The Way Down

by Alexandria Hunt

  “Well, they finally got back to us,” Joanne told her, shifting a stack of papers in front of her.

  “How bad is it?” Abbey asked, her mouth dry and pasty.

  “I won’t sugar coat it, it’s bad,” Joanne replied. “His parents are quite rich, are they not?”

  “They are.”

  “They’ve hired the best legal team money could buy and they’re coming out of the gate with their fists flying.”

  “Will he grant me a divorce?”

  “He will,” Joanne said and Abbey relaxed a little although her fingers were still white as she clawed the chair. “But…they’re requesting full custody of the kids.”

  “Full custody?” Abbey exclaimed. “He barely saw them when we lived with him, what the hell would he do with them now? They’re terrified of him!”

  “Yes, that will be our defense,” Joanne said, “we will need you to go to the RCMP though, and file a complaint against him for battery.”

  “Do I have to?”

  “You do, it’s the only way to make this official and to play hardball. Now I’m not judging you here, but it’s obvious you have limited funds and can’t afford a long drawn out legal battle. We can do this, you just have to punch back twice as hard.”

  “I guess I could,” Abbey said with her mind racing a million miles a minute. She hated the thought of David finding out all the humiliating details. He would surely wonder why she’d stuck around as long as she had.

  “After that we’ll have a professional assess the children’s state of mind, to prove he’s an unfit father,” Joanne said and looked Abbey in the eye. “Listen, I know this sounds bad right now but it’s just the beginning. I’d be surprised if he and his mother hadn’t come out swinging. For now if you could show good faith and let his parents talk to the kids, that would help for our side.”

  “I don’t want to talk to those people,” Abbey replied, feeling defeated and lost.

  “You don’t have to. I’ll get a number, we’ll arrange a time, and you can have me call them for the kids. They can have five minutes each, and that’s it.”

  Abbey sighed and realized she would have to play fair even if it was with the very people who had always turned their backs when they’d seen Abbey’s bruised flesh and slowly fading demeanor.

  His mom had always said Tom was a handful and you just had to know how to deal with him, as if it was Abbey’s fault for setting him off. His dad hadn’t acknowledged it at all, preferring to avoid eye contact and conversation while he buried his head in the sand.

  “Okay, set it up and give me some time to prepare the kids,” Abbey agreed. “And let’s hope this mess is fixed as soon as possible.”

  She left the office for her work feeling a little depressed. Somewhere in the back of her mind she’d expected Tom to let her go, but that would be much too generous for a man like him.

  He would rather break his toys than let anyone else play with them as a child, and he would rather have a horse put down than sell it to a good home.

  She wasn’t surprised, but that didn’t mean it didn’t feel like a punch in the gut.

  She passed through the rest of the day like a ghost and barely managed to fix dinner before getting the kids to bed.

  She couldn’t help herself that night though. Sitting on a chair on the back porch with a thick blanket tucked around her, she had to text David. In spite of her attempts to keep him at a distance, he was always the one she needed when life got to be too much.

  She texted him and waited for his reply.

  It never came, and she ended up feeling foolish as she checked her phone for the hundredth time.

  It was a pity too, the sky was bright with stars and the air was chilly enough for her breath to hang in the air, painting it for a moment or two before dissipating like an ethereal cloud.

  She was about to go inside when headlights cut across the field. Somebody was pulling in and she recognized the sound of David’s truck immediately.

  She texted him to come around back the moment she heard his truck door slam shut. She didn’t need him knocking and waking up her dad and the kids.

  “There you are,” he said as he came around the corner of the house. “What are you doing out here? It’s freezing!”

  He took the stairs up two at a time and sat on the bench next to her.

  “It’s not that bad,” she replied, lifting the corner of her blanket. Without thought, without consideration, without fear of doubt, she did what came naturally to her when David was near. “Do you want to share?”

  “Hell yeah,” David said with a grin that lit up the night and sent flutters wiggling through her stomach. He wiggled near her on the bench, pulled the blanket over both of them and lifted his arm so she could snuggle in against him, drawing heat from his body.

  She could feel the rhythmic swell of his heart against her as they watched the stars and talked into the late night. Eventually hers matched his and it was as if the two of them shared one between them.

  It was exactly what she needed that day. David had given her confidence to fight Tom and his family and he didn’t even know it.

  He didn’t need to know it, just being him was enough for her to gather strength and dig in for the coming battle.

  He had to go just before midnight, he was working an overnight shift. Abbey felt a tearing sensation as he lifted his arm and stood up, holding his hand out for her.

  It almost hurt to lose contact with him. He shifted uncomfortably and her eyes flitted to the bulge in his jeans. She smiled and stood, knowing his body ached for her as much as she did for him.

  Without thought again, she grabbed his hand and stood on her tippy toes, pulled him towards her and hooked her other hand around the back of his neck.

  It didn’t take much to pull him down for a kiss, and his hot breath was filled with a groan when their lips touched.

  Abbey could have fallen dead right then and there, the kiss was such perfection. His lips were soft at first, then more demanding as the moment continued. Their tongues slid against each other, endlessly, like time itself had lost all meaning in the midst of their kiss.

