“But you didn’t need to?”
“No. And when you were born, he delivered you as a secretly planned C-section while your father was out of town. Told him it was an emergency, and that as a result I couldn’t have more pups.”
This is all news to me. “Really?”
“Oh, I can have more pups, but your father didn’t know that. At least he stopped pawing at me. But it’s also one of the reasons he gave me more leeway with you, because he was upset you weren’t a ‘natural’ birth. He worried it made you weaker. And it was pretty obvious early on that you weren’t an Alpha.”
“Why didn’t you tell me I was a C-section?”
“Randolph told me not to tell anyone. He spun up the story of how I bravely labored while he raced to make it to my side in time, but there were complications, and he almost lost both of us.”
“People felt sorry for him and didn’t question why no more pups.”
She touches her nose. “Yep.”
I lay a protective hand over my stomach. “At least she won’t have to worry about that bullshit.”
“Thank the Goddess.” She squeezes my hand again. “I wouldn’t blame you for hating me for everything you’ve been through.”
“No!” I hug her again. “I know you were trapped. Was that the money you gave me? An escape fund?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I had $20k in cash. But what I gave you was all I had in the house at that time. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you more then.”
“Well, it got me here safely.” I smile. “So it was more than enough.”
“I moved the rest to a hiding place in the house after you left. I fantasized about leaving. I tried calling you a couple of times on the phone I gave you, but it went to voicemail. I never left a message.”
“Why didn’t you leave then?”
“I worried he’d find you again. If he did, I wanted to be there. If he brought you back, I planned to kill him.” Her gaze turns murderous, something I’ve never seen in her before.
Ever.
“I planned to stab him in his sleep,” she continues. “Didn’t even care if I got charged with murder. Then I started worrying that maybe he found you and lied about it. That he’d killed you. Or what if you came back and I wasn’t there, how would I ever find you again?”
I glance at the time. “Let me change clothes, and you can ride down to the barn with me.”
“I’d like that, sweetie. Thank you.”
I leave the T-shirt on and swap sweats for a pair of shorts I can still wear low on my hips. I can wear Todd’s jeans as long as I roll the cuffs up by about a foot, but that’s pretty ridiculous. He told me to order clothes and gave me his card, but I haven’t yet.
Ten minutes later, we’re riding in the ATV down to the main barn. I glance over and see Mom’s contented smile, her eyes closed and nose lifted as she inhales. “Freedom smells good,” she says.
I laugh. “Smells like cow shit, but yeah. Smells really good.”
She laughs with me, and it’s a sound I realize I don’t think I’ve ever heard before. Not really. “It’s beautiful here,” she says. “Where are we?”
“Central Florida.” While I’m positive she won’t rat us out, I’m still remembering Jax’s admonitions to be careful until my father is dead.
“I wondered. I knew it had to be the southeast. Pine trees and palmettos, but not super hilly. Didn’t think we’d still be in Georgia, either.”
“You’ll like it here. The people, the land.” I don’t even get into the initiation part of things, because maybe she won’t have to if Dad’s dead?
And that’s not exactly something I want to think about right now.
I don’t go straight to the main barn. I give her a quick tour of the operations, cruise by what’s now the horse pasture, and explain everything.
The smile doesn’t leave her face, and we stop when Costco walks up to the fence. We get out, and I pet the gelding’s head when he sticks it over, looking for affection.
