“If it was just me,” she told Misty, “I’d already have changed my name and my appearance. I’d have gotten a new passport, a new driver’s license, a new digital life—however the hell one goes about doing that. But I would have figured it out, and I’d have vanished from the face of the earth as Savannah Bishop. I’d have moved somewhere completely different—Hawaii or Europe or Central America—and started all over. But it’s not just me.”
“I know,” Misty said, her voice heavy with the same futility plaguing Savannah.
She thought of her beautiful gem of a boy in the next room. He didn’t just need her, he trusted her, loved her, looked up to her. She couldn’t let him down.
“I know Hank’s been an asshole, but he’s still Jamison’s dad, and he wasn’t always such a bastard,” she said, as much talking to herself as to Misty. “Do I think he deserves to be a dad? Not the way he’s been acting the past few years, no. But I also don’t feel like I have the right to take Jamison’s father away from him completely. I don’t want Jamison growing up with the same holes in his life that I had. And ripping him away from everything he knows, changing his name, lying about his father and running to a place he’s never been?” She shook her head. “I can’t begin to imagine the damage that would cause a little boy. The thought breaks my heart.”
Misty nodded, her expression clouded with misery. “I never thought it would come to this.”
“And that’s a huge concern too—not knowing exactly what Hank—or Lyle—is capable of or to what lengths they’ll go if I leave Hazard, trying to escape completely. Hell, I can’t think about escaping Hazard permanently when I can’t even take Jamison to Splash Mountain in Missoula.” She exhaled, the stress heavy on her heart. “They have contacts throughout the state. Access to nationwide databases. The backing of law enforcement. Look at the petty, manipulative bullshit he pulls around here for absolutely no reason other than to mess with me. What do you think he’d do if I tried to take Jamison?”
Misty didn’t have an answer.
“I keep hoping Hank will wake up one day and stop fighting,” she admitted, feeling foolish and hopeless. “That he’ll finally realize we were just wrong for each other or find another woman and move on with his life. Let Jamison and me move on with ours.” She shook her head with tears pushing at her eyes. “But it’s obvious now, that’s not going to happen.”
To hide her tears, Savannah moved around the living room, picking up Jamison’s toys.
“We’ll figure it out, Savannah. You have Audrey and me…” Misty let the words trail off. Savannah didn’t have to look at her friend to know she’d just realized that Savannah’s entire pool of support consisted of an overworked attorney who lived three hours away and a well-meaning but resource-and-cash-poor friend. “I bet Mark knows something about getting a new identity. He told me he had to jump through some sketchy hoops to get into Lyle’s work-visa program.”
Savannah’s gut clenched. She dropped a sofa pillow and spun. “No. Absolutely not.” Misty’s boyfriend of three months was a great guy, but he wasn’t exactly the brightest crayon in the box. “Rumors spread like wildfire in the mines. You know that. Those guys gossip like high school girls. If that got back to Hank, or Lyle…” She trailed off, sucking a slow, terrified breath into her lungs. “Please promise me you won’t talk to Mark.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I won’t say anything.” Misty gripped Savannah’s arm and met her gaze deliberately. “But, listen, Savannah, if or when you are ready to take that step, you tell me, and I’ll find a way to get you what you need. We’ll figure it out together.”
Savannah covered Misty’s hand with her own. “Thank you.”
“How much cash do you have saved now?”
Savannah’s mind veered toward the hidden hollow panel in the depths of her closet securing her savings. She lived off her meager income from the café and cashed all the checks that came from the court-mandated child support Hank paid by way of a garnish on his paycheck. Then she squirreled the cash away in a secret spot. She’d been doing that from the moment she got the job at the café.
“Last count,” she said, “Twenty-one thousand four hundred thirty-two dollars.”
Misty whistled through her teeth. “Damn impressive, girl.”
“Thank God for Audrey’s tenacity. If Hank weren’t being forced to pay, I wouldn’t have a penny. And he wouldn’t give a damn how that affected Jamison.”
“I have no idea how you do it,” Misty said.
“Yes, you do. The same way you do. We scrounge, cut corners, and work our asses off. I know it sounds like a lot of money, but if I end up using it, that will be because I vanish. I can’t collect child support if I vanish. That cash would burn through my pockets.”
The oven timer dinged, and Jamison zoomed out of his room. “They’re done! They’re done!”
Misty laughed, her gaze following Jamison as he ran past them into the kitchen. “Even Karen doesn’t get that excited about cookies.”
Savannah helped Jamison through the process of moving the cookies from the hot pan to the cooling racks. Then, together, they finished off the dough with one more sheet of cookies.
Once they were in the oven, Jamison jumped, both fists in the air, yelled, “Yahoo!” and ran from the kitchen.
Savannah laughed, dropping pots and pans into the sink. “That kid is the freaking light of my life.” And she wasn’t about to let Hank take him. She glanced at Misty. “You’re working tonight, aren’t you?”
“Yep.” She sighed. “Eighth day in a row. Cha-ching.”
“Would you mind if I walked over and borrowed your car?” Her stomach tightened as she worked up a lie. Okay, a partial lie. Jamison often went to Bailey’s house if he wasn’t in school while Savannah was working. She tried not to use her back door too often, as it was currently her own escape from constant prying eyes and she didn’t want to lose that. But she needed to get out alone to follow Hank. “While Jamison’s at his playdate with Bailey, I wanted to run some errands, and I just want to do them without Nastimeister Corwin in tow. I’ll sneak out the back and walk over.”
Misty smiled. “Of course. Whatever you need.”
“Mommy!” His excited call from the living room interrupted. “Mommy, look!” His words were punctuated by the sound of his hand knocking on glass.
She and Misty returned to the living room and found Jamison at the window, vibrating with excitement and alternating between knocking and waving to someone outside.