The Outsider Series: The Complete Omnibus Collection

Chapter 26-2

The days got worse. When Brad came in, he ate and left.

Katy started whining over little things. She didn’t like her dolly, the book—Trevor was bugging her.

Crystal treated Emily like a servant, always demanding. Do her laundry, make her tea, coffee, clean her bathroom, make her bed and iron her shirts. And always when Emily was busy with the children. After the second day, Cliff and Mac had stopped coming in for dinner, and last night, Brad didn’t show up at all; which had Crystal storming out of the kitchen after eating alone.

Brad never explained to her what happened in his fight with Crystal. He kept his distance from her and Trevor. How could she have been so fooled by this man, believing he had integrity?

The few times she’d seen Brad come in, Crystal was right there. She’d run her hand up his chest or arm and smile in such a seductive way; Emily wanted to knock the grin off her face. The last time, Brad gripped her wrist and pushed it away; he stared at Crystal with such contempt. None of this made sense.

Emily couldn’t sleep. She resented Brad for abandoning her. For not standing up for her—for not being the knight in shining armor she’d believed him to be. Emily could no longer subject Katy to this type of cruelty.

Crystal had stopped Trevor’s therapy, and taken over the therapy room upstairs.

It was underhanded how it happened. Emily had gone into town with the kids. It wasn’t until Emily had slipped upstairs to work with Trevor that she discovered everything gone; replaced with unfamiliar boxes and art supplies.

Crystal had appeared as if suddenly conjured up, in her designer jeans and silk blouse, looking as if she stepped off the page of a fashion magazine. “I told you there would be no more therapy.” She sauntered around Emily and Trevor into the room, raising her eyebrow as if to accentuate her point. “I’ve already discussed this matter with Brad.”

It had taken Emily over an hour before she was able to track Brad down. He had been out in the north field. She saw him as soon as he cleared the tree line, riding Smoky. He dismounted and passed Smoky to Mac. “Unsaddle him.”

She couldn’t hold it in, as she clutched Trevor and Katy’s hand. “How could you stop Trevor’s therapy, move his toys, his therapy programs—everything out. How could you go along with her?” She trembled with the anger, the strain. It was all too much.

Brad bunched his fists and turned away from Emily and allowed a flow of foul curses to break free. The force of the words and the venom in his voice made Emily jump. Then he caught sight of movement by the side of the barn. Cliff leaned against the barn watching. Brad pounded the dirt as he stormed toward Cliff. “What the f**k do you know about this f*****g bullshit and what that b***h did?” He grabbed the man’s jacket and shoved him against the barn.

Emily took a step back. She had a pretty good idea that, for Brad to use the “F” word, it was a good indication of just how pissed off he was. We’re talking code level red. Cliff tried to get away. When Brad let go, Cliff stepped back on his narrow long legs, his face pale, holding his hat in hand. His rumpled blonde hair was in bad need of a haircut.

“Uh, your wife made me move the things out. I put them in the storage shed at the back of the barn.”

Emily hurried past Cliff and into the barn. She yanked on the wooden doors. Brad covered her hand with his on the door frame. When she looked up to him, she knew he saw the clear pools gathered in the corner of her eyes. He put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. Then he opened the doors wider. There, just inside the doorway, piled against the sidewall; were the books, toys, teaching material, child’s table and chairs.

“I’m sorry, Em, I can’t believe she did that, we’ll get a room set up in the bunkhouse. There’s an empty room in there and it’s well away from the house.”

She just shook her head. “No, Brad. Trevor is your child. Do you have any idea of what it took to get you to see there was something wrong with Trevor, to get him help? And you let this happen. You can’t allow this to happen to Trevor, Brad.” To know when you’re beaten is not a great feeling. Emily couldn’t remember experiencing such a hollow loss. This wasn’t her fight, and she couldn’t take it on. Brad winced, knowing full well she was right. Emily held tight to both kids and strode away with her head high.

She didn’t turn around when the wooden doors slammed closed, the clink of the lock as Brad shut away all Trevor’s therapy tools. She kept going into the house, Brad on her heels. He brushed passed her and the kids as they shed their coats, taking the stairs two at a time, stomping down the hall to where Crystal was holed up in her newly reclaimed sanctuary, with her easel, paints and sketchbooks. The door slammed shut and an argument raged for twenty minutes, before Brad stormed out, without mention or glance to Emily.