He Left Me to Die. Now I'll Survive Without Him! novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Shelby

I didn't open the gate.

I stood on my side of it with the rifle on my shoulder and looked at her through the wire.

"Where's Brent?" Shelby asked.

"Down the road."

"He left me." She was shaking so hard her teeth clicked. "At the roadblock. Those men grabbed the truck, and he got in with them and told them where you were, and he never even looked back."

"I know."

"You know?" She stared at me. "Then you know he sold me too."

"I know what he is."

Behind me Cody had gone still.

He stood against Eli's leg with the dog at his side and didn't run.

"Mom?" he said.

Shelby made a sound that wasn't a word.

"Baby," she said. "Oh, baby."

She put her hand through the wire, and he took one step toward it, and then stopped and looked up at Eli.

Eli put his hand on the boy's head.

"It's your call, bud," he said. "She's your mom."

Cody walked to the gate and put his fingers in hers.

I watched them.

I thought of every word I had planned to say to this woman.

I had her number in my head: seven years, a rented house, a smile at my kitchen table.

"Lena," Shelby said, crying. "I know I don't deserve anything. I'm not asking for me."

"No," I said. "You're not."

"Please. For him."

I looked at Eli.

He didn't tell me what to do.

He only held my eyes, and nodded once.

I unchained the gate.

"You come in," I said. "On conditions."

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