“Thank you, honey.” GG beamed as we all cleared the table in record time.
The kitchen clean-up didn’t take much longer and GG motioned to Justin.
“Sally, do you want me to show you how to work the video games downstairs?” He offered and held out a hand for her to follow him.
He didn’t have to ask twice because she was sold at the word video game.
“Now, the adults can go sit in the living room while ya’ll explain this situation you’ve gotten yourselves into.”
James and GG settled into a pair of recliners that appeared to be their normal seats next to each other while the rest of us found places around the room.
“What in the world is going that causes two of the most gorgeous and nice ladies to need police protection?” James demanded with quiet authority.
James might not have appeared to be a leader, but Justin had told me his father had a B.A. in Psychology. He listened without speaking most of the time, weighed in with his opinion when it was necessary.
“Would mind explaining it all to them?” Megan asked me uncomfortable with the details of what she thought were her biggest mistakes.
The story unfolded with some help from Mark as I walked through the time. Justin had joined us and told his part of the story Friday night when I’d been attacked.
Mark had reached for Megan’s hand at some point in the story, but no one pointed it out.
“We’ve spent most of the last two weeks in a hotel. With the attack this weekend, it’s going to make it harder to stay out of sight since Julie won’t be helping us while she recovers.” I sighed at the thought of more time cooped up in a hotel.
GG glanced at James and at his nod of approval she spoke up.
“Ladies, we have a secure apartment downstairs. Mike would have no reason to suspect that you’re staying with us. We haven’t met him or socialized with either of you before so it’s unlikely he’d make that connection. You shouldn’t have to drag Sally around more than you have to and with the dogs, ranch hands, and guns, we have on hand, it’s safer than any hotel security could provide you with.”
I got the feeling that not many people refused her when she made a suggestion.
“Please? I could use someone to fuss over, and you girls would give me that opportunity? So, what do you say?” She leaned forward expectantly.
We both turned to look at Karen. She was the one who would have to get approval for this move, but it felt like a safe course of action.
“I’d say yes.” Karen nodded, “But you have to know that Mike isn’t going to let this go. The only person that will need to be informed is the police chief and anyone else can contact Mark if they need to get a hold of Megan. The fewer people that know where they are staying the better.”
“Someone is feeding Mike information from the inside and while we expected that to happen, it’s taking longer than we thought to find him.” Karen frowned in frustration.
“He’s been able to stay one step ahead of us for far too long now. With his ties to the area, he is very familiar with places to hide out which helps him and hurts us. The Lake Tawakoni camping area is full of deserted cabins and places for him to pitch a tent. Even with officers canvassing the area, we can easily overlook him in these kinds of situations.”
Karen tilted her head in my direction.
“Mike knew Allie’s work schedule and managed to slip by the surveillance in place. He didn’t kill Julie, but we’re not sure if that was an accident or if he was just trying to disable her.”
“Speaking of Allie’s work, how did you and Justin meet?” Megan put me on the spot with her question and I wasn’t sure if that was something I wanted to share.
Justin spoke up before I could even protest.
“She was working really hard since they were short-handed. I was hanging out with a few friends when she caught my attention, but when I tried to ask her out, she shut me down.”
“What? She turned you down, cuz?” Mark dodged the pillow that Justin threw at his head. “I didn’t think any woman would turn you down now that you’ve toned up your man boobs.”
“Hey, watch the face, man.”
Justin just rolled his eyes but kept his guard up in case Mark retaliated.
“Will you boys behave and get back to the story, please?” Karen scolded them.
“Justin, left as the bar closed, but I gathered that he was hanging around hoping to talk to me after work. Stan always walks me to my car and noticed him, so once I was inside, he walked over to tell Justin to get lost.”
“Ooohhh…” Mark smirked but didn’t tease him.
“The only thing I can figure out is that Mike snuck into the back seat when I got in so I wouldn’t see him. I started the car and back out before he put something around my neck.” Everyone was listening waiting to find out what happened next.
“I panicked. There wasn’t a way to use the self-defense stuff we’d been taught so I stepped on the gas. Right before we were going to hit the dumpster, I slammed on the brakes hoping that one of the two would throw him off balance enough for me to get out of the car.”
“That’s terrible.” GG’s face filled with concern. “They checked you out at the hospital, right? You’re fine?”
“Mostly bruised and a little sore, but otherwise doing good.” I shrugged it off, “It’ll take a few days to get back to normal again.”
Justin took back over to fill in the things I’d left out.
“Stan and I raced over, but we couldn’t see much about her attacker as he was dressed in black. She was hurt, so we focused on her. Then she mentioned Julie and since Stan had Allie, I ran over to check on Julie.”
“She would have been the first person to my car if she’d seen what was going on, so I knew that Mike had done something to her before he’d made his attempt on me.”
“Stan called the police before helping me walk over to her car.”
