Chapter 2

My thoughts drifted back.

I couldn't hold back tears thinking about everything that had happened.

When we were no longer my mom's weakness, new ones always seemed to appear.

Today was the second day of Christmas vacation. I looked forward to visiting my family, but because of a call from my aunt Joanna, we rushed from home to check on Grandma.

On the way, I had to cancel a trip I'd planned. My brother, home from the military, rarely got time off, and I wanted to take him somewhere fun.

An hour later, we pulled up at our grandma's house.

My uncle Reece was loading luggage into his car.

When he saw us arrive, his wife Joanna dropped her bags and hurried toward my husband Karson Rogers' driver's seat, looking both surprised and delighted. "Karson, you didn't have to come. It's the holidays, for goodness' sake."

Her fawning completely ignored the three of us in the car.

I turned to her. "Joanna, you know what day it is. One call from you, and we drop everything to get here. Joanna, can you ask Reece to move the car? We need to get inside."

"Sure." Joanna forced a smile. If Karson hadn't been there, she'd have lost it on the spot.

My mom sat quietly in the back. She never cared for Reece's family but couldn't let go of my grandma, who raised her.

Seeing she wasn't getting anywhere with us, Joanna turned to Reece with a snide tone. "Your niece wants us gone, so let's not overstay our welcome."

We carried our things into the living room and noticed a big fridge there, locked with a chain.

"Well, look at that. They're guarding it from us? Like we're here to raid their food," my brother said, eyeing the lock and shaking his head.

Good thing we planned ahead. Most of what we brought was food.