by Leigh Lennon
“Mikayla was my world. I loved her; she was my little sister. I only was hard on her to make her thick skinned in this world, like I’ve had to do with you.”
“Is that how you justify it, Blake? Did you knock her around too?”
“No, I don’t knock you around either. Only when you deserve it.”
“No one ever deserves it!” she screamed, and the next thing she remembered was everything around her fading to black.
Libby
Her mind wandered to Blake. All Taylor mentioned was he’d left for a couple of days. Where was he and could he be capable of hurting someone, actually two someone’s she loved so much? Her mind raced, sorting through files of memories stored in her brain; all that revolved around her kids, her life.
Her phone began to vibrate, pulling her back to the present. She looked at the display and saw it was Taylor. “Hey, sweetie,” Libby said, as she always adored her daughter-in-law and loved her like one of her own children.
Before she could say anymore, she knew right away it was not Taylor whimpering on the other end. “Grammy.”
“Dex, honey. Where is your mommy?”
“Daddy really mad. I scared, Grammy.”
Adam stood immediately at the panic that appeared on his wife’s face. “I’m on my way, Dex. Stay on the line with us.” She covered the speaker and looked at her husband terrified. “It’s Taylor; she’s in trouble.” He grabbed his keys, and they hurried to the car and toward their son’s house, not sure what they’d find.
Colette
“This is bad, really bad,” Colette said.
“I need you to calm down, Cole.” David pulled her into his embrace, only twenty-four hours after his brother-in-law showed up on her front porch.
“I can’t get a hold of her. It’s like her number was changed.”
“Does that surprise you, Cole, with how controlling he is? He doesn’t want you two to be in contact; that would be too dangerous for him.”
“No, not at all, but part of me wants to call my mom.”
“We can’t do that, not now.”
Colette searched his eyes. “I will never regret the life we chose, but it’s time. It’s time I come clean to my mom, face-to-face.”
As he always did with his touch, she calmed. “Okay, Cole, let’s make a plan.”
31
12 years ago
Eight months in captivity
Mikayla
To Nolan’s surprise, it wasn’t that easy to create an identity for Mikayla. It was only with the help of his brother that they finally pulled it off.
After eight months at the farm, Mikayla watched as the small farmhouse where her life began again got smaller and smaller until she couldn’t make it out in the distance. Nolan grabbed Mikayla’s hand. “Are you sure about this?”
Looking up at him, she said, “I haven’t been this sure about something in a long time, if ever.”
“Well, what do you say? Are you ready for our new life together?”
She caressed his face and turned toward him with a smile. “I can’t think of any place I would rather be, David Dubroise.”
“That is good to know, Colette.”
That white snow had finally melted months ago, giving way to beautiful blooming flowers. It was about the new growth that Mikayla had experienced, and the cycle of abuse that once incased her was no longer.
She was saying good-bye to a life she knew but no longer could live. The scared girl who Blake had abused all those years ago was gone. She now was replaced by a stronger version of her old self, one she never saw inside of her, not before David. Sure, their love was certainly not one that would be written about in fairy tales that their children would one day read, but their story was written in their hearts.
She held David’s hand, looking at her new reflection, her new self. She could never be a Stella, a name she told David she was considering early on just to get him off her back. She was no longer Mikayla. Looking at her license, she was now Colette Franche’ until he could make her legally Colette Dubroise. This name suited her—a new life with a new man in a new place. She couldn’t think of anywhere else she wanted to be.
Libby
It had been eight months since she’d seen her daughter’s beautiful face and heard her sweet voice. Life had changed in many ways. Her marriage with Adam was stronger than ever. She relied on him in ways she never thought possible. There were friends of hers she never thought could be as important to her as they had become. Jenna was happy, married, and they had started trying to get pregnant. Blake was starting to see a wonderful young girl who Libby adored. She missed Mikayla more than words could describe; however, she was healing more day by day.
Taylor
Never in her wildest dreams did she expect to be a part of Mikayla Miller’s life. The name Miller was popular, but when she was assigned to Professor Adam Miller’s class that summer, it never occurred to her that she’d be entangled in the life of the girl she had obsessed with for so long. Now, she was falling in love with this entire family, and just as Mikayla’s family felt her presence missing, she felt that same absence, as if she knew her. Only time would tell.
32
Present
Twelve weeks after the first letter
Taylor
Two weeks had passed since she witnessed her husband being carted off in handcuffs as the neighbors looked on with a despondent Libby crying at her feet.
She’d never thought Dexter could use the phone, but her child saved her own life and probably MJ’s.
Her parents swooped into the ER, trying to take Taylor back to their house, but healing had to begin with Libby, as both Taylor and the Millers pulled their way out of the hole this event had placed at their doorsteps.
A concussion kept her in the hospital for two days, but she never entertained going to the home she and Blake shared together. In her mind, it was hard to fathom she could return to her old life in the place that held both her happiest and miserable events.
