Just as Abbey felt herself give in to Tom’s anger and lose her grip on life, Tom’s hands pulled off and Abbey took a huge, gasping breath. She opened her eyes to see Tom being lifted up and dragged away.
“Get off her, you son of a bitch,” David snarled and grappled with Tom. He managed to wrap his arm around Tom’s neck in a choker hold and began to squeeze off Tom’s air supply as he’d done to Abbey. “How’s it feel? How you like it?”
Tom gagged and sputtered, his eyes bulged and his face went cherry-red as his breath was forced out of him.
“David,” Abbey said in a rasping voice. Her windpipe had nearly been crushed and it hurt to talk. “Stop, don’t kill him.”
“He hurt you,” David said, his voice deep and cold, like Abbey had never heard before. “He hurt you for years and I couldn’t do a damned thing about it. He’ll never fucking hurt you again, Abbey, I promise you that.”
“Killing him won’t solve a thing,” Abbey said, her voice edged with hysteria, “you’ll go to jail and abandon me.”
“I won’t go anywhere, I’m a cop and he’s a lowlife piece of shit,” David said. “This is self defense.”
To punctuate his point, David jerked Tom upwards and Tom made a gargling noise in the back of his throat.
“He’s the father of my children,” Abbey said, pleading with David to not go too far. “This isn’t you, David, and this is why I love you. Don’t do this to me and the kids, how will we explain it to them?”
David winced when Abbey mentioned them, and she could see him visibly relax, but his grip was still tense.
“Mom?” Zach’s voice came from the entrance to the living room. “Is David hurting Dad?”
Zach’s presence shattered David’s angry demeanor instantly and David release Tom. “Just helping your Mom,” David said and helped Tom sink gently to the floor.
Tom was passed out, he twitched a couple times and spluttered, but he was breathing steady.
Abbey knelt next to Tom and felt his pulse, it was steady and strong. “He’s fine,” Abbey said, looking up at David who had his arm around Zach’s shoulders protectively. “He’s probably napping.”
He wasn’t, he most likely passed out because of David’s choke hold, but she couldn’t say that to her son.
Abbey stood and took Zach to the couch with her to talk to him. David dialed 911 for an ambulance while Abbey cuddled Zach and let herself feel relief at last.
“Did Dad hurt you again?” Zach asked her in a terrified whisper while giving Tom a suspicious glance.
“He tried,” Abbey replied, “but he won’t again. I promise.”
“Is David taking him to jail?” Zach asked.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but right now David is going to get an ambulance here to make sure he’s okay. After that we can figure out if he has to go to jail,” Abbey said.
“I hope he goes away,” Zach said and snuggled in under Abbey’s arm and broke her heart. “I hated living with him, Mom. I hated it when he hurt you.”
“I didn’t think you knew,” Abbey said and ruffled his hair. “If I had known, I would have left years ago. But now we’re free of him and everything will be okay.”
“I won’t let him hurt your mom ever again,” David said and joined them on the couch. He looked across Zach at Abbey and she could see his promise in his eyes. Those stunning violet eyes that made her heart thump and her soul sing with the knowledge that he was committed to keeping her safe.
“I know you won’t,” Zach said, “but can we live with you now?”
“We’re practically living there now,” Abbey laughed. “You know David and I will be getting married at some point. We’ll be a family soon.”
“I’d like that,” Zach said and held his hand up to his mouth as he yawned.
“I’d like it too,” David said.
Abbey stood and took Zach’s hand. “That’s enough excitement for the night, let’s get you back to bed.”
Her throat still ached and she knew she’d have bruises in the morning, but for now her life seemed good enough to handle anything. David had come back for her and she was going to be okay.
They were going to be okay.
Abbey got Zach settled next to Sophie just in time for the ambulance to arrive.
She told him to stay put in their room, to keep Sophie calm if she woke up, and went back downstairs to deal with the inevitable questions that would come with Tom’s injuries.
David was already dealing with the paramedics and the two police who had shown up. Tom was sitting up on the couch, his head in his hands, groaning softly.
Abbey felt detached, she watched the paramedics attend to Tom and David handle the cops as if she weren’t part of the action at all.
Finally, one of the paramedics approached her to treat her wounds and Abbey was pulled back in. She answered questions to the best of her ability, tried to focus and tell her story, she hoped the police would see how Tom had brutalized them and she wouldn’t have to deal with him again.
