The entire ride home, Keith fought the urge to explode and only Carter’s presence kept him under control. How could Sara not have told her only family that she was in a relationship?

He hadn’t pushed to meet her grandmother since Sara had blown him off at Thanksgiving and gone without him, though maybe he should have. Their lives were so busy and he figured that they would get together over the holidays so he didn’t give it too much thought. He knew that since Thanksgiving she’d spoken to her grandmother several times a week and been to visit at least one other time that he could remember. Was she ashamed of their relationship? Or was she not as serious about it as he was?

That couldn’t be the answer. She was living with him now and they loved each other. She told him so on a daily basis, and several times each night. Sure it had only been a week since they’d said the words, but he never doubted her sincerity when she said them.

He was proud that she was his woman and wanted everyone to know. They spent time with his family and friends almost every week, and Sara always seemed happy and at ease with him. Try as he might, he just couldn’t come up with a reason for the secrecy.

By the time they arrived at home, Keith had managed to calm down enough to have a conversation with Sara. He hoped he would ask his questions, she would have reasonable answers that would dispel the doubts that had crept into his mind, and they would move past this and spend the rest of their lives together. Unfortunately, one of his major doubts was sitting on his front porch.

He found it hard to believe that Molly showing up right now was a coincidence. Right when Keith was wondering if his relationship with Sara was nothing but an elaborate sham. Had this been the game all along? Was she working with Molly to get her involved in Carter’s life?

He didn’t think so at the time, but looking back on the past few months, knowing Sara hadn’t shared that they were dating with the most important person in her life, made him wonder. Every kiss, every sweet word, was now suspect. He wasn’t sure what she hoped to accomplish by making him love her, or what the end game was, but it didn’t matter. He felt used. And angry.

Molly stood up on shaky legs. She was so thin it looked like a stiff wind would knock her back down. Keith could hear her yelling profanities at them even though all the windows in his car were closed all the way. He hadn’t seen her in nine months, since Carter was born, and she looked terrible. Any weight she’d put on from the pregnancy was long gone, plus another fifteen pounds she couldn’t afford to lose. Her skin hung off her bones and she appeared to have aged a good five years, and Keith could see all this clearly because she was wearing a skirt and thin coat even though it was December.

When she started walking towards the car, she weaved so badly she fell, landing on her hands and knees in the snow. Keith would’ve laughed if it weren’t so sad. While he certainly didn’t like Molly, he wouldn’t wish her current state on anyone.

Molly pulled herself up off the ground and managed to get on her feet again, ranting the entire time. Her speech was muffled by the car and so slurred he could only understand every third word and none of it made sense. Keith pulled out his phone to call the police, though he bet one of his neighbors had probably beaten him to it. This wasn’t the kind of neighborhood where people would ignore a woman screaming and stumbling around his front yard. On Christmas morning no less! He’d have to make the rounds and apologize tomorrow.

Before he could finish dialing he heard the click of a seatbelt being released and Sara was out of the car. He tried to stop her, but only caught hold of her hand.

“What are you doing?” he demanded, his earlier thoughts rushing in. “She’s not getting anywhere near me or my son.” If that’s what the plan was, this scheme they apparently had cooked up, they were sorely mistaken.

“I know, Keith. I wouldn’t want Carter around her right now either.”

What did that mean? “Now? Try never.” Sara tried to pull away from him, but Keith didn’t let go. “I’m calling the cops.”

“Don’t do that!” Sara cried, panic flaring in her eyes, which made Keith even more suspicious. Why did she care so much about what happened to Molly? For months she’d been insisting that she hadn’t heard from Molly and she agreed with Keith’s decision to keep Molly out of Carter’s life, especially since Molly had no interest in her son. Was it all a lie? “Let me try to get rid of her before you call the cops.”

He felt slightly better that she hadn’t tried to invite Molly in, but he didn’t bother to tell her that if he didn’t call the police, someone else would. Instead, he concentrated on getting her back in the car. “She’s clearly messed up Sara; let’s just let the police take care of her. I’ll have her arrested for trespassing and disturbing the peace. She’s probably got drugs on her too.”

“No, you can’t do that!” she yelled, trying to tug her hand out of his grasp. “Let me go, Keith. I’ll deal with her.”

“Sara, get back in the car and let the police handle her,” he ordered, anger and frustration making his words harsh, but he didn’t try to tone it down. He wasn’t going to argue about this anymore.

“Keith, I can’t. I have to help her. Please, try to understand,” she pleaded, but the problem was he didn’t understand at all. The questions swirled through his mind and made his chest tighten. How could she choose Molly over him and Carter? Why hadn’t she told her grandmother about their relationship before today? What was she hiding?

