AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The recriminations in Sean’s hateful voice take up every available thought in my head. And I can’t help but agree with them. That, more than anything else that’s happened over the last two days, is what starts the tears cascading down my cheeks.
I swipe my hands across my cheeks, trying to wipe away the evidence of my weakness as Harlan watches me while holding my whole world on his lap. A whole world that I can’t keep safe.
“Sunshine. You gotta tell me what you’re running from. What’s got you so scared?”
Chapter 11
Harlan
“Sunshine. You gotta tell me what you’re running from. What’s got you so scared?”
The demanding plea is ripped from my chest, driven by pale skin, trembling hands, rapid breathing, and the purple bruises under her tired, liquid silver eyes.
Silent tears track down her face, their downward spiral only impeded by the hasty swipes she takes at them, as if trying to erase the evidence of her pain from existence.
Come on, honey. Tell me what’s going on.
A hiccuping breath and the sound of Audra gumming the ice in the baby contraption I’m holding for her are the only noises in the midnight air.
A firm kick against my stomach draws my attention away from Maisie to Audra. The little girl in my lap is like her mama, a bolt of sunshine after dreary skies. The same silvery eyes stare up at me in fascination as she takes comfort from the cold mesh against her gums. The weight of her little body in my lap a wonder beyond words.
“My ex was abusive.”
The stark declaration rips my attention back to Maisie. Her stare burns a hole into me as she whispers the words I’ve suspected into the night air. The shaking in her hands intensifies, and she sucks in a deep breath of air trying to stem the panicked reaction.
“You’re safe. Maisie. You’re safe.” The two words the only comfort I can offer her as she grapples with some invisible decision. My fingers twitch with the need to reach out to her. To touch her and reassure her that she’s safe, that I’d never hurt her, but I can only verbally reassure her. Two inadequate words that shouldn’t ever have to be uttered to another human being, but that’s not the case for the world we live in.
Those two words seem to open a flood.
“It was verbal, and then physical. Lasted for two years before I got out. I started seeing my ex when I finished my master’s degree. We met at an event at the college. He was charming and asked me out on a date. I said yes. It took him less than a year to hit me for the first time. But the red flags started well before then. What not to wear. Who I could talk to. Where and when I could work. Little digs that he manipulated to seem well-meaning. What I ate, thought, said or did was never good enough. Nothing I did could have prevented it, no matter how hard I tried. And then —” her breath catches on a stutter “— I - I got pregnant.”
Incandescent rage sets fire to my chest, and I focus on breathing through it. Scaring her with my reaction, with my anger toward the piece of shit that put his hands on her after breaking her down to nothing mentally, won’t help.
More moisture pools in her eyes, turning the silver of her gaze into a burning liquid before the tears fall to her cheeks.
“Does he know about Audra?” I ask, trying to keep my anger out of my voice.
She shakes her head. “I left the night I did the pregnancy test. I started putting the plans in motion before then. Siphoning a little bit of money off each time I went grocery shopping and depositing it into a secret bank account. Buying gift cards if the store I went to had receipts that showed cash back in the subtotal. Setting up the bare bones for my business and working with clients without him knowing. I knew that if I was going to be successful in leaving that I had to think smart and bide my time — to play a longer game.”
Hatred for the fucker that put her through this burns through me. She shouldn’t have had to play a longer game. “Was he ever arrested or charged?”
Her eyes cut to the side and down. “No. I never reported anything.”
There’s something there. Something she’s not telling me. But this is her story, and I won’t push her or make her uncomfortable. Someone else has already done that enough.
“What happened the night you left?”
She presses her fingers to her eyes before answering. “Sean was at work. I was making dinner, and the smell of the raw meat turned my stomach. My period was late, but I’ve never been regular, so I figured it was just PMS. But there was this little niggle of suspicion, so I went and bought a test from the store. When it was positive, I think I stared at it for a solid ten minutes until the smoke detectors started going off.” Her eyes lift to mine and a small smile curves her lips. “Burned dinner.”
That small reaction loosens some of the pain and agony tearing at my insides for this woman.
“Realized that if I stayed, I’d either end up dead or have to watch him hurt her. After that horrifying realization, I started packing a bag. If it was just me, I could have waited a little bit longer. Gotten more things planned out. But it wasn’t just me anymore. She was the incentive I needed to finally pull the trigger, even though I was terrified. Grabbed the burner phone I bought and stashed in a box of tampons under the sink and left. Drove until I hit Dallas. Ditched my car in a parking garage and then took a bus to San Antonio, bought my camper, and started heading east.”
“Was there anyone who could help you? Family, friends?” I croak the question out, my throat burning.
She shakes her head. “No family. My dad passed away the summer before I left for college, and my mother took off when I was a baby. I used to have a good group of friends, but with my dad passing and all of us going off to college, we grew apart. I was alone.”
Jesus Christ.
