Page 164 of Hidden Ties

At four o’clock, she headed out the door to the elevator. She silently prayed the whole way out of the building that she wouldn’t run into Livvy.

She made it to bus stop and didn’t have to wait for long before the bus arrived.

She was the only passenger getting off at her stop. She started walking to her apartment two blocks away. The dam she had forged when Denny had died and Glory had been so seriously injured had held steady. But finding out about Kent’s betrayal was straining her dammed-up emotions.

Each step she came closer to her home, she felt as if her heart was going to burst out of her chest. Approaching a crosswalk, she stopped briefly when a dark car came toward the streetlight. With the light turning red and the green light showing the pedestrian signal it was safe to walk, she still waited until she perceived the car was slowing down.

She stepped off the sidewalk and onto the crosswalk and made it to the middle, when she heard the motor gunning on the approaching car. Sage took off running at the sound. Out of the corner of her eye, she knew she wasn’t fast enough to make it in time. In a desperate attempt to save herself, she threw herself toward the sidewalk with a sob.

Landing with a bone-jarring thud, she found herself lying on the sidewalk as the car sped away. Whimpering, she sat up, feeling stinging pain on her shins and the palms of her hands. When she stood, a jarring pain shot through her leg, forcing her to limp the rest of the way to her apartment building.

She concealed her pain when she greeted the girls as they rushed down the short hallway toward her.

“Auntie Sage!” Grabbing her thigh, Colby hugged her. “I missed you!”

“I missed you, too.” Bending down, she picked Tinsley up before she could grab her by the other leg. She limped down the hallway, then gratefully sat down on the couch by Glory’s feet.

Glory lowered her iPad to study her. “Rough day?”

“It’s been challenging,” was all she managed to get out.

Clenching her teeth to ignore the pain of Colby jumping on her lap, she reached into her purse for the chocolate kisses. After peeling the foil off, she gave them to the girls before giving them each a toy unicorn phone. The girls squealed with delight, then jumped from her lap to sit on the floor and jabber into their phones.

“How?”

“Nothing. It was busy because I was gone for a day.”

Glory didn’t seem convinced but dropped the subject, moving on to one she really didn’t want to discuss.

“Well …” Glory prompted, “are you going to tell me all about your night out?”

“There’s nothing to tell, but I won’t be seeing Kent anymore.”

“Oh no! What happened?”

“I found out this afternoon he’s been seeing someone who he specifically told me last night he wasn’t.”

“The”—Glory looked down at the girls innocently playing before looking back at her—“cheating liar. I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?”

“There is nothing you can do. I’m going to fix dinner. Do you need anything?”

“No. Allie is in the bathroom. She’s changing the sheets for me. I spilled a glass of water when I took my medicine.”

“I could have done that.”

The woman she had hired to care for Glory while she was at work came out of the bedroom, interrupting them discussing her.

“Hi, Sage.”

“Allie, I could have changed the sheets.”

“It was no problem.” The woman brushed aside her protest. “There’s not much here to keep me busy; your sister is so easy to take care of. I hope it’s okay, but I made a tray of lasagna and put in the fridge. It just needs to be heated for about an hour.”

Allie’s kindness after the day she had was almost her breaking point.

“It’s more than okay. You don’t know how much it means to me you’re taking care of Glory and the girls.”

The young woman shook her head. “I’m the one who owes you. If you hadn’t hired me, I’d still be working for Ivo.”