“The door was open, and Julie’s body was just lying there covered in blood.” He shuddered, “I was able to stop the bleeding, but they still had to do some surgery to get her fixed up from the damage the knife did. He missed all the vital organs. She’ll make a full recovery, but it’s going to take a while before she’s back on the force again.”
Karen got up and gave Justin a hug as Mark spoke up.
“We’re so thankful that you were there to help both of them even if you were a bit stalkery there cousin.” He teased before becoming serious, “I knew Mike was an angry husband. We’ve seen that kind of thing before, but it's normally reserved for his immediate family. He’s taken this to an entirely new level with this type of violence.”
“Justin followed us to the hospital, while Stan stayed there and took care of things with the police. They had just planned to release me when I found him holding up a wall, with my backpack.” I gave him a grateful smile.
“He offered to take me to get something to eat while we waited for news of Julie. Then he was going to take me home, but I fell asleep and couldn’t give him directions. He offered to let me have his bed and he could take the couch.”
“I think I slept close to twenty-four hours because I don’t remember much of the last day except for this amazing chicken soup.”
He blushed at my compliment.
“See Mom, I told you everything was taken care of.”
“I didn’t want to have Mike try to follow us to find you guys. I really hope that I hurt him when I crashed the car.” I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. “I know it’s a terrible thing to wish on someone, but he’s hurt all of us.”
Wiping away the tears, I apologized. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t usually cry.”
GG got up from her seat and motioned for Justin to move over so she could pull me into her arms.
Bursting into tears at her kindness, I couldn’t stop them from flowing over.
“I think everyone should go and get some dessert. Allie and I will join you in a few minutes.” She sho
oed everyone out of the room, giving me some privacy to let it all out.
Justin tried to stay behind, but she waved her hand at him as well.
“You too, Justin. Out.” Her tone brooked no arguments as he reluctantly left.
“It’s going to be okay, Allie.” She soothed, “Sometimes it helps to just let it all out. Those pent-up feelings get all jumbled and need to escape.”
Ten minutes later, Justin stuck his head back in to check on us.
My sobs had calmed down, but I was exhausted and fading fast.
“Here, I’ll carry her to the guest room.” He didn’t ask but scooped me up into his arms.
GG hurried ahead of us and opened the door before pulling down the covers.
“Get some rest, sweetheart. You’re safe here.” She placed a quick kiss on my forehead.
Justin checked all the windows to be sure they were locked. Certain there wasn’t anything to hide behind, he came to sit on the bed next to me.
“Do you need me to stay with you?”
I was afraid if I spoke, I’d break down again, so I just shook my head no.
“All right. I’ll leave the door cracked open and whenever you’re ready to join us, just follow the noise.” His kiss on the tip of my nose was gentle and undemanding.
He left and I reached over to pull the light blanket over me.
If he and his family continued to treat me so wonderfully, then I might just have to marry him for his family.
Feeling safe and loved for the first time ever, I closed my eyes and let the peacefulness soak in.
Chapter 16
Megan
“Can we go see the horse you have out in the barn now?” Sally pleaded with her bottom lip out just enough to be cute, “Please? I haven’t been able to see one up close before and it would be sooo nice to ride one.”
“Maybe not a ride today, but we can all go out for a tour of the barns. If you stay here, then maybe sometime this week, we’ll get you up on a horse. I’ll bet we could even talk your mom and Karen to join us out there.” Mark smiled encouragingly at me.
“A walk outside in the evening sun would be perfect.” Karen agreed as she moved in the direction of the back door. “Some vitamin D from a real source would be wonderful.”
That was all the persuading it took for Sally to seize the opportunity.
Mark held out his arm to escort me going a bit slower than Karen and Sally were taking things.
When I’d agreed to go outside, I’d been hoping for a little more time alone with Mark. Something about him drew me in, but I was still a married woman with an ex that wanted me dead.
Slightly relieved that I wasn’t going to do anything stupid, Sally pulled him ahead of us to see the horses, Karen fell into step beside me.
“How are you feeling this afternoon?” She steadied my arm as I stumbled over a few rocks in the path.
“Pretty good as long as I don’t laugh too hard. It’s nice to be outside after being inside for weeks now.” I headed toward a bench just before the barn doors to sit in the shade.
“The cast is starting to really itch, but I can work around that when I see Sally so happy and enjoying herself like she is now.” My gaze sought the large wide-open fields as I tried to drink it all in at once.
“These people are so amazing. No one has ever cared if Mike might be hurting me before. Even when I’d have a few bruises, they’d just ignore it. There were times at the beginning that I would scream, hoping that someone would hear me and come to my rescue.”
Karen hadn’t stopped me, and I needed to get out all the pain from my past to someone that might understand or at least sympathize with me.
“Gradually, I started to assume that I was the freak. All husbands must do this to their wives, and it was normal which is why no one ever tried to interfere. I’m not sure I’m strong enough to help Sally choose a different life for herself.”
