Julia
“Hey, Mom?”
I whipped my head up from where Lachlan and I sat on the couch on his outdoor patio.
Although I wasn’t sure “patio” was the correct word. It was so much more than that. Like another room of his extravagant home, complete with fire pit, large-screen television, and built-in exterior grill.
After breakfast, Imogene went up to what had become her room, probably to talk to Roman, who’d texted her practically every hour to check on her after learning of Imogene’s connection to the escaped convict. Since we were out of earshot of curious ears, Lachlan and I took the opportunity to fill Nikko in on everything going on.
Until Imogene peeked her head through the sliding glass door, her expression uncertain.
“Is everything okay, sweetie?”
“Yeah. Everything’s fine,” she assured me, stepping onto the patio. But when she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, I knew something was up.
Or that she wanted something.
“Umm… A bunch of my friends from school are going to Skyline Park. Roman asked if I could go.” Her voice rose in pitch toward the end, dark eyes pleading.
I gazed at her for several moments, my heart squeezing.
But there was no way.
“I’m sorry, Imogene,” I said with a sigh, hating to disappoint her. “Any other time, I’d have no problem with you going, provided you checked in every hour and kept your phone tracking enabled. But with Nick’s whereabouts unknown, I can’t chance it.”
“You said you weren’t going to allow him to dictate your life,” she argued, voice becoming louder. “Refused to go to California and Hawaii because you didn’t want him to have that power over you.”
“And I don’t.”
“How is this any different?”
“This is vastly different,” I replied calmly, hoping it would temper her own anger and frustration. “Yes, I said I wasn’t going to allow Nick to force me into hiding, but I’m still taking precautions. We temporarily moved to Lachlan’s.” I glanced his way, and he gave me an encouraging smile. “Which was a compromise on my part. On both our parts. So while I don’t want to uproot my life because of him, I still must be realistic. And the reality is that Nick is an extremely dangerous individual who poses a true threat to not just my safety, but also yours. So I’m sorry if you don’t like my decision, but my priority has and always will be you.”
“But everyone’s going,” she whined, growing increasingly irritated.
“And I’m sure your friends will understand why you can’t go.”
“So… What?” She placed her hands on her hips, attitude going from irritated to DEFCON 1 in a matter of seconds.
She certainly had my temper.
And my stubbornness.
“I’m supposed to stay a prisoner here while my friends get to have fun?”
“You make it sound like this place is a hellhole. There’s a pool. Batting cages. A game room with a pool table and dart board. I’ve never been arrested, but I’m pretty sure jail cells don’t come with these types of amenities.”
“I don’t care about the amenities,” she shot back. “I care about my friends. I’ll be the only one not there. Then tomorrow at school, everyone will be talking about how much fun they had. And I’ll feel left out all over again.”
“You won’t have to worry about that, because you won’t be going to school tomorrow,” I told her, not thinking it would be a big deal.
I was wrong.
“What?!” she shrieked. “You can’t be serious.”
I glanced at Nikko and Lachlan as they discretely stood and slipped inside the house, allowing me to handle this on my own. As much as Lachlan had become a part of Imogene’s life, I was still her mother. I had to make all the decisions regarding her wellbeing.
Even if those decisions clashed with what she wanted.