“That was after I ran away from the safe house,” Sarah said slowly. She’d forgotten about Catherine’s visions. She had had no idea that Catherine would have spent so much time worrying about her. They hadn’t seen each other in over a year when she’d disappeared from Chicago. She’d just assumed that Catherine would go on with her life.
“I knew you were in danger. I felt terrible that I couldn’t help,” Catherine added.
“Well, you helped me today. If you hadn’t hit Rick over the head with that bat, we could all be dead now. Where did you get it, anyway?”
“Teresa’s hall closet. I was going for an umbrella, but I found something better. Dylan had told me to stay put, to call the cops, but I knew he was walking into a volatile situation. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”
“I never thought you had that in you,” Teresa said, amazement in her voice. “You, Catherine, were always such a pacifist, peace, love, joy, harmony. What happened to that?”
“I’m not a pacifist when it comes to people I care about. By the way, what’s with going back to your old name, Tracy?” she asked, turning her attention to Teresa. “You hated that name.”
“I’ve been trying it out, but I think I’m going to stick with Teresa.”
“You two always thought that changing your names, or pretending to be someone else, would make a difference,” Catherine said. “It was a stupid game you played. You can’t hide from yourself. Don’t you get that?”
Sarah glanced over at Teresa and saw the same sheepish expression in her eyes. “We get it,” Sarah said. “It just took us a while.”
“A long while,” Teresa agreed. “So what am I going to call you now?”
She thought for a moment. “Sarah. I’m going to be Sarah, because that’s who I am to Caitlyn and to Jake, and with any luck I can keep them both in my life.”
“You will,” Teresa said with confidence.
“And you’re keeping us, too,” Catherine said firmly. “We’re family. And now that we’re back together it’s going to stay that way. Besides, someone needs to keep you two out of trouble.” Catherine stood up and opened her arms, sending them both an expectant look.
Teresa groaned. “We are not doing a group hug.”
“Yes, we are,” Catherine insisted. She went over to Teresa and threw her arms around her. Teresa squealed in protest.
Sarah moved to join them. For the first time in a long time, everything was right in her world. She wondered how long it would last.
* * *
Sarah’s optimism faltered with the dawn of a new day. She’d received a call earlier that morning from a police detective in Los Angeles who wanted to talk to her in regard to Shane Hollis’s murder and the fire at her apartment building. He’d insisted that she come down to Los Angeles for an interview. She’d had no choice but to agree. The more crimes she could pin on Victor, the easier it would be to keep the police from being interested in prosecuting Jake for Victor’s murder. So far Jake seemed to be in the clear—so much in the clear that the local cops had said he could return to San Francisco. And, of course, Jake wanted to take Caitlyn with him.
He hadn’t asked her permission. He’d just started making a list of what he would need to take care of Caitlyn once he got home. Then he’d headed out to the store to pick up supplies. Those supplies were now packed in his car, and he was waiting on the sidewalk for Sarah to bring Caitlyn to him.
Everything was changing. One chapter of her life was over and another was beginning. She’d done this before, started over, but she hated having to do it again. This time she really had no choice. She wasn’t the only one making the decisions.
She moved slowly down the porch steps, dread and worry weighting each step. She knew she had to let Jake take Caitlyn home. He deserved time alone with his daughter, and Caitlyn needed to be somewhere settled and safe. Sarah also knew she had to go to LA and finish cleaning up the mess she’d made eight years ago. Those were the facts. The facts
sucked.
How on earth could she let Caitlyn go?
Aside from the past few days, they’d never been apart. And having been apart had only made Sarah want to keep her daughter at her side for every second of the rest of her life.
Caitlyn played with Sarah’s hair as she walked down the path to the sidewalk. She liked to twist her fingers in the curls, a happy little game that always made her smile.
Sarah paused by the car and turned back around so Caitlyn could see Teresa and Catherine on the porch. “Say bye-bye,” she told Caitlyn.