“It’s Mommy! She’s come to take me away from you!”
“No… no. That’s not possible,” Jamie said, her face full of worry. Could Summer possibly come back to life?!
While Travitha was screaming to Jamie, Caiden calmly went to the bedroom and sprayed for the monster under the bed.
Jamie couldn’t help but feel paranoid… but she knew deep down Summer couldn’t possibly be back.
Travitha pulled away. “Sometimes I wish I knew where she was… I’m always worried she’s going to find me.”
She kneeled down and hugged Travitha. “It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe here. I promise.”
Jamie tucked Travitha back into bed. “I know I said I don’t want Mommy to find me… but I hope wherever she is, she’s okay.”
“Maybe if she has someone to love her like you love me, she’ll get better,” Travitha whispered.
“Maybe, sweetheart,” Jamie said kissing her goodnight.
“Caiden. We need to talk,” Jamie said as she walked into the bedroom.
“I don’t know what to do. Travitha is having all of these nightmares about Summer… should we tell her the truth?”
“I don’t know Jamie. We’re finally all in a good place. Who knows how she’d react.”
“I know… she says she just wants Summer to be happy somewhere.”
“That’s about as likely as Don being happy without constant woohoo and bowls of cereal.”
Jamie chuckled. “So what do we do?”
“I think she needs to know that Summer is no longer alive. But we don’t tell her why.”
“You’re not worried she’ll find out somehow?”
Caiden looked at the doorway. “Not really… no.”
“Who’s going to tell her? There’s only four people in this world who know what happened to Summer. You, me, my dad, and Casey.”
Jamie gasped. “Casey knows?!”
“You’re not concerned Casey will tell Travitha the second he gets mad at you about something?”
“Your brother is a ticking time bomb,” she said as Caiden gasped.
“Jamie. Casey isn’t that bad… anymore.”
She shrugged. “If you say so. This is the same guy that stood outside the door and sent you to fight the Motherplant alone.”
“You’re not wrong,” he realized.
He turned towards her. “But Jamie, I know he would never betray me like that. Casey is a lot of things —“
“He may be annoying…immature…and have a short fuse but —“ Caiden said as Jamie chuckled.
“He’s not vengeful. He would never tell Travitha a secret like this.”
“Okay. I trust you, Caiden,” she paused. “So I guess it’s settled?”
“Yes. After the wedding, we will tell Travitha that Summer is no longer alive.”
“After the wedding?” Jamie said gazing into Caiden’s eyes.
“After. I don’t want anything to ruin this day for you.”
“For us,” she smiled as she leaned in.
“I love you Jamie Lee… soon to be Scott.”
As Caiden kissed her, Jamie felt calmer. Caiden was right. It will all be okay, she thought. After all, nobody else knows. Or so they think… there’s still one other person out there who knows their dirty little secret. But does she have any reason to tell?
Travitha confesses to Jamie her thoughts about Summer; Jamie and Caiden come to an important decision about telling Travitha the truth.
Did You Know?
The new feature to add or change traits is not to be used lightly. Every time there’s a pop up, I have to really think through the repercussions of choosing a new one. In the case of the paranoid trait for Jamie, I knew I did not want that for her, despite how fitting it would probably be given the trauma she’s dealt with!
