If you're still hanging in there with me, THANK YOU! I had some sort of stomach bug that made me question every dietary choice I've made in recent weeks. I couldn't write but now that I'm better, my ultimate goal is to get this thing finished before the season starts. It's a slow story but I have the time now that the holidays are here and I just might be able to squeak it out before January 5th. Fingers crossed. Happy Holidays!

Something stopped Juliette from speaking her mind and she held her tongue, thinking about what she wanted to say before blurting something out that couldn't be taken back. She reminded herself that Carl was Avery's father and Cadence's grandfather and that had to mean something. It meant a lot, actually. She had no one - no family outside of herself for her daughter. With Avery, Cadence had grandparents, great-grandparents and an aunt, maybe even cousins one day. Juliette didn't want to do anything to hurt those relationships. This was his family - the people he'd turned to after she'd blown his life apart and she didn't want to add any additional strain to his relationship with his father.

She'd wanted to call and tell her former in-laws how very sorry she was for hurting their son. Sorry for making a baby with him - making a life with him and then abandoning both him and their child. None of it had been what she'd envisioned when she and Avery had married, beaming at each other as they stood before the officiant. He'd insisted on carrying her, round and gravid as she was, over the threshold of the house. She'd had one arm wound around his neck as he stumbled inside, the hand holding the marriage certificate pressed flat against his back. The baby had been kicking and she'd pressed her other hand to her stomach to comfort their daughter, the brand new ring on her finger unfamiliar but so, so welcome. They were finally a family and it was more than she could have dreamed of.

His mother had been pleased when they'd called to share the news. Avery put his parents on speaker phone and Juliette remembered the delighted sound of her new mother-in-law's laugh. After a beat, his father said, "Really," and then, "Congratulations." She was sure Sandra had prompted his response but at the time, neither she nor Avery cared what he thought. They'd been so happy and so relieved to put the past behind them and finally be able to love each other again. Their wedding night Avery held her, wanting to feel the baby kick properly instead of the hesitant way he would touch her before, with just the tips of his fingers resting on her stomach. He wrapped his arms around her waist and put a hand on her belly, flat palmed and possessive, holding her and his daughter as they fell asleep.

She thought she would wake up in his arms every day for the rest of her life, but it hadn't worked out that way. Their marriage had imploded and it was her fault. She was aware of that. She didn't need any help blaming herself for her failures and if Carl was going to act as he had during their first meeting at the CMAs, judgmental, cynical and as Avery put it, a jerk - she might as well leave now.

"Mr. Barkley," she said slowly, forcing herself to raise her voice so he could hear her. "I hope you really don't mind me being here. If you do, I can make other arrangements."

"If I did mind, you wouldn't be here," he said flatly. "How long you think you'll be staying?"

She didn't mind his frankness, but the question caught her off guard. "I don't know." She shrugged. In her rush to leave Nashville, she hadn't yet considered what she would do after they got to Ohio.

"So there's no plan. You guys left Nashville just like that, huh." It was the way he said it that bothered her, practically scoffing the words with his eyebrows raised and eyes bucked as if she'd just said the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard.

After dealing with Sean's mother Juliette had thought she would welcome open derision over the strange, cruelly duplicitous way Mrs. Butler had treated her. But after just a few moments in his presence, Carl Barkley had managed to make her reconsider. His comment was more a statement than a question. No, there had been no plan. A few hours after her second confession to the world about how her life had been falling apart, her plane had to make an emergency landing in a cornfield. Juliette didn't know anyone who would have had a ready plan of how to deal with the aftermath of all that.

She chose to walk away, thinking again of the beach. That option was starting to sound better and better and Juliette knew if she allowed her temper get the better of her, she might be walking barefoot through the sand in a matter of hours.

She left the kitchen and found Sandra in the living room with Cadence.

"Oh, there's Mama." Sandra said, lifting Cadence from the couch to sit her on her lap. "I went ahead and changed her. She's gotten so big."

"Yes, she has." Juliette sat down near the opposite end of the couch, watching as her daughter wiggled her way to the floor.

"Is she walking?"

"She's threatening to. She'll take a few steps if someone's holding her hand but she won't do it on her own." Cadence edged her way towards her mother, using the couch as support. "Hi, baby! Are you coming to see Mama?" Her daughter grinned up at her, reaching out to touch her mother's knee.

"Avery was a late walker," Sandra confided. "He would only crawl backwards and then he wouldn't walk for the longest time. Somehow he always managed to get where he wanted to go so I didn't worry about it. Now his sister was completely different. She was practically born running. Walking at 8 months. I thought we'd have to tie that girl down."

She laughed, but Juliette could hear the hint of sorrow underlying Sandra's voice when she talked about her daughter. She was tempted to ask but didn't want to pry. Things were already awkward enough.

"I think Cadence is gonna walk soon," she said, calling attention back to the baby who was now slowly returning to her grandmother. "Maybe she just needs a little motivation."

"Well, Nana's got plenty of that. We've got plenty of goodies and toys for you, sweetheart." The sadness had disappeared, replaced by a huge smile as Sandra picked the baby up and kissed her cheek. "Nana's gonna spoil you while she has the chance."

Juliette's heart sank when she heard those words. Not because she didn't want Sandra spoiling her daughter, she didn't mind that at all. But they couldn't escape, to the beach or anywhere else - at least not right away - without hurting Avery's mother and Juliette didn't want to do that, even if Carl was being himself. She hadn't anticipated needed a getaway from her getaway but she was starting to feel the teeniest bit trapped.