Chapter 1: The Gift That Should Never Have Floated
Hester ripped the wrapped birthday gift out of Baxter's arms before I understood what she was doing.
My six-year-old son gasped.
Then she hurled it into the swimming pool.
"Grandma!"
Baxter ran after it.
Hester caught his shoulder and shoved him so hard he went down on the grass.
I was across the patio before his paper crown stopped rolling.
"DON'T EVER shove my son again!"
I pulled Baxter behind me.
Hester pointed at the balloons, gifts, and birthday decorations.
"He doesn't deserve any of it."
Then she seized his birthday cake.
"This is HIS birthday!"
Hester swept the entire cake onto the lawn.
Baxter burst into tears.
She laughed.
"I just accidentally dropped it."
Something inside me became terrifyingly calm.
I walked straight toward her.
My hand came across her face with a crack.
Hester stumbled, lost her balance, and fell face-first into the cake she had destroyed.
The backyard went silent.
I looked down at her.
"Let's see if you'll still be laughing tomorrow."
Across the patio, my husband Calhoun had gone completely pale.
May you like
Not because I had sl*pped his mother.
Because the gift floating in the pool had begun to split open.
