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Back When She Returned Save as PDF
Chapters (48)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT
  3. CONTENTS
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. ONE
  6. TWO
  7. THREE
  8. FOUR
  9. FIVE
  10. SIX
  11. SEVEN
  12. EIGHT
  13. NINE
  14. TEN
  15. ELEVEN
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. EIGHTEEN
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. THIRTY-THREE
  38. THIRTY-FOUR
  39. THIRTY-FIVE
  40. THIRTY-SIX
  41. THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. THIRTY-NINE
  44. FORTY
  45. FORTY-ONE
  46. FORTY-TWO
  47. FORTY-THREE
  48. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

We watched him as he made his way across camp with Miles. Our eyes had been glued to them whenever they were around, studying Abner’s interactions with Miles. I had noticed things I’d never seen before, like how he flinched every time Abner moved fast and the way he was never more than a certain distance from him, as if an invisible cord was tied to him, but not in a good way. He cowered in fear whenever Abner raised his voice. Margo had seen it all too. We didn’t need to talk about what it meant. We’d had to pull Abner off adults when his punishments went too far. What would happen if he lost control with the children and no one was there to stop him?

I double-checked to make sure no one was around before quickly filling Margo in on what had happened last night. “I thought he was going to smother her,” I whispered out of the corner of my mouth, keeping my eyes straight ahead.

Margo instinctively kissed the top of Zed’s head. “What will he do when he can’t quiet them?”

“What about what we were talking about before?”

“Leaving?”

I nodded, looking behind us again.

“I’d never make it. I lose pieces of blood every time I walk.” Her hands were still buried in the bubbles of the dish soap. We’d been relegated to light dish duty until further notice.

“You’re still bleeding like that?”

“Yes, and I’m scared. It’s been a week. That’s too long. Sometimes I feel like I’m going to pass out just from standing up.” She dropped her voice even lower. “I think I’m going to die here.”

“Don’t say that,” I hissed. “You can’t talk like that.”

“It’s okay. I’ve accepted it,” she said. There was no fight in her voice. “My baby is going to die, and so am I.”

“Stop it.” I pulled her hands out of the water and dried them on a towel. “Your baby isn’t dying, and neither are you.”

Her eyes rolled slowly as she tried to focus on me. “Save your baby, Kate.”

I pointed to the tree stump behind her. “Sit. You need to drink water. You’re dehydrated.”

She started laughing, but within seconds her laughter had moved into tears. I grabbed my water and brought it up to her lips. “Drink this.”

She took a sip. “I still love him, you know. Even after everything that’s happened. All this time.”

I assumed she was talking about Abner, because I shared the same conflict, but I followed her eyes to the gathering area and found them centered on Will.

FORTY

FORTY

ABBI

NOW

How’s it going?