Doubt and anger and fear turned his thoughts into a murky soup of mistrust and betrayal, and he spoke without thinking.

“All I know is that if you walk away from me now and choose her, you shouldn’t bother coming back.” The ultimatum tasted bitter and wrong as it passed his lips, but by then it was too late to take it back. And he didn’t know if he wanted to. Somehow he had to make her understand how serious he was, that he wanted Sara with him and Carter. That they were her family and Molly wasn’t a part of that life. He watched her face fall as his words penetrated, and he knew she got it. She understood what he expected and needed—her in his life without the complication and ugliness of her good-for-nothing cousin. But when she shook her head in stunned disbelief and pulled her hand away without a word, he began to suspect he might have made a mistake.

“Sara,” he started to call after her, to say what exactly he wasn’t sure, but she slammed her door shut and ran over to where Molly was still cursing at them both from the middle of his front walk. Keith thought about going after her, but hesitated at leaving Carter in the car alone. In fact, he didn’t want Carter where Molly could even see him, which she would if she walked by his car to get to Sara’s.

He was torn between trying to talk some sense into Sara and protecting his son from a woman who was clearly unstable, but in the end he knew who his first priority was, and deep down he knew Sara would agree. Though what Sara thought didn’t really matter anymore since he’d just told her never to come back. The bottom line was that Sara was a grown woman who knew what she was getting into, and had clearly made her choice.

Keith looked away from the scene in front of him, unable to watch Sara trying to console and contain Molly any longer. Her actions didn’t make sense and hurt far too much for him to torture himself with. A slap in the face would have been less painful. He felt betrayed by the woman he loved and he couldn’t even begin to know how to deal with the feelings her actions created, so he did the only thing he could think of to keep his son safe.

He put the car in reverse, backed out of the driveway and drove away.

* * *

“You’re a stupid ugly bitch, Sara! A man like Keith would never want you.”

Even though Molly’s words were slurred to the point of being almost indecipherable, they still hit their mark. Sara reminded herself she wasn’t the skinny shy girl she’d been back in high school, and she certainly had a lot more to offer a man than Molly. She couldn’t let Molly bully her into feeling bad about herself or doing something stupid. Sara just wanted to get her away from Keith’s house. After that she didn’t know what she’d do with Molly, but she didn’t want Carter, or Keith, to see just how messed up Molly truly could be at her worst. And Sara knew from years of experience how mean and awful her cousin could get.

Behind her she heard Keith’s car pull out of the driveway and drive off, and she breathed a sigh of relief. One problem out of the way. Now she had to figure out how to make Molly cooperate for long enough to get her into the car and out of here before the police arrived. If Keith hadn’t already called them, someone else surely would since they were starting to draw attention.

How could she ever have thought this woman was ready to change her ways and take responsibility for herself or her child? All the bad memories Sara had apparently repressed came rushing back as she steered Molly towards the car with a firm grip on her bony elbow.

A scene from years ago of Sara trying to get Molly to leave an out of control party before the police showed up flashed through her mind. When Sara tried to convince Molly that it was time to go, Molly humiliated Sara by mocking her and telling everyone Sara was hairy as a bear until she was fourteen when Molly finally bought her a razor and explained how to shave. It wasn’t Sara’s fault that her mother was dead and Grandma didn’t do well with those kinds of conversations. From then on Molly and all her cruel friends called her ‘Sara bear’, but that night Sara had the last laugh. She’d run from the house in tears and driven home sobbing, leaving Molly behind. Three blocks away four police cars went speeding by, heading in the other direction, with their lights blazing. The following Monday at school she found out that fifteen people were arrested, including Molly and most of her friends.

That was only the first of many nights where Molly turned on Sara, usually when Sara was trying to do the right thing or save Molly from her own stupidity. Finally, Sara gave up and stopped spending time with her, finding a part-time job to keep herself busy and away from Molly.

Now she steeled herself for whatever was about to happen, because as much as she dreaded Molly’s cruelty, she had to get her away from there. Despite Keith’s demand that she let the police deal with Molly, she couldn’t do that either. Molly was on probation for her third drug arrest in as many years, and one false move would get her thrown in jail for years. As tempting as it was to walk away, Sara couldn’t let Molly do serious jail time when what she really needed was a drug treatment program. She didn’t stop to think about whether her actions made sense, or if Molly would appreciate the effort, she just reacted. Doing what she’d done for years—taking care of Molly.

Keith only seemed to see black and white when it came to Molly, but for Sara, Molly had always been gray, her feelings colored by the little girl Molly used to be. She loved Keith, but she cared about Molly too, and getting her out of there would protect them both.

