"Mommy, come on, I have to show you what I found in the backyard this morning!" Maddie wriggled her way out of Marley's arms and took off running to the house. Marley climbed to her feet on wobbly legs and quickly dried her cheeks.
It was her fault Mack wasn't here. Marley knew that. Just like she knew she had to accept her decision and move on. She'd live for her daughter and that was all there was to it.
Marley clutched the doorframe and watched Maddie jump into the colonel's open arms. Marley's mother, Jane, enveloped both of them in a hug.
The picture-perfect family stole Marley's breath. She could have had that with Mack.
As if sensing Marley behind her, her mother spun. She took in Marley with a knowing glance and held open her arms. Marley flew to her mother, and as soon as her cheek hit her mom's shoulder the tears started flowing again.
"You scared us," Jane whispered.
Marley sniffled, so thankful to be home. "Just a slight delay, I'm home now, and that's all that matters."
Just like Marley had done to Maddie, her mother squeezed the breath out of her and then leaned back. The searching gaze her mother gave her probing deep enough to make Marley lean away. Jane, as usual, was having none of that. She put her hands on each side of Marley's face, forcing her to look at her. "Then what's causing the shadows in your eyes?"
I lost the man I loved. Again.
"There's no shadows, mom."
Jane clucked but thankfully didn't press the issue. "I'll let you get away with that for now."
Maddie's soft high-pitched voice filled the room, "Come on mama, you have to see my new pet!"
She squirmed until her grandpa set her down and took off out the kitchen door. Marley passed by her father and went to the patio where Maddie knelt over a large cardboard box, talking softly to something inside.
Marley felt her father's presence behind her "Did you have any trouble?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle."
She turned to look up into her father's eyes, there was a simmering anger present she hadn't noticed before. "What happened?"
Before dad could speak, her mother burst into the conversation. "I'll tell you what happened, some man was sneaking around the backyard. Your father tackled him with nothing but a knife from the kitchen, hogtied him and kept him locked up in the guest bathroom until a couple of men in black suits showed up and hauled the intruder away. Scared the living daylights out of me."
Her father didn't even blink. "What did you want me to do, invite him in for cookies?"
As if on cue the oven timer dinged and her mother went into the kitchen and pulled out a heavenly smelling batch of chocolate brownies. She sat the pan down on the oven top a little too hard before answering. "I wanted you to do what any normal person would have done and call the police. No, you had to relive the glory days. You're not as young as you used to be Col. Mitchell."
Her father's unreadable expression fell into a frown. "I wasn't too old to take down that asshole now was I?"
"Language!" June waved her bright yellow spatula in the air like a club.
"Look mama, I named her Penelope!" Maddie's tiny fingers were wrapped around a small rabbit with fur the exact same shade as Mack's eyes.
Marley knelt, chest squeezing, and gently stroked the rabbit's back. "She's beautiful," was all she could manage to get out. "Can I hold her?"
"Grandpa won't let me hold her for long. You have to be really careful. She is just a baby."
With trembling hands, Marley scooped up Penelope.
"Can I keep her mommy?" Maddie's sweet voice penetrated the fog of pain winding its way around Marley's soul. Her bright shining face staring up at her hopefully.
"Of course you can, sweet pea." As if she could kill the hope shining so brightly from her daughter's eyes. This would be her penance, her constant reminder of the man she'd hurt and the future that she had personally demolished. She'd never see Mack Grey again.
Marley reached around to gently stroke the rabbits pink nose and it bit her. Pain instantly seared the tip of her finger. "Ouch."
"Here, give me the rabbit." Her father scooped up Penelope and took her inside.
Maddie giggled. "She doesn't like you as much as she likes me."
Marley stared at the welling blood on her finger. Of course, the rabbit wouldn't like her. Just like Mack. Tears silently streamed down Marley's face as if someone opened up an internal leak no one would ever be able to plug.
"We need to clean that and put a Band-Aid on it. Come on." Her mom wrapped a loving arm around Marley's shoulder and guided her through the house to the bathroom.