Vindicated (10 page)

Because if Alex was taken back for forever, that would be the end.

Exhaustion washed over me as the minutes rolled by as I sat on that swing.
 
The answers weren’t going to come to me that day.

I had probably been sitting on that swing for almost an hour when my phone suddenly started vibrating.
 
As I pulled it out I found two text messages.
 

You need to get home, like now!
Amber’s said.

I think you should come back right now
, Dad’s read.

Great.
 
What was going on?

I crossed the park, made my way back down the grass-filled alley, and crossed back to the house.
 
As I walked inside, I found Amber and Rod sitting very stony faced on the living room couch, looking on edge.
 
Alex stood in the hallway, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression very serious.
 
My dad was at the end of the hall, knocking on his bedroom door.

“Claire?” he called.
 
“Are you okay?”

I just heard a muffled cry from inside.

“What’s going on?” I demanded.
 
All of their eyes turned to me.

“Alex went to talk to Mom after you left,” Amber said, her face sullen.
 
The way her eyes were so big, I knew there was more to it than she was going to say in front of Rod and my dad.

I looked over at Alex, my eyes questioning.
 
He just shook his head, sending the message of
talk later
with his eyes.

“Claire?” Dad knocked again.

“Just…” my mom struggled to talk.
 
“Just give me a little bit.
 
I’m… okay.”

My dad glanced back at the rest of us, his brow furrowed.
 
He glared at Alex for a second then looked over at me.
 
I must have looked pathetic enough for him not to yell at Alex for doing whatever he had done to her.

“I’ll be out in the garage,” he said as he turned and started back down the hall.
 
“Come and get me if she comes out.”

As soon as my dad was out of the house Amber and Rod turned confused eyes on Alex.
 
“Dude,” Rod said, his eyes narrowing.
 
“What did you
say
to her?”

I looked back at Alex, dying to know the same thing.
 

“I just went to talk to her,” he started.
 
“I said that maybe she should be a little more supportive of her daughter.”

“And that made her scream like that?” Rod asked doubtfully.
 
“I thought you must have suddenly turned into a vampire or something the way she screamed and tore out of that room.”

My stomach sank as I started putting the pieces together.

“Mom will be fine,” I said in a small voice.
 
Taking Alex’s hand in mine, I half dragged him out the front door.
 
Closing it behind us, I walked him to the middle of the yard so we wouldn’t be overheard.

“What did you do?” I demanded, my eyes burning as I looked at him.

“Like I said, I told her that maybe she should be a little more supportive of you and consider that the things you told her about were true,” Alex said, his voice not even defensive.

“And?”

“And… her reaction wasn’t what I was hoping for.
 
It was just like you said it was, only
I
was hearing it from her myself,” Alex’s face was sad looking.
 
“And so…”

“And so what?” I demanded when he paused.

“I showed them to her,” Alex said quietly.

“Them?” I said through clenched teeth.
 
“You showed her your
wings
?”

Alex just nodded.
 
“She can’t really doubt anymore.”
 
He fought back a small smile.

I just stared at him for a minute.
 
I didn’t know what to say.
 
This was something I had never seen coming.

She finally knew the truth.
 
My mom might not have understood it fully, but she had to know that I wasn’t crazy anymore.
 
She had seen it with her own eyes.

“Thank you,” I said quietly, relief flooding through my body.
 
I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his chest.
 
Everything inside of me felt ready to collapse.
 
I was so tired.

“You’re welcome,” he said as he laid his cheek on the top of my head.

I sighed, breathing in the summer air.
 
“I’m ready to go home.”

“Me too,” Alex said quietly.

The next few hours were tense and awkward as we waited for my mom to come out of her room.
 
To pretend I wasn’t freaking out inside, I called Emily to check on Sal.
 
She said Sal wasn’t looking too good and Emily didn’t think she’d slept at all since I’d left.
 
I made a note to call her doctor as soon as we got back.

With little else we could do, we started packing our things back up, the mood somber and quiet.
 
Alex and Rod hauled our things back out to the truck.
 
Amber and Rod both had to be back to work the next day, we couldn’t stay another night to make sure Mom would be okay.
 

Just as the boys stepped back inside, the door to my parent’s room cracked open.

“Are you guys leaving?” Mom asked quietly as she stepped out.

“In just a few minutes,” I answered.
 
In a way I kind of felt sorry for her.
 
I couldn’t even imagine the shock of seeing what she had seen, having never believed this was real.

“Well, I wanted to say good-bye then,” she said as she walked into the living room.
 
My dad walked back in from the garage then, his face looking relieved to see her.

Amber rushed forward, wrapping her arms tight around my mom’s shoulders.
 
