Shavon looked in the rearview mirror. “Hello, sweetheart. How’s my baby girl?”
“Mama.” Her eyes filled with tears and her mouth turned down in a pout. “Mama.”
The baby girl’s tears broke Shavon’s heart. She looked over her shoulder. “Ah sweetie, I know you miss your mama. I do, too. But we’ll do the best we can together. You’ll see. Everything will be all right.”
Georgie’s bottom lip quivered.
Shavon pulled to a stop in front of the house. Once upon a time, a butler would have greeted her, but the butler left when Grandma Nora passed on. She’d been 105 and still sharp as a tack.
Grandma had understood when Shavon had come to tell her Sophie had been killed the previous week. The first words out of her mouth had been, “That asshole did it, didn’t he?”
When Shavon confirmed that he had indeed murdered his wife, Grandma just sighed.
“I wish I’d been able to convince her to leave that bastard and come here. But I might as well have been talking to a wall. Sophie wouldn’t hear anything bad about Bruce Vinson. I know you tried as hard as I did.”
And she had. The last time he beat Sophie, she pointed out his cheating, his unreasonable attitude about her working and about most everything having to do with Sophie being outside of the house. He was completely paranoid about her meeting and falling in love with someone else.
Shavon hoped shewouldfind someone else, but Sophie only had eyes for Bruce, right up to the day he’d killed her. And she’d kept her real situation a secret from Shavon. If she hadn’t maybe Shavon could have saved Sophie, but she’d never know now.
Shavon hated secrets. Seemed the people she cared for the most had felt it necessary to keep secrets from her. And it cost her. First Steve, her ex-fiancé and then her sister, Sophie.
That was in the past and she needed to stop thinking about it. Now she needed to raise Georgie. She would teach her to be a strong woman and not let any man, or anyone else, take advantage of her or abuse her. Shavon would make sure what happened with her mother didn’t happen to Georgie.
Shavon was bone tired. That was the longest ten hours of her life. She couldn’t wait to get as far away from Denver and the memories there as she could. She got out of the car, placed her hands on her lower back and stretched backwards.My God, that feels good. I need a massage but that is something that won’t happen for a long time.
She unbuckled Georgie from her car seat.
“Hi, baby girl. How are you? I bet you’re hungry and need changing. It’s been a long time since our last pit stop.”
Georgie sniffled and Shavon felt like every terrible person she’d ever known for making the baby wait to have her diaper changed.
“Okay. Let’s go inside.” She lifted Georgie out and carried her up the steps, across the wide, covered porch to the front door which she opened and walked inside.
She’d left Grace in charge when she’d driven to Denver for the last time to get Georgie. That had been a week ago. Shavon picked up Georgie from Social Services after going through a custody hearing and fighting off Bruce’s sister for custody. Shavon was a lawyer and no way would she lose the most important case of her career—winning custody of Georgie. After picking her up, she’d gone to the local Walmart and bought new clothes, diapers, bottles, food, everything she could think of that Georgie might need.
She didn’t want anything from Sophie’s apartment. She’d had absolutely nothing Shavon wanted, except Georgie. Once she had her and finished shopping, she’d driven back to Twin Bluffs, though not at such a furious pace. The drive was about ten hours. They stayed overnight in Buffalo, Wyoming, left there the next morning at six and after stops for food and gas they arrived home about ten-thirty.
Shavon was hungry. She’d skipped breakfast, the hotel had breakfast included, sweet rolls, toast and waffles. No protein. Nothing that would stay with her. It was all empty calories and she skipped it. Shavon promised herself she’d stop in Sheridan for breakfast. By the time they reached Sheridan, Georgie was asleep and Shavon didn’t want to wake her so she drove on.
Now that they were home Shavon felt like a huge weight was off her shoulders.
The housekeeper, Mrs. Grace Underhill, had been with Grandma Nora for longer than Shavon had been alive. She hurried down the hall to the living room from the kitchen. Grace was probably in her early-to-mid-sixties, with beautiful white hair, sparkling green eyes and a laugh that was infectious. She’d watched Shavon and Sophie grow up. The house wouldn’t be the same without Grace who, luckily for Shavon had agreed to stay on when Grandma died.
“Here, now. I didn’t hear you drive up. Let me get that diaper bag, and you can carry Ms. Georgie to her new room. As you wanted, I’ve gotten the downstairs bedrooms ready to go. You’re in the main bedroom and Miss Georgie’s in the adjoining room. The beds are installed. A crib and a twin bed in her room and a king bed in yours.”
Shavon kissed the older woman on the cheek. “Thank you so much, Grace. I do so appreciate it. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Can you grab my overnight bag, too. It’s the small bone colored satchel.”
Grace blushed. “You’re welcome, honey. Sure, I’ll grab that and the diaper bag and bring those in first. Then I’ll get the rest of your bags. You go on and change the little princess.” She sniffed the air. “I’d say she needs it.”
Shavon laughed. “She’s needed it for about ten or so miles, but I was so close to home, I didn’t want to stop. I guess I should have, but the sweet thing didn’t complain once. Luckily, I have everything I need to change her in that diaper bag. I have lots of bags in the hatch, too. We did some shopping before coming home.”
She huffed out a breath. “I didn’t take anything from Sophie’s except the diapers and a couple of outfits that I’d given her for Georgie. I didn’t want anything else. Sophie gave me the necklace Mother had given her on my last visit six months ago. If I’d known then what would happen, I’d have pulled her out of there kicking and screaming if I had to.”
“Ah, honey. Sophie didn’t want you to know. She knew what you would do and that’s not what she wanted.”
“I don’t believe she wanted to die either.” Shavon’s voice broke. “But look what happened.”
Grace walked over and hugged Shavon. “You did what you could. Everything Sophie would let you do and that’s all you could do. Now just love Georgie and raise her to be a strong, smart woman but not a fearful one. Do you understand what I mean?”