt when Turner told her last night that he and I needed some time alone. I see the troubled look on his face and shake my head at him.
“Don’t worry about your mom. Maybe she’s shopping, or off telling her friends about her new grandchild. She’s fine. Did you leave her a message?” I ask as I slip my old black leather flip-flops onto my feet. I almost moan at the feel of them. They’re my favorite pair ever.
“I did. It’s just not like her, is all.”
“No, it’s not, but she’ll call back when she can, I know she will. So what is going on?”
My stomach drops when I suddenly comprehend why they are coming over.
Oh, hell. They’re coming to take my statement, aren’t they? I am going to have to tell them everything. How am I going to be able to do that with Turner sitting by my side? They’re going to make me start from the very beginning. For the first time since I have been back home, fear creeps back into me worse than it ever has, because my husband is going to have to hear from my mouth that I slept with another man.
************
“You can come get me at any time if she needs to be fed, or changed, or cries. I’ll just be…”
“Clove, stop,” says my dad. He has just arrived and is in Journey’s nursery sitting in the chair with her in his arms. “I raised two children on my own. I can handle this. Now tell me what’s really bothering you and why you are in here stalling when you need to be out there?”
I roll my eyes at his perceptiveness.
“I’m not stalling.”
“Yes, you are. You’re nervous and frightened and I want you to tell me why.”
“I… I’m afraid of telling them things I don’t want Turner to hear. It will kill him, Dad.”
He clears his throat tensely.
“Look, I have never lied to you and I’m not going to start now. If you don’t think he knows what happened between the two of you then you are sadly mistaken. He does. We all do. Is it going to be easy for him to hear it? No, it’s not. Turner loves you. Everything you did, you did out of love to try and find him. No one faults you for that but yourself. You are the strongest woman I know. You’re a fighter. Don’t give up on yourself or him. The two of you will get through this, I promise you will.”
My heart sinks with every word coming out of his mouth. Last night and this morning, reconnecting with Turner meant everything to the both of us. We’ve taken giant steps in these past few days. I don’t know what I will do if we take those steps back.
I leave the two of them, trekking slowly down the hallway to the sound of several deep voices all sitting in the living room. A recorder is positioned in front of the vacant spot on the couch, which happens to be right in between Turner and Zack.
“You ready?” Turner asks as he moves aside for me to sit.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I say with a strained smile.
The questions begin one by one.
‘When did you first realize he wasn’t your husband?’
‘How did he act at the office?’
‘Did he seem to know his daily routine?’
They continue on and I relax a little. Turner keeps holding my hand, squeezing when he feels me tense up. Things seem to be going well until they ask me what happened when I came home the day I was kidnapped.
“He attacked me the minute I stepped through the door,” I tell them.
“What do you mean attacked you? Can you be more specific, Mrs. Calloway?” The lead investigator asks.
“He beat me.”
“What the fuck?” exclaims Zack, his head snapping in my direction.
“Jesus Christ, Clove,” Turner says from my other side. My head swings back to him.
The FBI agent stands up from his chair.
“Do you need a moment?”
“No, thank you. I would rather get this over with, if you don’t mind.”
I can practically see the steam rolling out of my brother’s ears and Turner’s whole body is so tense I feel he will snap at any