  She wrapped her arms around his huge, muscled body and felt his around her, offering warmth and safety…and promising so much more if they ever got to that.

  When they got to that.

  She opened her eyes at one point and saw shooting stars streaking through the velvety sky behind David, and for that moment it felt like all of nature was in celebration with them.

  But real life kicked in and he had to break his lips free from hers, take her hands in his and look down at her with hooded eyes. “Damn, Abbey, I have to go,” he exhaled.

  “I know,” she replied. “Stay safe.”

  “I will,” he said, “I’ll come back to you.”

  “Please do,” she said and with that, he turned on his heel and bounded down the steps, around the house and to his truck.

  She stepped down to watch his lights cut the pasture again and head back down the road. As he disappeared out of sight, she raised her fingers to her lips and traced them. They felt swollen and hot and already cold without David’s mouth on hers.

  She went to bed that night feeling fierce and ready to fight.

  Her dreams were good, and full of a man with violet eyes and the softest tongue.

  Chapter 8

  Joanne called early the next week with a time and date for the phone call. David had been taking extra shifts at the station to cover his partner’s vacation, so they’d been reduced to texting and the occasional quick phone call.

  Abbey hated it, she hated how much she missed him when he wasn’t around and how much her head battled even now.

  She let him know when the phone call would happen though, and he made sure to have the time to join her.

  When she parked her old truck, David pulled up beside her and the kids shrieked his name in joy.

  They hadn’t been like that when Abbey had told them about calling their gran
dparents. They’d grumbled and complained, neither one of them had ever spent much time with Tom’s family, so they didn’t know what the big deal was.

  “How are you feeling?” David asked after the kids had settled down and they were climbing the seemingly endless flight of stairs to Joanne’s office.

  “You know, weird I guess,” Abbey replied. “I was hoping they’d let me disappear into thin air, but with that family it was just wishful thinking.”

  “Let me know if you need anything else at all,” he told her, “any time. You know I’m here for you.”

  “Thank you,” she replied and held the door open as the kids tumbled through.

  Sophie caught the edge of a rug and fell, hitting Zach and almost knocking him over in the process.

  Abbey braced herself for Zach’s quick silver temper to flare and for him to lash out at his sister.

  “I’m sorry,” Sophie said, her lower lip quivering as she clung to Zach’s shirt to steady herself.

  “It’s okay, it was an accident,” Zach said and helped his little sister gain her balance. He grabbed her hand and helped her to the sofa where he made sure she wasn’t hurt.

  Abbey’s heart swelled and it was reaffirmed again. Leaving Tom had been the right thing, not just for her safety but for her kids’ souls. She couldn’t imagine how brutal Zach would be if she’d stayed with Tom.

  And even worse, how timid Sophie would have grown to be.

  Being even just a couple months with Dad on the farm had done them well, and being around people like David had given them a look at how decent people were with each other.

  Abbey was proud that she had taken the steps to leave and prevent the horrible future that would have marred her children forever.

  “You’re trembling,” David said quietly and placed his hand on Abbey’s arm.

  “I’m nervous,” she admitted.

  “They’ll do fine,” David replied. “They’re good kids, you’ve done a good job raising them.”

  “Thank you.”

  They were called into Joanne’s office shorty after and Abbey hung back with David while each of her children made their way through the phone call with grandparents they barely remembered.

  Abbey was pleased at how joyous her children sounded as they spoke of riding and their new school, friends and even David.

  She’d decided before the appointment that she wouldn’t censor what her kids said, but it did make her nervous that both of them had brought him up.

  Tom wouldn’t be happy with that.

  Fuck what Tom thinks.

  The though floated through her mind with the power of conviction.

  For once Tom’s sibilant voice was silenced and Abbey’s courage had a voice of its own.

  Fuck Tom, fuck his parents.

  She smiled and the calls were done before she knew it.

  “Who wants ice cream?” David asked as they left the building.

  Of course everyone did, so off to their favorite little café they went.

  It ended up being one of those days that Abbey was determined to hang onto forever. One of those sun dappled days full of love and laughter and everything that made life worth it in the end.

  Abbey had been secretly hoping David would ask her on a date or something over the weekend, but he had to work.

  And work, and work. It seemed to her that he was always working. So much for his promise of being there when she needed him.

  Although that wasn’t really fair, she hadn’t really needed him. She’d needed him to need her, and to pursue her. That’s what she really wanted if she was being completely truthful.

  But admitting it made her feel vulnerable so she didn’t indulge the thought too many times.

  Autumn was kicking into full gear and Abbey could almost taste snow on the wind.

  Just before Halloween they’d had the threat of snow for a couple days, but nothing had appeared. In fact they’d ended up with an unseasonable warm spell that made for bright sunny days and grumpy kids.

  “I want to go as an ice princess, it’s going to look stupid without any snow,” Sophie griped on the way to school one morning.

  “I’ll look bad ass no matter what,” Zach declared confidently. He was going as some sort of cartoon ninja robot, Abbey had spent some of her precious savings on a store bought costume. Sophie’s was home made.

