Her mom had given her money, enough to fill the pantry and pay the bills until she worked out what she was going to do. For the first time ever she would be in control of her own fate. It was an exhilarating feeling, and she smiled to herself. There was no bed that night for her or Wren, so she had put Wren on the couch for the night. Billy said he’d bring beds as soon as he could from his mom’s house. She moved comforters and blankets to the floor in the large bedroom. Sometime during the night, Wren had snuck into her bedroom, and now shared the space with her. She hugged him to her, molding around his curved body. She smiled into his hair, inhaling the scent of shampoo.

She would be getting Ty in the morning from her mom’s house, then their home would be complete. Her mom had been so supportive, offering to babysit Ty while Vanessa sorted things out with Billy and the new house. Her mom had known the old lady who had lived there before Billy brought the house, she’d been moved into a nursing home by her children. Vanessa had brought the cot and nearly all of Ty’s stuff with them as baby stuff was expensive to replace and obviously Mark wouldn’t be needing it. There was no way that he’d be getting to see her children. He could take her court if he wanted to, but he wouldn’t win.

The ring of her cellphone startled her, and she quickly silenced it. Wren mumbled in his sleep but didn’t stir. One guess as to who it was. Mark. A jolt of electricity coursed through her. She was afraid, imaging that he was outside, waiting in his car. She knew that was silly; there’s no way he knew where they were already. He would never connect Billy to her, he probably didn’t even know that Billy was back in town. The ringer stopped, and she put the phone on the floor. It rang again almost immediately, and she ignored it again. It stopped, and she sighed before it rang again. He continued to ring her nearly every ten minutes, so she put it on the kitchen bench and went back to bed, dreaming of her boys playing in the backyard.

They were free.

6

By nine the next morning, Vanessa and Wren had unpacked the kitchen boxes, had breakfast, dressed and brushed their teeth. Vanessa had been up since dawn, unpacking boxes in the lounge, making muffins, checking her phone and worrying that Mark would bang on their door at any moment.