Saving Grace

I Can't Be Weak Again

Chapter Twenty Six

Jay

"My worst nightmare."

Uh oh. The way she said it and her facial expression was enough to tell me that this was bad. Really bad. She went completely pale and it looked like she was going to pass out. I didn't even want to know what she meant but if I had to take my best guess....

I heard the car door open and I looked up at the really nice BMW that just pulled in. And out stepped a woman who could be Cali's twin.

I suddenly understood her fear. And honestly, I was beginning to share it.

As if on an adrenaline rush, I got both barn doors closed in a matter of seconds and locked them. I guess I did that so Cali's mom didn't see us, but with the noise and closing of two huge doors, she probably did. I turned around and saw Cali sprinting for the ladder. I quickly followed and found her at the top of the hay pile, looking out the small window.

I climbed up too and we had a clear view of the car and the woman standing outside of it.

"I'm not ready. She can't be here. I'm not ready to face her. She's just going to ruin my life. Again. She can't...she can't do that." Cali just kept rambling and she was beginning to shake.

"Sweetheart, it's okay. I'm here. I'm not leaving. You'll be okay," I saw trying to convince me just as much as I was her.

I carefully picked her up and put her on my lap. She crumpled in my arms, still shaking from nerves.

"No I won't. She'll break me. She's the only one who could. I can not be weak again. I can't be weak again," she kept whispering into my chest.

Could life get any worse?

I heard two more car doors slam. I picked my head up to look out the window.

Okay. When I asked if it could it get any worse, it was a rhetorical question. I didn't mean it as a fucking challenge!

Cali sat up too and I thought she was going to die right there in the barn. I was afraid I would lose her from the amount of shock she was in. Her eyes opened and I could hear her heart rate pick up. But what I couldn't hear was her breathing. She had actually stopped breathing. I grabbed her shoulders, shaking her and trying anything to get her to start....living again.

Suddenly, she took a huge breath and grabbed her chest. "Oh my god. It's them. It's the three of them. It's them. Where's my phone? I have to call Preston." She was frantically checking her pockets for her phone. But she was only getting more and more frustrated when she couldn't find it. I whipped mine out and dialed Preston's familiar number.

He picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Pres? Pres? I need you. They did it. They found me." Cali screamed into the phone. All I heard was silence from the other end. But suddenly, Preston let out a string of curse words and Cali didn't flinch a bit.

"Okay, Cals? Listen to me. Right now. Go in your room. Sit there until we find you. Jay? I need you here now. Hurry. I can see them out my window." Preston seemed to have a plan all set in place and I didn't waste a second after he hung up. I picked Cali up bridal style, carried her down the hall and sat her on her bed. I gave her a quick kiss and a hug before running out of the room.

I used the old door at the back of the barn that was almost always locked. I slipped out and ran. Luckily, I don't think they spotted me. I ran around the back of the house where Preston met me, holding open the back porch door open for me.