“Honey, none of this is your fault. Mike should have known better than to treat his family like this. Somewhere, he decided that he would rather use his fists instead of his brains. You know the old saying, ‘you catch more flies with honey than vinegar?’ Well, Mike’s momma forgot to explain how that worked to him.”
“Mom, are you and Karen going to come see the horses?” Sally ran up, tugging on my arm.
“Not right now, sweetie. We’re going to sit here like old people and rest. You make sure you see everything and then you can tell me all about it when I tuck you in tonight?” I didn’t want to overdo it on my first day out of the hotel. Small steps to recovery were better than a huge step backward.
“Sure thing, Mom. I’ll make sure to ask Mark lots of questions, so I don’t miss anything you might need to know.” Sally skipped back inside the barn.
“Hold on there, missy. You need to call Mark by his adult name, Mr. Greenley.” She needed to learn to be respectful of adults and calling them by their first names wasn’t proper.
Sally nodded and continued skipping her way out of hearing.
“I know now that I wasn’t the reason that Mike was abusive. I feel bad that both Julie and Allie have gotten hurt because of me. If I’d have just told Allie to go away, then this wouldn’t have happened to either of them.” I couldn’t look in Karen’s direction as I said this because I was afraid to see her agree that I’d caused them harm.
“Allie, Julie, and I, have all made choices in life. We can’t just let bad things happen without standing up to injustice. When people are being killed, raped, or beaten, we have to help those who need us.” She gave me a squeeze.
“I know that Julie and I have both taken an oath to protect those who need our help. Allie is just a precious angel, who stood up for you when you weren’t able to do it for yourself. If you asked any one of us, we’d go it again in a heartbeat.”
Mark waved from the doorway of the barn. I waved back as he disappeared inside again.
“Allie considers you and Sally part of her family now. It says a lot about the way she’s opened up enough to let you both in. I think that with you staying here, it could be very healing for all of you to be around a family that loves each other unconditionally.” Her confidence was reassuring.
“This is one of the best families I’ve ever been around. Maybe some of their love will rub off on ya’ll while you’re here. Just be open to it, okay?”
“I’m not sure if I can, but I’ll try for Sally’s sake. This whole place just makes you want to take deep breaths so you can take it all in. Is it even possible to want to believe with everything that’s gone on lately?” More rhetorical than an actual question, Karen simply patted my arm before getting up and walking toward the barn.
This was the type of place that people said could heal all types of wounds. Personal experience hadn’t given me much room for belief in that kind of thing, but maybe having people who loved you could make a difference in how well your spirit could heal after your world ended.
Justin
Left alone in the kitchen with his parents as they all went out to the barn, I was immediately ambushed with questions about Allie.
“Son, it seems like you and Allie have gotten pretty close in a short amount of time. Do you see this becoming something that will last when this situation is over?” Dad asked his tone serious.
“You know, Dad, I’ve dated a lot of girls over the years. Not many of them have turned me down. They are drooling at the idea of dating me just so they can boast they’ve been out with one of the Greenley boys.” I smiled at the thought, “She had no idea who I was. She just wasn’t interested in dating me.”
“From what I’ve seen in the past two days, she’s hard-working, honest, and cares about her friends. I don’t many women that would give up their time to help someone in Megan’s situation. It’s extraordinary. I was almost convinced there weren’t women out there who weren’t superficial.”
Both parents were just staring at me as if they couldn’t believe the words they’d just heard.
�
�I could become very serious about her if she wants to pursue a relationship. You don’t think it’s happening too fast between us, do you?”
“Um,” His dad cleared his throat, “I knew I loved your mother when I saw her at Uncle Andrew’s wedding rehearsal. I had to walk her down the aisle, so I introduced myself. By the end of the weekend, I had a date with her for the next week.”
“After that first date, we just knew we were meant to be together. She’s stuck with me through thick and thin.” He hugged mom, “Just because you and Allie haven’t known each other very long, doesn’t mean you can’t be in love with her.”
I hadn’t even considered that I might be in love with her. It was quite a leap and something of a shock.
“I’m not sure if I’d use that word, but I do like her a lot. I know they are thankful that you’re going to let them stay here while things are so dangerous for them.”
“I know I speak for both your mother and I, since you’ve robbed her of speech, it’s time you got serious with a girl that has some sense in her head.” Dad gave Mom a smile filled with love. “We just want you to be happy the same way we are, son.”
“Who knows where things will lead in the next few weeks.”
No one mentioned it again, but I couldn’t help wondering if it was time to get serious about committing to one person. I would have to be certain that I wanted a future with her, but Allie made it seem possible for the first time.
Megan
Planning to stay in the basement apartment, I walked around with Karen as she checked to make sure that all the exits and windows were secure before we got settled in.
She’d gone with Mark earlier to collect all our stuff while Allie had been asleep.
Now, he and Justin were carrying it downstairs for us.
They set mine and Sally’s stuff in one of the rooms, while Karen had the one across from us.
Even though there was an alarm system and GG promised it was turned on each night, Karen wanted to make sure that she would hear if anything went wrong.
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