Page 96 of The Banned Books Club
Where the hell is she? You and your parents have to know something. You’d better tell me where my kids are and make her return my fucking money. If you don’t and you’re playing some sort of game with me, you’re going to be sorry,you bitch!
He’d screamed the last two words before ending the call.
“He’s losing it,” Gia muttered. At this point, she was afraid Margot would decide to come back, and he’d show them all why she’d felt she was in sufficient danger to run away in the first place.
Just the thought of him scaring Margot to such a degree made Gia call her brother-in-law back.
“It’s about time!” he snapped when he answered.
She didn’t respond to that comment. She had a short and sweet message to deliver, and that’s what she did. “You’d better not ever do anything to hurt me, my sister or my parents, or you’ll be the one who’s sorry,” she said and hung up.
Still seething, she began to pace. Obviously, he’d never dreamed Margot would get the best of him, which was why Gia couldn’t help applauding her sister’s well-executed escape. She’d left him before he could get any type of court order to stop her, and according to what Gia had been reading on the internet, if she stayed gone long enough, Greydon and Matthew would be considered under the jurisdiction of their new state, which would only complicate matters and make it more difficult for Sheldon to gain custody and bring them back. Margot had completely hamstrung him, and he never saw it coming, which was why he was flying into a blind rage. “You’re getting exactly what you deserve,” she grumbled, remembering the cocky grin he’d given her while eating out with Cece.
Her phone dinged with a text message. She thought for sure it would be Sheldon responding to her call, but it was Cormac.
What’s wrong? Are you okay?
She peered out her window to find that he was standing at his own window and had probably seen her marching back and forth across the room.
Should she tell him?
No. He was the one who’d cut her off. Why put herself in a position where he could do it again?
It’s nothing, she wrote and lowered the blind.
He’d blown it. Instead of pushing Gia away, Cormac should’ve been spending time with her while he could. The more days that passed, the more he regretted his decision.
But she obviously wasn’t open to giving him a second chance.
He frowned as he stared at her drawn blind. He’d gotten spooked, plain and simple, and now he was paying the price.
He was just contemplating whether he should try to call her and formally apologize, whether that would change anything even if she answered, when his father texted him.
I hear you’re not seeing Gia anymore. Was it worth it—what you did? You ruined our family for nothing.
Closing his eyes, Cormac shook his head in disgust. He was getting along better with his sisters, but he doubted he’d ever be able to have a relationship with his father.
Until you’re ready to take responsibility for your own actions and apologize, don’t ever contact me again.
After he typed that, his thumb hovered over the send button. Could he really cut Evan off? He’d been trying to maintain a relationship with him for so long it’d become a habit to justify and excuse his many shortfalls. And they lived in the same small town, which meant they’d run into each other here and there—at a restaurant, the gas station, the pharmacy. If they weren’t speaking, it would be awkward. But would Evan ever change if Cormac didn’t demand it?
*You* ruined our family, he added to what he’d written before and sent it before blocking him.
Halloween was hard on Ida. She cried because, after spending every Halloween with her grandkids since they’d been born, she couldn’t even see them this year, let alone get the traditional picture of them in their costumes.
Gia tried to cheer her up by making the caramel apples she’d given out since Gia could remember, and stationed her at the front door so she could be the one to greet the trick-or-treaters. They had plenty of them in this neighborhood—a steady stream, unlike the condominium complex where Gia lived in Coeur d’Alene.
“How are you holding up?” Gia asked after about an hour and a half, when traffic began to wane. “Are you getting tired?”
With a nod, Ida allowed Gia to help her from the chair by the door to the couch, and Leo handled the last of the cowboys, superheroes, doctors, Disney princesses and dinosaurs.
Once the apples were gone, Gia turned off the porch light to signal that they were done for the night and sat down with her parents to rest for a few minutes, too. “That was fun, wasn’t it?” she said in an effort to keep their spirits up.
“It wasn’t the same,” her mother replied. “I can’t believe we haven’t heard from Margot.”
Gia had also thought they would’ve received something else by now. Margot had been gone for two weeks. But she was probably afraid that any type of contact could get her caught. “She must realize that this would be the worst time to take any risks.”
“Why?” her mother asked.