After she’d been admitted to the hospital, Libby held her hands. “Taylor, I let you down. I never saw this, or was it that I never wanted to see it, until recently?”
She looked away with one single tear rolling down her face. She had more to tell her mother-in-law, and she wasn’t sure how she’d take it. “It got really bad about a year after our marriage.” She paused. “And as you now know, it’s the reason Mikayla started a new life without you.”
Colette
In bed, David held his wife as she wept for the life she’d never know. “I will never regret you,” she said as she kissed her husband as though he were the sole reason she could breathe.
“Oh, Cole, I know.” He took his fingers and wiped away each tear.
“It’s seeing Blake, and how he tried to hurt me; it’s in that I realize I could have stopped him, stopped him from hurting Taylor all these years. It’s my fault. I wasn’t strong enough to go home.”
Moving her face to his, he only said, “No, Colette Dubroise—I will not allow you to blame yourself, sweetness. You gave up everything for a normal life, and I will be damned if I ever let him take anything else away from you, away from us.”
It was then that David took her mouth with his, then reaching his fingers down her pants, he found her core and worked her with two fingers. “You are my everything, sweetness, and I will cherish you and love you and protect you with my last breath.” As she moaned, he moved his head to her pussy, circling her clit.
“Fuck, David.”
“You are mine, Cole, tell me you’re mine!” he demanded, which was one of the few times he had in their marriage, but Colette needed this as much as he did.
As her orgasm took her over, she could only yell, “I’m yours; I’m yours. Now fuck what is yours.”
David sat up, kissing her, and smiled, loving when she demanded what was theirs.
“Where are we going?” Elizabeth asked early one morning when she walked in to see her mom packing everyone�
��s suitcases.
“We are going to visit an old friend you’ve never met before, but I thought it was time.” She looked behind her as David walked into the room, bringing her a cup of coffee. “Thanks, honey. I may just need ten cups of this to make it through this day.”
They decided last night, once Maribel called her with the news that Blake had been arrested two weeks ago and that Taylor had been in the hospital, that it was time for her to break her silence. After Blake’s unannounced visit, Lucas had been monitoring him through some contacts he had acquired over the years. Everyone had been through enough hurt, and it was time to come clean. She only planned to establish her desire for reconciliation at first but on her terms. Only time would tell.
“Why are we stopping?” The ever-growing anxious Elizabeth asked her mom. “Are we getting out?”
David reached for his wife with the universal I got this look. With her moving toward the house that held so much more than just memories, she let the complaints of her daughter fall off her back as goose bumps covered her own body. With each step to the front porch, her heart sped, and she almost feared it would pop out of her chest. With a few small knuckle-pounding knocks, a woman who could have been her twin in another life before Colette changed her face and dyed her hair opened the door not surprised to see her.
Neither woman said anything; as they only stared at one another as though they were looking in a mirror to their past. “I’m sorry, I knew he’d take it out on his wife one day, and I left the future Mrs. Blake Miller to suffer.”
Taylor didn’t break her gaze, and she could read the hurt in her sister-in-law’s eyes as if she were an open book. “I would have loved Blake to the moon and back even if you were here. It wasn’t until I was immersed in it did I know it was wrong.” Taylor reached toward her and took Colette’s small frame in hers, both with enough tears to fill a small lake as they both let out the scars inflicted by him. Pulling back, Taylor looked at her sister-in-law. “Listen, Mikayla, it was never our fault. It was Blake’s. Remember that.”
Colette looked at Taylor, knowing they’d forever share a connection she herself could never explain.
Libby
It was hard for Libby to pinpoint the new normal of her life. It had been only two weeks since she found Taylor on the bathroom floor with the baby in the car carrier next to her. They reached Blake before any more harm could be inflicted on Taylor or the kids. The beer bottle Blake threw at Taylor barely missed MJ. When she received the phone call from Dexter, crying in the background, every fear of Libby’s came into play. She was certain MJ had been a victim of SIDS or Taylor was dead in the living room and had dropped the baby, knocking her head on something. Even after they’d found out Taylor had been abused, she still never could have imagined that Blake could have almost killed his own wife. Worse, after Taylor recovered, she revealed to both her and Adam that Blake had started out with Mikayla, just verbally abusing her at first.
She announced that Mikayla’s old room would become MJ’s new room, and she moved Taylor and the kids into her house while Blake was in jail, awaiting trial. Adam and she would not bail him out; that was a decision they both made while trying to wake Taylor up after Libby carefully extracted the glass particles from the cut on her head.
Taylor didn’t want to press charges. It was not her desire to make the man she once loved go to jail, but it was Adam who finally pushed her into the decision. Understanding that his daughter fled a life from them because of Blake was all he needed to realize he couldn’t help his son, not yet anyway.
How had she missed the signs? That question dominated her thoughts. In hindsight, there was clarity she hadn’t had in the past. The closeness now was something recognized as an obsession. There were times he’d blown up on Libby. There were the clues Jenna pieced together along with Dexter’s warning. She would only forgive herself when those she’d failed extended forgiveness her way.