“We’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah,” Mom whispered back.
 
“Congratulations again.
 
I’m really happy for you.”

She hugged Rod next, and to my surprise, hesitantly hugged Alex.
 
I didn’t miss the fear in her eyes though.

She looked at me with a mix of emotions in her eyes.
 
I tried to smile as I looked back, unsure if I succeeded or not.
 
I wrapped my arms around her loosely.

“I’m…” she started to say, her entire frame trembling.
 
But she couldn’t seem to make herself say it.

“Bye, mom,” I said quietly.
 
“I’ll see you in two and a half weeks?”

She just nodded as we stepped away from each other.
 
She still looked at me with fear in her eyes.
 
Like I was more of a freak now than I had ever been.

Wrapping up the good-byes, the four of us headed outside and loaded into the truck.

“Well, your dad didn’t shoot us,” Rod said as Alex pulled onto the street.
 
“I guess that makes this weekend a success.”

I gave a half smile as everyone else laughed.
 
I wasn’t sure if I would call this weekend a success or not.

Just as we were getting back into Idaho Falls a light went off in my head.
 
“Hey get off on this exit,” I said.
 
I then gave him a few more directions.
 
As we pulled into the parking lot I saw a smile creep onto Alex’s face.
 
“Um, I’m kind of going to have to borrow your card.
 
If that’s okay?”

“Of course,” he said with a smile as he pulled out his wallet.
 
I glanced back at Amber and saw her beaming face.
 
I bounded back into the store by myself.

Less than fifteen minutes later we were rolling back down the freeway.

CHAPTER EIGHT

I collapsed into my bed thirteen hours later.
 
In less than two minutes I was asleep.
 

And then Emily showed up.

“How long ago did she crash?” I faintly heard her say just outside the door to my new room.

“About three hours ago,” Alex answered.
 
I heard him rummaging around in the kitchen.
 
I wondered if he was cooking for Emily.

“Dang,” she said.
 
“Well, I guess I’ll let her sleep them.
 
We all know she doesn’t get enough of that.”

“I’m up,” I called in a throaty still-asleep voice.

The door opened and in came a yoga-clad Emily.
 
I suddenly felt bad for missing so many of her classes lately.

“So,” she said as she planted herself in my bed.
 
“How did the trip go?”

“Alex showed my mom his wings,” I said as I rubbed my palm against one of my eyes.

“You did
what
?” she called toward the door.

“I showed her my wings,” he said as mundanely as if he were repeating something about the weather.

“I heard that the first time,” she said as she rolled her eyes.
 
“And why was that a good idea?”

“Let’s just say not all of the trip went so well,” I said as I rolled onto my side, propping myself up on an elbow.

“I’m sorry, babe,” Emily said with a small sideways smile.
 
“Was everything else okay though?”

“Uh, sure,” I lied, thinking of the council member who was following me, of the fight that broke out at the engagement party.
 

“Well,” Emily drew out the word, her face forming one of her brilliant smiles.
 
“Today was my first day at the University.”

“Oh yeah!
 
How’d it go?”

“It was so amazing!
 
I actually felt legit, and I’m getting paid some real money!
 
And I’m finally done at that crappy coffee shop.”

“That’s great,” I beamed at her.
 
But I saw the way her smile didn’t quite meet her eyes, saw the bags under them.
 
Cormack leaving was harder on her than she was letting on.

“Then I’m actually going back down to the homeless shelter in a few hours,” she said, her face falling just slightly.
 
“I’m volunteering at a few different places.
 
Gotta’ tip the scales back in my favor.”

I wasn’t sure what to say as the conversation turned to Emily’s judgment.
 
I put a hand on her knee, giving it a small squeeze.
 
“You’re a good person, Emily.”

“Who’s done a very bad thing in her past,” she said quietly as her eyes fell to the comforter under us.

“You can do it,” I encouraged.

She suddenly flashed me another smile, unfolding her legs as she got up.
 
“Well, if you’re really awake you should get out here and see what Alex is working on.”

Furrowing my brow, I climbed out of the bed and walked out the door and into the kitchen.

Alex had two cakes before him, one three-tiered and square shaped, the other six-tiered and rounded.
 
He was kneading a big white ball of what I assumed was fondant icing.
 
The round cake was already flawlessly covered.

“So which one do you like?” Alex asked as he started rolling out the icing.

“Uh,” I struggled.
 
“You’re making full-on preliminary cakes?”

“Well,” he said as he started covering the square one.
 
“To be honest, I’ve never made a wedding cake before.
 
I wanted to make sure I could do it.”

“You had doubts?” Emily said as she rolled her eyes.