Page 48 of Salvation (Clover-Hills #1)

Wesley

T his doesn’t change anything.

But it did. It changed everything.

Blake was wrong. I don’t pity her—I admire her. A little girl who carried the weight of the world on her shoulders, and a woman who found the strength to rise after watching it all crumble beneath her feet.

The anger that I felt for her is gone in an instant. All six years of it. Replaced by anger at myself for being so blind, and anger at her piece of shit father. At my mother for not telling me, at Elise for not telling me.

That’s exactly why I find myself pulling into my mother’s driveway, knowing the two of them are spending the day together. I slam shut the door of my truck and take wide steps to the porch before pointing an accusing finger at them as they sip coffee in their porch chairs. “Did you know?”

My mom looks appalled by my sudden appearance and hostility, but I forge on anyway. Too angry to see anything other than two women who could have changed the way this went. If Elise knows, my mother knows too. “Honey, what are you-”

Elise places a hand on hers before shaking her head. “Ana.” She stands not even close to meeting my height but somehow managing to look down her nose at me. “Is this about Blake?”

“You know exactly what it’s about.”

“It wasn’t my story to tell, Wesley.”

“The hell it wasn’t. That fucking bastard should be in jail!” I yell, and if I wasn’t so blinded by rage, I’d be horrified. I’ve never raised my voice at any woman in my life. “Where is he now?” I ask.

They share a wary glance. Elise is the one who pipes up first, though. “He was released from prison a few weeks ago. But he’s not even in the same state. He’s on house arrest, Wesley.”

“Where?” I snap. I’ll kill him. I don’t care if it happened nearly a decade ago. And once I’m done, I’ll make sure to visit Elain’s father too.

“Wesley.” My mom snapped. “Watch your tone.”

Elise shakes her head. “It’s fine, Ana. He has every right to be angry.”

She looks at me. “Do you think I didn’t want to get his ass locked up?

Go after him myself? Blake is my daughter.

But there was nothing I could do to stop her from leaving.

Nothing. She was legally an adult, and without the victim present, it was a bit hard to even convince the police to show up at all.

I called him after both she, and the cops left.

I antagonized him, and he reacted exactly as I expected he would.

He showed up at the center. He may not have been arrested for hurting my baby, but I damn well made sure he didn’t get off scot-free. ”

Tears slip down her face, and she doesn’t wipe them away as she continues, “I blame myself every day for what happened to her. For not being home. For leaving her with that monster. I’ve come to live with it.

The only thing I can do now is be here for her.

For however long she’ll let me. In whatever way she’ll let me.

I can pick up the pieces and let the woman who’s struggling to come back up for air breathe again. ”

I shake my head, avoiding her gaze. Elise continues, stepping in closer to me. "She doesn’t need you to save her, Wesley. She did that all by herself. But maybe she just needs you to be her friend again.”

When I meet her brown eyes, the ones that look so much like the woman I’ve spent years chasing, the feeling of tears prickle the back of my eyes. I should have tried harder to bring her back home. I should have paid more attention. I should have noticed what was going on.

How many of those scars on her body are from his hands?

How many nights did I spend safe in my bed with my perfect parents just across the hall when she was cowering in hers?

Elise, as if she can read my every thought, doesn’t hesitate in wrapping her arms around me.

I bury my head in her shoulder. After a minute, my mom’s own gentle hands swallow us both.

And I let myself cry. I don’t care if it makes me less of a man. Or if it makes me look weak. I don’t cry for me. I cry for Blake. The two women hugging me do, too.

***

Blake and I sit at the edge of the pond, pants rolled up and socks off as we swing our feet back and forth in the cool water.

It was one minute before midnight, and Blake and I would finally be turning eighteen this year.

Celebrating our birthdays on the pond had become a tradition, one I made sure we never missed.

We’d sneak out and stay out for a couple of hours until midnight hit, so we could always be the first to say happy birthday to one another.

“Happy Birthday.” I nudge her shoulder. “Now, make a wish.”

She turns to look at me and huffs out a breath. “I can’t in front of you, or it doesn’t count.”

“Best friends are exempt from that rule.”

“Are we? Just best friends?” She looks into my eyes, searching. She knows the answer, but I just smile at her, tucking a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. “We’ll never be just best friends, Blake.”

She looks up at the night sky. At all the stars twinkling above and closes her eyes as she speaks. “I wish...I wish I could call my older self. Just - just so I could ask how she’s doing. If this life gets any easier.”

“It’s stupid. I know.” Blake adds as she opens her eyes and sees me just watching her.

"It’s not.” I say softly.

“I want to leave, Wesley. If I don’t, I might never make it out.”

“Then I’ll go with you.” I lean my forehead against hers. “Where you go, I go.”