Perfect (Rewrite)

Chapter Fifty One

Gathered at the table, the three of them listened as Jacob described the hidden room. Small and dark, a string hanging from the ceiling which when pulled, turned the light on, and an old clock ticking away, its pendulum swinging back and forth by the second. Collin fussed quietly until Chloe took him into her arms. He immediately quieted himself and began playing with her hair. Margaret looked to her and couldn't help but smile at the sight, seeing the joy on the baby's face was priceless.

"Is that it?" David asked.

"Well," Jacob replied. "There is another door, but it's locked." They all looked to him with wondering eyes, guessing what was on the other side. "This key won't open it. It's a hallway on the other side."

"And?" Chloe asked, unwilling to accept that was it. That all her secret keeping had gotten them was an empty hallway.

"There's an exit at the end of it," He told them. "Or so it seems."

"That's great," Margaret chimed in, completely fooled by his trickery.

"Margaret," David started; she looked up to him. "It's not really an exit."

"Don't say that," She retaliated; then Margaret pushed her chair back and excused herself from the meeting. No one else spoke until she was out of earshot.

"You're right," Chloe agreed, blinking back hatred. "It's just another trick." She held onto Collin tightly yet comfortably as she began rocking him back and forth. He began to drift off, but Chloe had a feeling it wouldn't last long. Any noise, anything at all, would set him off, and then he never would've gotten back to sleep. Which meant someone would have to stay up and keep him safe, busy, and quiet so everyone else could rest. She had a feeling that someone would be her.

Jacob brushed his knee up against Chloe's under the table; she glanced to him slyly, their eyes made contact. David left the room after a moment to find Margaret.

Chloe placed Collin on the table for him to rest and for her arms to recuperate from holding him for so long. Jacob's knee bumped into hers again, and then he smirked. She squinted at him, shaking her head. "Why do you have to be such a butt?"

"I wouldn't be me if I wasn't."

"True."

"Has Melanie come back yet?" He asked.

Chloe shook her head and bit her lower lip. "It's to the point I don't think she ever will."

"Don't say that," Jacob tried. He reached across the table to hold her hand, but she pulled back to avoid him. "She will come back."

She stood up, grabbed the sleeping Collin, cradled him in her arms, and said, "I'll believe it when I see it." Chloe left Jacob in the kitchen to put the about to wake up Collin to bed. After she was back in her room, she wondered whether they had had dinner or not, but her stomach didn't grumble with an answer, so she assumed the answer was yes.

Chloe wrapped herself up on her bed and laid back, closed her eyes, and waited for sleep to take her over. Her eyes fluttered shut, and the moment they did, she wished they hadn't.