Season of Change(113)

                “I wasn’t going to leave them here with you unless they knew what you were capable of.” Evy turned to play to the crowd. “His father left Slade a note, asking him to follow him. And Slade did. I came home just in time to save him from doing it.”

                The eyes of the Harmony Valley residents stared at him in wide-eyed disbelief.

                “That’s not true,” Christine said. “You didn’t save him. He saved himself.”

                He should have told Christine the entire truth instead of letting her believe...

                “Is that what he told you?” Evy’s lip curled.

                Christine glanced over her shoulder at him. “Slade?” And then when he didn’t say anything, she said more uncertainly, “Slade?”

                “Christine...I...” Slade had trouble choking the words out. “The truth is I realized too late that I wanted to live. The truth is I would have died if she hadn’t found me.” The words cost him. Slade felt as if he was falling in on himself, the same way he had that fateful day in November. “I was lost. And I...”

                Christine’s mouth gaped open. Gone was her fight, her compassion, her understanding.

                He wanted to latch on to her and beg for forgiveness. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and Faith and Grace. He wanted to swear on his mother’s grave that they could trust him.

                But it was too late. The moment he omitted the foundation of his horrendous mistake to Christine, his chances had already slipped away, like a twig drifting out of reach on the current of the Harmony River. And with it, the promise of love that was as soft and elusive as the scent of vanilla when she was near.

                “I told the judge,” Evy was saying. “I told the lawyers. I was afraid of what he might do to my girls, of what he might convince them to do.”

                Flynn swore. “Slade is more stable emotionally than you are.”

                Will stepped out of the crowd. “If you were so worried about your girls, why did you leave them here in the first place?”

                “It was part of the revised child-support agreement.” Evy kept moving closer to Faith. “I had to give them to him or risk everything.”

                “The money, you mean,” Will said. “You wanted more money.”

                “The best schools cost money.” Evy’s huge diamond glinted in the headlights.

                “So you made your ex-husband look like a monster to his daughters and then left them with him?” Flynn said too casually.

                Evy didn’t flinch. She’d convinced herself what she was doing was right.

                If their roles were reversed, Slade couldn’t say he wouldn’t do the same, because he’d do anything to protect his kids.

                “We’re fine, Mom.” Grace spoke up. “And Dad is fine, too. You were wrong. You don’t have to worry. Go back to New York. We have nearly a week left.”

                “Grace, do as your mother says.” Slade’s quiet words seemed to stun the crowd. They stopped Flynn and Will from coming closer. They didn’t understand the lengths Evy would go to. She’d make the twins suffer more than they were now. “Go get your things.”

                “I won’t leave you, Dad.” Grace jutted her chin out. “We won’t leave you. Don’t make us go.”