“What’s going on?” I say louder than necessary.

Micah stiffens. “Elsa, what are you doing here?” Saying he was surprised to see me is an understatement. I believe the word uncomfortable is how I would describe him at the moment.

Really? “Um…my job. I brought the last few boxes you needed and left Trevor back at the office. Now, is there a reason she’s raising her voice, and you are holding her son?” I point from Micah to Carla.

Micah shrugs his shoulder. “He was fussy, came to me, so I picked him up. For some reason he got quiet when I held him, so I’m taking advantage of the time now that her son is quiet to explain. She was talking loud because he was fussy.”

Glancing from Micah back to Carla, I feeling like I’ve entered the twilight zone. She’s holding the manual looking frazzled and asking him questions. Not giving me a second thought. Micah looks so uncomfortable, I would laugh if I wasn’t so upset. I keep telling myself it’s silly, but for some strange reason, I don’t feel like I want to kill him. I know deep down he would never cheat on me, and my insurance is knowing Matt would never allow it to happen. An added benefit of Micah working with his brother, I guess.

Walking over to Micah, without a second thought, I hold out my arms and the little boy comes willingly. I never bothered to ask Carla if it was alright to do so. She doesn’t seem bothered that I did that. She just continues with her many questions, holding Micah’s undivided attention. Either she doesn’t have a clue how to use her new system, or she’s using it as an excuse to keep Micah longer than necessary. Well, guess what, I’m not leaving until he does, so she might want to take notes.

The little boy is really quite sweet and seems more than comfortable in my arms. At first it was odd, but after a few minutes I swayed him back and forth and before long, he drifted off to sleep. So many different emotions flutter in my head and my heart.

Carla lets out a ‘huh.’ “I’m amazed, he was so fussy. Once Micah held him, he completely stopped, and now you put him to sleep. I might need to borrow you both at night, he keeps me up to the wee hours of the morning.” Yeah, I bet she would like Micah here at night with her.

Poor baby, he’s totally fine right now. Maybe it’s his mother.

“How do you know Cindy Winters?” I blurt it out, not even thinking if it was proper or not.

“What?” She tries to act surprised, but the look she’s giving me tells me she almost expected the question. Odd!

“Well, she’s an old friend,” she nervously plays with her shirt sleeves. “Why do you ask?” Her mouth keeps moving, but her eyes won’t acknowledge me.

She’s not a good liar.

“I’m her daughter.” I say it slowly.

“Oh…I see.” It’s all she says, continuing to keep her hands busy. Turning her attention back to Micah she decides she suddenly understands how to use the new system and that her husband should be home tomorrow night. He would be in touch if they needed any further instructions or questions. With that, she eagerly wants to dismiss us.

She takes her sleeping son from my arms and he stirs. Upon opening his eyes, I notice how beautifully blue they are. He’s so unbelievably breathtaking. A look of terror washes over his face as he wails. Loudly. Matt walks in with an odd expression on his face. He gives Micah a nod before letting Carla know he’s finished. With a crying son, she pushes us out the door, wanting to put her son to bed.

“Good Lord, that was weird.” I can’t help saying.

“Yep, sure was.” Matt can’t help chuckling.

Wrapping his hand around my shoulder, Micah whispers in my ear. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Matt drove the truck and Micah came home with me. The rest of the night, Micah’s quiet, and it leaves me with an unsettled feeling. Something doesn’t seem right. In fact, the night ends on a quiet note. I let it go…for now.

Saturday morning, I’m barely awake and feel cold. It’s obvious I’m alone in bed. No wake up kiss or anything. Stumbling from our bedroom, I hear Micah having a conversation. Apparently, he’s on the phone. Keeping his voice hushed, he sounds tense. I find it odd and unsettling, especially with his odd behavior last night. Walking closer to the living room, my stomach flutters anxiously when I notice Micah hunched over sitting on the couch.

“No man, what if he’s wrong?” Stretching his head back, he rubs the back of his neck. Yep, he’s tense.

“Hell if I know, he’s the one that needs to make sure before I go telling her a word.”

I must have made a noise because Micah turns his head feigning a fake smile. Rolling my eyes, I give him a look like really?

“Got to go.” He says switching off his phone.

“Hey babe, how long you been up?” He fails miserably in his attempt to cover up his conversation.

“Don’t you mean how much did I actually hear?” I correct him.

“Shit,” he lets out an angry sigh. “This is exactly what I was trying to avoid.”

“What are you trying to avoid?” I ask, not moving an inch.

Holding out his hand, his fingers move and welcomes me. “Come here.”

Sitting, I’m forced to listen to a very sordid story and I’m in total disbelief. I can’t begin to comprehend what he’s saying. Tyler, the man Matt hired to help him, was either a miracle worker or he was just plain nuts. My mind’s spinning, and I’m not sure what to think. I soon realize there is only one place I can go to get the answers I need. It’s the last place I want to get them.

Driving to my parents, I’m silently shaking my head that any of this holds much truth. All this time, how can this be? Could they have known all of this time? Why? It makes no sense.

I walk right in without even knocking, I’m shouting my parents’ names, as I sprint through the house looking for them. Micah hasn’t said a word since we left our house, a part of me wanted to come alone to get my answers, but I needed him here. This concerns him as well.

“Mother!”

“Dad!”

No answer.

“Jesus Christ, where are they?” I shout again a few more times, this time I go straight to their room. Knowing my mother, I know where she most likely keeps things. Her private things, she stores in her closet in a box way in the back. Funny how I seem to do the exact same thing.

Finding the black velvet box, I’m afraid to open it. I’m afraid what I’ll find. My hands shake as I slide the box between my legs. Taking a breath, I look over my shoulder to Micah, who slowly sinks to his knees behind me.

My hands shake, my breath halts. “Well, let’s see if there are any secrets in here.”

I only get a faint head nod from him. His eyes tear up, not knowing what I might uncover. Cautiously lifting the lid, it has blue tissue paper covering it. It seems my mother keeps her things neatly stored.

Moving the tissue back, I notice the stack of envelopes, and my heart plummets. I’m hesitantly moving the tissue back careful not to rip it. Sure enough, I see the name I feared I would find. Sometimes, it hurts even more to be right. At the moment I wanted to be wrong. But I was disappointed once again, knowing what I may uncover makes my heart skip a beat or two.

“Carla Mitchell,” I say thumbing through every last one. “They are all from Carla Mitchell.” I’m in total disbelief.

I say it, but don’t even look back at Micah, because he knows it as well. We both realize what I’m about to uncover.

I look at the dates on the envelopes, praying they don’t date back to around four years ago, but to my astonishment they do. Somber filled tears stream down my cheeks. The letters are in order from newest to oldest. I slowly read the dates, feeling sick. I feel betrayed and downright lied to. At the bottom of the box is a thicker letter that catches my immediate attention. It reads Contract.

What the hell?

Holding the letter so Micah can get a better look, he reads the words, wondering what they mean. I don’t wait, I open the damn thing. Scanning the document it looks legal, it has names, dates and oh my God!