“I’m perfectly safe in Newsom Creek. Being around you will put me in danger.”
“No men following you home?”
She shook her head.
“No threats from fans?”
She shook her head again.
“Look, Fin, just leave me alone until this dies down. Maybe be seen around another woman so they realize I am, in fact, not the one,” she said through gritted teeth before tossing her thick brown hair over her shoulder and walking out of the building.
I didn’t want to be around or be seen with another woman.
She was the one. She was the only one for me.
The articles weren’t justgossipfor once.
“Sure,” I lied.
CHAPTER 25
TATUM
PRESENT
Mom’s face appeared on my screen, and I quickly answered her video call, a wide smile pulling at my lips.
“Hi!” I exclaimed. I loved phone calls with my mom. She was my best friend, and I could come to her about anything.
She and my dad had worked hard to give me a normal childhood. I spent all of my holidays with them and my older brother Dustin. Family was important to all of us, and I loved how close we all were.
“Hey, baby. You’re glowing. I was a little worried after I saw the news article about that shooting. You were named, Tatum. Are you okay?”
I blew out a soft breath, my light dimming. Her brows were pulled low over her eyes, and I could hear Dad and Dustin murmuring in the background, no doubt eavesdropping.
“I don’t really want to talk about it,” I told her honestly. “If I do, I’ll cry and freak out, and I just…I’m tired of crying, Mom.” She nodded understandingly. “I’m sure the news article covered everything. But I’m okay, as much as I can be right now. Fin was there, and he…he helped.”
“Griffin?” she asked, her brows arching onto her forehead. “I sawhis name in the article, that he saved you. But he was there? With you? At your condo?”
I flushed and nodded just as the front door opened. Millie walked in with sunglasses over her eyes, no doubt suffering from a hangover. She threw a wave in my direction before heading straight to her bedroom. I focused back on my phone.
“Yes, he was here,” I said, answering my mom’s question. I grabbed a bottle of water and headed out onto the balcony so I could talk to her in private without my nosy best friend butting in. “We, um…might be together now?”
Mom squealed. I laughed. Dustin poked his head into the picture, frowning at me. “If he hurts you again, he’s got me to answer to,” he said. I loved this about my brother. He was overprotective, but he also knew how to step back and let me make my own decisions, my own mistakes, and my own choices.
I snorted. “I can handle myself, Dustin.”
He grinned at me. “Never have to with me having your back, little sis.”
Mom shoved him away before beaming at me. “All my dreams for my baby girl are coming true,” she gushed. “Now”—she settled in her recliner—“tell me everything.”
I jolted upright in my bed, blinking away the nightmare and looking around my dark room. It had been years since I had a dream like that.
The kind where your wildest dreams come true.
When Mom initially passed away, I used to dream about what our life could have been like had Dad not left. I loved to imagine Dustin as this perfect, overprotective brother. I loved to see Mom smiling.
It was always extremely hard to wake up and come to terms with my reality. I suffered from depression for the first six months. I spent most of the day sleeping because, in my dreams, Mom was still alive.
