“Will do.”
I close the door behind me and sink onto the ground, refusing to let go of my daughter. She’s alive. She’s living and breathing and giggling because she has no idea how close she came to having her life taken from her. She’s happy and oblivious, the way a baby should be.
“Mama?” she coos, trying to get out of my hold. “Mama!” she yells.
Fuck, Georgia. She doesn’t know Hazel is alive.
Thoughts of yesterday come back to me.
She was in the hospital, in bad shape, and I yelled at her, blamed her. She was at her lowest, we both were, and instead of holding her and comforting her, I kicked her while she was down. Fuck. I was so upset, but that doesn’t excuse the way I behaved. I never should’ve said the shit I said.
I stand, scooping my daughter into my arms, and grab my keys. I have no phone, so I can’t call her. I’ll have to drive over to her parents’ place and see if she’s there. Unless… Did she come home last night?
No, she would’ve heard the knock. Just to be sure, I check out the room and then the guest room. She’s not in either one. Feeling Hazel’s wet diaper, I quickly change it, then put her in clean clothes.
A few minutes later, we arrive at her parents’ house. Her truck was still at the apartment, so someone must’ve driven her to the hospital. I knock on the door and Charlie answers. The second she sees Hazel in my arms, she breaks down into tears, pulling us both into her arms for a hug.
“Oh, thank God.” She holds us for several seconds before letting us go. “Is she okay?” She runs her hands down Hazel’s arms and legs, checking for herself. Of course, Hazel giggles, thinking she’s tickling her.
“She’s okay. Victoria’s ex-husband found her and took her before the place caught fire. She was never near the fire.”
“Hey, Mom, I think—” Georgia’s words ring out and then stop. Our eyes meet, and I note how bad she looks. Her eyes are all puffy, and not just from crying, from being beat on by Victoria. Her lip is swollen and her cheek is bruised. Victoria didn’t just steal Hazel, she assaulted Georgia.
A loud gasp echoes in the quiet house and tears slide down her cheeks. She moves to come closer but then stops. “She’s alive,” she whispers.
I nod. “She’s alive.”
A sob racks through her body, as she shakes her head. “Thank God.”
“Mama!” Hazel yells, reaching out for Georgia, completely unaware of what’s going on. When Georgia makes no move to come over and grab her, I step forward. Only she steps back.
“Georgia… Do you want to hold her?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
Charlie sighs. “Georgia, honey…”
“I’m so glad she’s alive,” Georgia says, her voice shaky with emotion. “I—” She chokes on her sob. “I prayed for this all to be a nightmare…”
“I did too,” I admit. “I’m so sorry about what I said. How I—”
“Stop,” she says flatly, cutting me off. “You have nothing to apologize for. You trusted me with your daughter and I nearly got her killed.”
The way she speaks, her tone devoid of all emotion, sends a chill up my spine. And then it hits me, she said my daughter. As if she isn’t Georgia’s as well. “I shouldn’t have said—”
She cuts me off again. “Yes, you should’ve because you were right. I am naïve and gullible. You trusted me with your daughter and I let you both down.”
She can’t be saying what I think she’s saying.
“I think it’s best if you go,” she whispers. “I’m going to stay here until I find a place of my own.”
No. No. No, no, no. “Please don’t do this,” I blurt out, stepping toward her. She immediately steps back. “I was upset… I thought she had died and I lashed out. I didn’t mean what I said… Hell, I don’t even remember what I said.” Unfortunately, that’s the truth. I was so far gone, I couldn’t even recall all that I said to her.
“It doesn’t matter what you said. I’m not fit to raise a baby. My only job was to protect her and I failed. You both are better off without me.” She glances at Hazel, longing in her eyes. I know she wants to hold her and kiss her and feel her warm flesh and beating heartbeat, but she’s resisting because she blames herself. Because I blamed her. When we got married, I vowed to stand by her side, and when shit got rough, I turned on her.
And now she doesn’t think she deserves to be Hazel’s mom.
I have to fix this. Right now. I did this. And it’s up to me to make it right.
Without giving her time to retreat, I cut across the room with Hazel still in my arms, backing Georgia into a corner. Hazel reaches for Georgia and she flinches.