Chapter 3: Don’t You Dare Come Home Without Her
I stood in that hallway for a long moment, staring at Audrey’s message on my screen.
*She showed up.
What do I say?*
The teacher put her hand on my arm.
“Are you all right?”
I wasn’t.
But I nodded anyway.
“Is there a side exit on the east side of the building?” I asked.
“Yes.
It opens onto Delmar Street.”
I walked.
I didn’t run.
Running felt like panic, and I could not afford panic yet.
I pushed through the side door and turned the corner onto Delmar.
Derek’s silver SUV was parked halfway up the block, engine running.
Audrey was in the passenger seat.
I could see her profile through the window — her head turned toward Derek, talking fast, her hands moving.
Then she went still.
She had seen me in the side mirror.
I walked straight to the passenger door and opened it.
“Get out of the car,” I said.
“Right now.”
Audrey’s face went white.
“Mom—”
“Out.
Now.”
She climbed out slowly, her dance bag clutched to her chest.
I put my hand on her shoulder and looked across the roof of the car at Derek.
He had both hands on the steering wheel.
He was smiling.
“Hey, Linda.
This isn’t what it—”
“Don’t.” The word came out flat and quiet.
“Don’t say another word to me.”
“We were just talking.
Audrey was stressed about class and we—”
“She hasn’t been in class for three weeks, Derek.”
The smile didn’t disappear all at once.
It flickered first.
Then it was gone.
“That’s not—”
“The teacher told me.
The other students told her.” I kept my voice steady.
“You texted Scott every single time.
*She’s in.
Class looks great.* While my daughter was sitting in your car.”
Audrey made a small sound beside me.
I didn’t look at her yet.
I kept my eyes on Derek.
“Linda, I can explain—”
“You have thirty seconds to drive away before I call the police from this sidewalk.”
He looked at Audrey.
Something passed between them — a look I felt land in my chest like something cold and heavy.
“Audrey,” he said quietly.
“Tell her.”
Audrey stiffened beside me.
“Tell her what?” I said.
Neither of them spoke.
“Audrey.” My voice cracked for the first time.
“Tell me what?”
She was shaking.
She pressed her lips together and looked at the ground.
Derek reached for the passenger door and pulled it shut.
The window slid down.
“This is a misunderstanding,” he said.
His voice had changed.
It was careful now.
Controlled.
“I’d think very hard, Linda, before you go making accusations that could hurt a lot of people.
Including Scott.”
The window went up.
He drove away.
I stood on Delmar Street with my daughter, watching his taillights disappear around the corner.
Then I turned to Audrey.
Her chin was trembling.
“Get in my car,” I said softly.
“We’re going to talk.
And then I’m going to call your father.”
She nodded once.
A tear ran down the side of her face and she didn’t wipe it away.
We walked back to the parking lot together.
Neither of us said anything.
But when she climbed into the passenger seat and I shut her door, I sat behind the wheel for a moment with both hands on the dash.
My phone was already in my hand.
I did not call Scott.
I called my sister.
“Claire,” I said, the moment she picked up.
“I need you to come to my house tonight.
Don’t ask me questions yet.
Just come.”
A pause.
“I’ll be there in forty minutes,” Claire said.
I started the car.
In the passenger seat, Audrey stared straight ahead, one hand pressed flat against her sternum like she was trying to hold something inside.
“Mom,” she said quietly.
“I didn’t know how to tell you.”
I put the car in reverse.
“I know,” I said.
“But you’re going to tell me now.”