With four of her grandchildren in her care for the day, she loaded up the double stroller with Anna and MJ with both Emmy and Dexter on each side. The kids had begged for a picnic lunch, and it was abnormally warm enough to warrant such a treat. “Don’t tell anyone, but we will have ice cream when we get home if you are good.”
“Grammy, you the best,” Dexter said, and her heart soared. How had she missed all the warning signs with her son? Would Dexter become the same mean-hearted man to women? Surely, he wouldn’t. Adam never lifted a finger to Libby. She’d make sure he knew how to treat women. Looking at his sweet face, she could envision Blake at that age and wonder how it went so wrong.
Once at the park, she let Dexter and Emmy wander around. It was in the few minutes of soaking in her grandkids that she decided she’d be okay. One day, she’d hear from Mikayla; it was a given, but for now, she’d live for all those in her life.
The park boasted a nice private area away from the road along with many fond memories of bringing her three kids here. Soon, she heard more children descending on the park, but one looked older than her grandchildren, at eight then three, if she had to wager a guess.
The mom shouted their names, and with her affinity to names, she noted they were strong. The woman sat down next to Libby and smiled at her. “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” she asked.
“It sure is. My grandkids bug me to take them to the park. I have four of the five of them today, and it reminds me when my kids were this age.” She started to ramble. “Are you from around here?”
“We are visiting, and I wanted to show my children some of my old stomping ground,” the woman said. “Your grandchildren are beautiful.”
“Thanks so much. So are your kids, too,” Libby said to repay the compliment. “So you aren’t from around here?”
“No, just visiting family I haven’t seen in a while. Your grandkids look similar. All siblings?”
“My son has the boy and the smaller of the two babies, and my daughter has that crazy little girl over their bossing her cousin around and this little one who wants to get out so badly and toddle around with her sister,” she said as Anna was squirming around in the front of the double stroller while MJ was snoozing hard. “This is Anna and the younger one is MJ. Then I have Dexter and Emily.”
“MJ?” the lady asked.
“Yes, Mikayla Jane. It’s a family name, but we wanted to give her a name that was her own, so my son and daughter-in-law decided to call her MJ. At first, I hated it, but it fits her well.” The woman looked on at the little baby sleeping, and her eyes stayed fixated on MJ as if she knew her.
“She’s so precious.”
“Anyway, MJ and Dexter are living with us for now. Their parents are getting a divorce, and their mom needs us.”
“It’s your daughter?” The stranger asked these personal questions, but Libby experienced an out-of-body sensation, as if this woman was someone she could air all her dirty laundry to.
“Actually, it’s my daughter-in-law. It sounds weird, but for right now, she needs us. I’m not turning my back on my son; he just needs help from someone else, and once he gets it, there is a chance he will be a part of this family again. But until then … well, I guess I just overshared with you.”
“I don’t mean to make assumptions, but I was once a part of a volatile relationship, and I was saved from it. I know it’s hard.” The stranger lovingly touched her arm as she gave her a sympathetic smile, and in her touch, Libby’s body stilled, and she was brought back to the days when her lost daughter would walk by her in the kitchen, squeezing her arm like this woman did.
Her body was motionless, and before she could ask this stranger anything, Dexter ran up to her and looked at her and back at his grandma. “I know you; you been here talking to Mommy.”
The lady smiled at him and instantly her voice changed, which Libby recognized, “You are a smart boy. I guess you’re right. You have grown a lot since the last time I saw you.”
Libby couldn’t find the right words to ask what she needed to know. “Um, are you ...?
”
The woman in front of her slid down her glasses and put out her hand. “My name is Colette, Colette Dubroise.”
“Mikayla?”
“I’m sorry, you must have me confused. As I said, I’m Colette. These are my children, Elizabeth and Liam.” She pointed at her kids on the playground.
The love of a mother and child was not any run-of-the-mill ordinary bond. It was forged through years of nurturing, understanding, and love. With her daughter in front of her now, after many years, it was not unreasonable for her to take Mikayla in her arms, but she was content in her touch, and the new person she’d become; after all, this was still her daughter. Libby finally took her hand and shook it. “I’m sorry, you just remind me of someone I once knew.”
“Well, I get that a lot, and I think I could have passed for a Mikayla at one time in my life, but Colette suits me now. It’s nice to meet you, Libby.”
Libby smiled because she’d not told this woman her name.
Colette
At that moment, she saw her husband approaching from their car. As he gave her a kiss on the cheek, Colette noticed that Libby didn’t take her eyes off her. “Libby, this is my husband, David.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Libby,” he said, hugging her instead of offering the obligatory handshake one would give a stranger; not that Libby was traditionally a stranger in David’s eyes.
“It’s nice to meet you, David. You have a beautiful family,” her mother replied as Colette couldn’t take her eyes off Libby while her mother’s eyes stayed transfixed on the two kids running around with her other grandchildren.