Page 28 of Wrecked By You

“Come to Mama.” Suddenly, my mother fell on me and wrapped me in her arms. The smell of smoke and booze and everything I remembered from growing up assaulted me.

I pulled away from her. “Don’t.”

Her hands jerked back, and her face looked like I’d slapped her. “Isla. You’re back. I’ve had people telling me they saw you. Someone even said you were working as the dispatcher. Where’s Kyle? Where’s that baby? Doesn’t a grandma get to meet her baby?”

I pulled away and started running. “Stay away from me! Just stay away!”

I ran as fast as I could, hating myself and second-guessing why I’d come back here. My mother had tried to keep my father out of prison, and she was going to testify that he should get out. She blamed me for him going to prison. Now she was acting like she cared about me?

I could hear Damon behind me. “Isla. Slow down.”

I got to the parking lot and stopped, putting my hands over my head and breathing hard.

Damon came to my side, breathing hard as well.

I turned to him. “Listen, I’ll just walk back to the station and go home.”

Damon took my hand and started pulling me toward his SUV. “I’ll give you a ride.” He opened the door for me.

I hesitated. My mind spun. “You have your kids still here.”

Damon pulled out his phone. “I’ll text Canyon, and I’ll come back and get them. It’s fine.”

We got into the car and buckled up. Damon took off quickly. He was speeding, so I was startled when he suddenly stopped and turned to me. “Are you okay?”

I thought of the way my mother looked, and it fully dawned on me that now she officially knew I was here. “I shouldn’t have come here.”

We got back to the police station, and I got out of the SUV and rushed toward my car.

Damon was hot on my heels. “Wait.”

I got inside the car and started it. Since he was there, I rolled the window down.

His face was troubled. “Let’s talk about this.”

I shook my head and hated the fact that tears were streaming down my cheeks. “I have to go. Thanks for this evening.” My hands were shaking, and all I could think about was the fact thatthere was no way to get away from my mother. What had I been thinking, coming back to Refuge Falls?

“It’s going to be okay.” Damon reached inside and put his hand over mine on the steering wheel. “We can work this out together.”

I felt like a caged animal. “Damon, let go. I have to go.”

He pulled back and looked uncertain as I drove away.

When I got back to the ranch, I was still trembling. It was dark, almost ten o’clock at night. I needed to run. My body needed a release.

I put on my running shoes and my AirPods and ran out the door. I ran down the gravel road to the main street. I stayed to the side of the road, keeping up a good pace. It was easy for me to run. It was a way for me to get out all my anxiety and stress. True, it was slightly creepy out here since it wasn’t a highly used road, but I kept track of where I was. Then, after about forty minutes, I turned back.

When I got back to the house, I was surprised to see Damon’s SUV parked out front. I started walking on the gravel road and put my arms over my head to give myself a cooldown. Where was he?

I didn’t have to wonder very long, because I saw the hulking man sitting on the stairs on my front porch. Damon looked dejected and angry. He stood and moved toward me. “Where have you been?”

I was surprised by his anger but matched it with my own. “Why are you here?”

He got to me, coming to a stop about a foot away. “You went running? In the dark? You know I’m having your house patrolled, right? Because you have some psycho ex out there. Why would you go off running by yourself?”

I got angrier. “News flash: I’ve been doing this by myself since I left town. And I’ve been dealing with my mother mywhole life. I needed to run. I’m careful. I even try not to go into areas where there’s no cell service. I have to run.”

“It’s dangerous.” His face was stern.