Sara didn’t say a word as she unlocked her car and shoved a strangely quiet Molly into the passenger seat and slammed the door. The less Sara said, the less opportunity for Molly to attack. She remained silent until after she’d pulled out of the driveway and started driving towards downtown. Though she didn’t know for sure where Molly wanted to go, heading into the city was a safe bet.

Finally, after driving for ten minutes, she couldn’t wait any longer to ask. “Where are you staying, Molly?”

“What do you care?” Molly spat. “You gonna try to steal something else from me?”

Sara took a deep breath and ignored the comment, refusing to argue with Molly when she was like this. Forcing calmness into her voice that she didn’t feel, Sara replied, “I need to know where to drop you off.”

“Take me back to Keith’s house. That’s my family, not yours!” Molly screamed, her shrieks blasting Sara’s eardrums in the small confines of the car.

“I’m not taking you back to Keith’s. He doesn’t want you there.” Sara knew it was the wrong thing to say, but she couldn’t stand hearing Molly lay claim to Keith and Carter. She’d given them up, legally and in writing! By signing the paper relinquishing her rights to Carter, she’d basically signed away any hope she might have had for a relationship with Keith. Not that there was really any chance of that happening in the first place.

“That’s not true, you bitch!” Molly screeched, a second before throwing a wild punch at Sara that missed her head, but unfortunately connected with her arm. The sudden impact caused Sara to let go of the steering wheel and the car dipped over the yellow line in the center of the road for a second before Sara regained control, earning several loud honks from other drivers.

“Molly, stop! You’re going to cause an accident and get us killed,” Sara pleaded, but Molly wasn’t listening, lost in her drug-induced fog of alternate reality.

“Take me back, take me back,” she cried in between punches and calling Sara every foul name in the book. Sara tried to dodge as many as she could, but it was tough to do, and drive. They were in the city limits now, and even though it was Christmas, they were on a fairly busy highway. She was swerving all over, trying desperately to stay in her lane while keeping her face out of Molly’s line of fire. Just stopping wasn’t an option either since it would cause a major pileup behind them. Visions of them crashing into a car packed with smiling, happy children on their way to grandma’s house for a holiday dinner had Sara praying for a miracle and wishing she’d never gotten out of Keith’s car.

She never should have approached Molly. Keith was right all along. Again, she’d acted on her emotions without stopping to think or assess the situation. Maybe if she’d been more focused on herself she wouldn’t be facing the possibility of serious injury right now.

The wail of sirens behind them gave Sara hope that she might make it out of this alive. She should have let Keith call the police in the first place, but she’d never dreamed Molly would become this violent, especially in a moving vehicle. She’d always used her words as weapons in the past, but Sara hadn’t spent hardly any time with Molly over the last two years and realized that she had no idea what kind of person Molly had become. Evidently the kind that gave up her child, spiraled into the depths of addiction and was now about to kill them both.

“I have to pull over, Molly, the police are behind us,” Sara yelled as she changed lanes so they could get off at the next exit. Hopefully the seriousness of the situation would get through to Molly and she’d calm down, though there was no chance she wouldn’t be going to jail now. They’d probably both end up in jail after the way Sara had been driving.

The thought of being arrested almost paralyzed Sara and panic made her heart race. She’d just have to explain to them what happened, that Molly was crazy and under the influence of something and Sara was trying to get her someplace safe. Unfortunately, Sara’s hope that Molly would calm down now that the police were following them was misplaced. Instead, Molly heard the word ‘police’ and immediately started freaking out, twisting in her seat to look behind them and yelling even louder. “Don’t stop. The cops can’t get me. Keep driving!”

“I’m going to pull over, Molly,” Sara said, turning onto the exit ramp and taking her foot off the gas now that there were no cars behind her, except for the ones with bright flashing lights. “This has to stop. You’re hurting me.” She could feel blood running down her head where Molly’s ring had cut her, and though the punches hadn’t been that hard, her head was starting to ache.

“No,” Molly screamed, leaning over the center console to get to Sara. Before Sara could stop her, or even knew what she intended, Molly pushed down on Sara’s thigh so hard her foot slammed back down on the gas. At the same time Molly jerked the steering wheel out of Sara’s hand, making the car turn abruptly to the right as it lurched forward, jumping a curb and heading straight toward the brick front of a nearby building. Sara fought to push Molly away and gain control, shoving her back into the passenger seat as hard as she could. At the last second Sara twisted the wheel left and spun the car away from the building, doing a donut in the parking lot. She eased off the gas and closed her eyes in relief, thankful to be alive, but Molly had other ideas.

She flew back at Sara in a rage before the car was in park, again making Sara’s foot hit the gas pedal, but this time neither of them had control of the wheel. The car sped forward, crossing the parking lot before either of them knew what was happening, and plowed right into the building they’d narrowly missed just a few seconds before.