  “Excuse me, young man. What did you just say?” Abbey exclaimed at Zach’s cussing.

  He glanced at her across the front seat and went a furious, deep red. For a moment she thought he was going to fight her over it, but he humbled himself, dropped his eyes and said, “I’m sorry, Mom.”

  “It’s fine, but I don’t want you to be using that kind of language anywhere, do you understand?”

  “I do,” he replied, still humble.

  Abbey felt a little guilty at punishing him, but knew he needed it.

  Sophie provided the much needed comic relief when she said, “Besides, everybody knows it’s butt kicking. The other way just sounds weird.”

  Zach laughed and said, “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s try this again. My costume is going kick butt!”

  “It is!” Sophie giggled.

  “And so is yours,” Zach reassured his little sister. “Even if there isn’t snow, you’ll be the best ice princess ever!”

  Sophie was satisfied with that, and once again Abbey was happy she was home.

  She managed to stop for coffee before she headed to work and was disappointed to not run into David. She hadn’t seen him around much at all, and even trying to manufacture ‘accidental’ meetings didn’t seem to work.

  She got into work about a minute before her shift started and found the old perv standing with his hands on his hips behind the counter.

  “Something up, boss?” she asked as she slipped off her coat, tucked it underneath and pulled on her green apron.

  “I needed to talk to you,” Rick said, his eyes flitting up and down her body, leaving an oily feeling on her skin.

  “Go ahead,” Abbey replied, but she didn’t like where this seemed to be going. She hadn’t had much trouble with Rick, he’d tried to get dirty a couple times but she’d always managed to slam him back into his place.

  If she’d learned anything from dealing with Tom over her marriage, it was how to stand up for your boundaries like your life depended on it.

  “Well, I guess it’s time for a raise,” Rick said and set his cowboy had back on his head a little. “You’ve been with us for a couple months and you’re doing good. The customers like you and you’re good with the cash. So as of next pay period, you’ll have fifty cents more per hour.”

  “Thank you!” Abbey replied and watched the old cowboy walk slowly to the back of the store.

  “Looks like you’ve gotten him whipped into shape,” Samantha said, raising her brow. “He needs it, good for you.”

  “I’ve never gotten a raise before,” Abbey said. “It feels kinda good.”

  She and Sam had been getting along pretty well, they had a similar sense of humor and the younger girl was easy to talk to.

  Abbey had kept closely guarded about her personal life and her interest in David, but she had noticed Sam staring at her the couple times David had popped in to pick up some things.

  Or so he said, Abbey wasn’t sure if he really needed anything or if he just stopped to see her.

  She liked to imagine it was the latter.

  She was almost finished for the day and getting ready to pick the kids up when Sam’s friend came in to gossip.

  It was a regular occurrence, but it meant Sam would be too distracted for Abbey to leave her alone just then.

  Abbey decided to cash out first, take her time and let Sam visit with her friend. She would clean up later, her station wasn’t that bad anyhow.

  She was halfway through counting the twenties when a piece of whispered conversation caught her attention.

  “I can’t believe he asked you out,” Sam’s friend said. “Offi
cer McHottie never takes anyone out. Like seriously, never.”

  “I know, but he totally did,” Sam replied, “see? Here’s the text.” She shoved her phone under her friend’s nose and her friend squealed.

  “Oh my god, I can’t believe it,” her friend said, “when are you going out?”

  Abbey sidled over and tried to remain as neutral as possible. “Ooohh, guy gossip. What’s going on?”

  “Dear Samantha here is about to crack the toughest nut in town,” Sam’s friend blurted out with excitement. “Officer McHottie, also known as David with the hot body.”

  Sam blushed and mumbled, “We’re just going out next week, it’s not like it’s a big deal.”

  “Not a big deal? Are you kidding me? You’re going to basically capture the mythical unicorn and you say it’s no big deal?” Sam’s friend exclaimed.

  Abbey had a sudden flash of David’s mouth on hers, his tongue in her mouth and his hot breath filling her up with his aching desire. She could have moaned right then and there at the memory.

  “Oh cool,” Abbey replied. “Does he not date that much?”

  “You should know, you went to school with him,” Sam snapped. She seemed uncomfortable but Abbey prodded more.

  “We went to school but we don’t really talk about our dating life,” she said.

  “I think he had a girlfriend in Piper’s Lake,” Sam’s friend said. “They weren’t together for long and they just broke up.”

  “Piper’s Lake?” Abbey asked, her head snapping to look Sam’s friend in the eyes.

  “That’s where he’s working sometimes,” she said, taken aback with Abbey’s ferocity. “And I just heard it from a friend of a friend. It’s not like I saw them together or anything.”

  “I don’t need details, I’m just surprised that he’s working out of town is all,” Abbey replied, desperately covering her tracks. “Good luck with him, and have fun. Let me know if you get anywhere.”

  “Sure,” Sam replied and glanced at her friend. It was clear the two of them saw Abbey as a crazy woman, and just then Abbey was feeling like a crazy woman.”