Chapter 1
The night I came home after drinking with friends, I found my husband taking all his anger out on our nine-year-old son.
It was almost midnight when I unlocked the front door.
The living room lights were still on.
Then I heard Noah crying upstairs.
“Dad, please stop yelling!”
I dropped my purse and ran toward his bedroom.
Ryan was standing in the doorway, furious.
Noah was sitting on the floor beside his bed, hugging his knees.
“What is going on?”
Ryan turned toward me.
“Look who finally decided to come home.”
I knew I had stayed out too late.
My friends had convinced me to have one more drink, then another.
But the moment I saw Noah’s face, my guilt turned into anger.
“Why are you yelling at him?”
Ryan pointed at Noah.
“He kept asking where you were.”
Noah wiped his eyes.
“I was scared because Mom wasn’t answering.”
Ryan snapped, “And I told you to shut up about it.”
I stepped between them.
“He’s a child, Ryan.”
Ryan laughed bitterly.
“And I’m the idiot stuck here babysitting while my wife goes drinking until midnight.”
“That’s between you and me.”
“No, Emily. He kept reminding me you weren’t here.”
Noah suddenly whispered, “Dad said it was my fault you left.”
I froze.
“What?”
Ryan looked away.
Noah’s voice started shaking.
“He said if I wasn’t so annoying, you’d want to stay home.”
My chest tightened.
I crouched beside my son.
“That is not true.”
Then I noticed a suitcase beside his closet.
It was half-filled with Noah’s clothes.
“Why is that packed?”
Noah looked at Ryan before answering.
“Dad said tomorrow he’s sending me somewhere else.”
I slowly stood up.
“Where?”
Ryan’s face changed.
“Emily, don’t start.”
Then Noah pulled a folded paper from underneath his pillow.
“Dad told me not to show you this.”
Ryan immediately moved toward him.
“Give me that.”
I grabbed the paper first.
There was an address printed across the top.
I recognized it immediately.
It belonged to Ryan’s mother in Tennessee.
But underneath it was a handwritten note that made my hands start shaking.
Ryan had written that Noah would be living there permanently.
May you like
And beside my name was a signature that looked exactly like mine.
Except I had never signed it.
