Blinding Trust (Mitchell Family #7)(29)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I’m not surprised. So what’s it like there? Are their pictures of skulls all over the place?

No. Not at all. It’s pretty fancy. The whole house is red and white with black accents. You wouldn’t believe what this guy has in his house. He’s got a bowling alley, a home theater room and recording studio.

You sound like it’s amazing.

How are the girls? I miss you already.

I miss you too. It’s good you’re there with Noah. He needs this, I guess.

I’m sorry for how we left things. You know I hate fightin’ with you.

I know. Me too. I’m going to let the girls sleep in our bed tonight. They’re all excited about it.

Give them kisses. I will call you tomorrow, darlin’.

Okay, babe. Goodnight.

We ate outside, once Zeke got back from wherever he had to go. While they enjoyed eating their health food, Noah and I chowed down on barbeque ribs and French fries covered in cheese and bacon. We’d only been there for a few hours and I could already tell that my son was in love with the place.

I was happy that he was having a good time, but it meant that he wasn’t going to be thrilled about going home. I had a feeling that this trip was going to hurt Savanna more than she already was and I didn’t know what the hell I could do to fix it.

After dinner, we watched a movie in the home theater room. Noah sat next to Zeke, while Piper and I sat behind them. They seemed to be getting along good. Noah, who was all smiles, kept laughing at things that his uncle was saying to him. I was too far back to hear what it was, but the kid felt comfortable, that was for sure.

After the movie, I was beat. Since they’d been fine this whole time, I felt like it was okay to go up to my room, while Noah stayed with Zeke and Piper.

Savanna wouldn’t have agreed with my decision. If she’d known that I done it, she’d be on a plane to come kick my ass and take her son home.

I had one week to figure out how to fix this mess; one week to come up with a solution to get Noah and Savanna back to normal.

I’m not real sure what time my son went to bed, but before the sun came up the next morning, he was standing over my bed waiting for me to wake up. I wiped the sleep out of my eyes. “Noah, why are you just standin’ there?”

“Nobody is awake yet. Uncle Zeke said we could go to the beach today. When do you think he will get up? Why is it still dark out?”

I sat up and looked over at the clock. It was six in the morning. I scratched my head and thought about how to explain to my over excited child that normal people liked to sleep in on the weekends and it was actually three hours earlier than it was at home. “Noah, remember how you learned about the different time zones? Well it’s actually three hours earlier than it is at home. Go back to bed for three more hours, kid.”

“I’m not tired, Dad. Let’s watch a movie. He’s got that robot movie in 3D.”

Since we were guests, I didn’t want my son waking up the whole house. As much as I didn’t want to, I climbed out of bed and followed Noah down to the basement, so that we could watch a movie. It was going to be a very long day and I hoped to hell that Zeke had enough sense to install a fancy coffee maker somewhere in the house. I was going to need it.

Chapter 15

Savanna

The weekend went by so slow. My parents had me and the girls over for dinner Saturday and we all went to church on Sunday. Colt called as often as he could, but it seemed like Zeke was keeping them busy. I’d hoped that Noah would want to talk to me, but Colt never mentioned it, so neither did I.

When the girls would fall asleep, I cried until I couldn’t stay awake any longer. As hard as it was for me to accept, I knew that I was losing what we once shared. Our bond had been broken by something so small. It made me wonder if he ever truly loved me.

I thought back to that day when he came into our life. I could have walked away, but my heart told me to stay. I was feeling like this was so much worse than any kind of breakup with a lover. This was a deeper kind of heartbreak; the kind you never got over.

When Monday morning came around, I was physically and mentally exhausted. It was a good thing that Colt’s mom offered to take them on a girl’s day. She picked them up at nine and the house was finally quiet.

I started straightening up when I heard my phone ringing. The number on the caller ID said it was my doctor’s office. Immediately, my stomach started to hurt. I picked up the phone with shaky hands.

Hello?

Is this Savanna Mitchell?

Yes, it is.

This is Kay from Doctor Wellington’s office. He’d like you to come in to talk about the results of your mammogram. Are you available tomorrow morning at nine?

Yes.

I will pencil you in. We’ll see you tomorrow at nine.

When I hung up the phone, I kept telling myself not to panic, but I wasn’t an idiot. Doctors only called you back into the office when the news was bad. My hand went straight to my breast in question. I still felt nothing.

My body sank down on my couch and I just started bawling. A month ago I would have thought that my family could get through anything. Now, with these new developments, I wondered if that was actually possible.

I looked around at the pictures of our family. The one on the coffee table was of the five of us. The kids were all smiling and Colt was looking down at me with a grin on his face. I traced over him.

I didn’t want to think about what the doctor was going to say. I knew what it meant to have a lump in the breast. I also knew that it was a fifty-fifty chance that the results could mean cancer.

I held onto that picture while I continued to cry in the quiet, dark house. It was a good thing that Colt’s mother had the girls, because there just wasn’t anyway I would have been able to keep them occupied without losing it.

I wanted to call Colt, but he already had enough on his plate. Surely my news could wait until he got back. I still didn’t know anything.

I considered calling my mother, but I couldn’t let myself worry her. This was something that I was just going to have to suck up and handle myself until I knew more.

With the exception of the two hours I got after I had taken a valium, I didn’t sleep at all. How could I, when my life could be on the line? I prayed to God for it to be a mistake in the test. It happens all the time. Surely, I could be the one that it happened to. I was a good wife and mother, and a devoted Christian. Not that anyone deserved to have something wrong with them, but hadn’t I been dealt with enough in my young life already?

I arrived at the doctor’s office an hour before my appointment. My palms were sweaty and I hated that I was going in all alone. Wasn’t this the type of thing you had a support group for?