By the time they left with Tom in the back of the ambulance and the police following them to the hospital, Abbey was ready to collapse.
David caught her as she almost fainted onto the couch, his arms tight around her and concern painting his eyes.
“You need sleep, they said you’re going to be okay but you need to recover,” David said and kissed her softly. He swept her up in his arms and took the stairs to the second floor, to her old room.
“I want to check on the kids,” she said and he put her down. They opened the door and found Zach and Sophie deep in contented sleep.
“Now that’s what you need,” David said and helped her down the hall.
They stripped down and climbed into Abbey’s bright pink super single bed and Abbey felt peace for the first time since seeing Tom at the fair earlier that day.
“Why did you leave the first time?” Abbey asked with David’s arms around her, spooning her from behind.
“He pulled a gun and threatened the kids,” David said in a dangerous voice. She felt his body tense up just thinking about it.
“He shot at you?” Abbey asked.
“No, I heard the shot after I left. I shouldn’t have left my gun at home, I should have come in full uniform. I should have known he was here.”
“It’s not your fault, he got the jump on me. And I was stupid, I should have left the horses there and gone to your place. Tom would have never found us there.”
“Did he…did he hurt you badly?” David asked hesitantly.
“Not at all, he choked me after you left and that was it. Nothing before that, the kids were awake and I was cooking for them.”
“Fuck that guy, it angers me so much to think of you with him, and the kids being so scared.”
“It all worked out,” Abbey said and closed her eyes, feeling David’s breath on her neck and the strength of his muscled body all around her. “You saved us after all, in more ways then you’ll ever know.”
“You saved me from myself,” David said in a husky voice from behind her as she slipped into sleep. “You all saved me, Abbey, more than you’ll ever understand.”
Chapter 20
Abbey and David took the kids into town first thing in the morning and picked up Abbey’s dad.
“No hard feelings, I hope,” David said and held out his hand.
“None at all, son,” Abbey’s dad responded and shook it vigorously. “What’s this I hear about Tom though? He was brought in just before I left, and man, was he pissed off.”
“They arrested him?” Abbey asked and looked at David. “They actually arrested him?”
“Of course they did, he attacked you,” David said and put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. “He tied you up and almost killed you, Abbey. Of course he’s going to pay for it.”
“He attacked you?” her dad roared, his eyes blazing as he noticed the dark marks on her neck and the tell-tale hoarseness of her voice. “Now I’m pissed off, t
ell me everything.”
“He was waiting for us when we got back to your place to drop the horses off,” Abbey said. “The rest was bad, but David came back and saved me.”
“Now I have a few hard feelings for being locked up,” Abbey’s dad grumbled. “If I had been there, this never would have happened.”
“I agree, and for that I apologize,” David said, his gaze dropping as a dark shadow flickered across his features.
“Daddy was crazy last night, grandpa,” Sophie said, reaching up to grab his hand. “He really scared us, but we’re okay.”
“I could have protected Mom, but she made me go to bed,” Zach said, his chest puffing out with pride. “I wanted to protect her for a while now, but she always made me stay away when Dad was being mean to her.”
“You shouldn’t have to worry about stuff like that,” David said, tousling Zach’s hair. “Now that I’m here, you don’t need to. Just be a kid, that’s your job now.”
Abbey smiled and was so grateful that their lives were steady without Tom, that his chaos and violence was gone and they could live calmly with David in their lives.
“Can we eat something?” Sophie interjected and rubbed her stomach. “My tummy is growling so loud I can’t think straight!”
“Me too,” Abbey’s dad laughed. “I’ll be putting in a complaint about the room service in the local jail.”
They made their way to their local favorite diner to fill up on good old fashioned home style cooking and for the adults, a few gallons of strong black coffee.
Abbey took maybe a little too much pleasure knowing that they were having such a great time while Tom languished in jail, the bruises of David’s fingers still marking her neck. It took the sting out of her own bruises a little, thinking about Tom’s pain and his realization that he had destroyed any chance for this kind of happiness at all.
“I figure this means you two will be making it official some time soon,” Abbeys’ dad said half way through breakfast.
“It probably does,” Abbey said with a grin. “I mean, if David still wants me.”
“He’d better,” Sophie giggled, “because I already have my room picked out at his place.”
“And I like his barn better, sorry Grandpa,” Zach added.
“Why you little scoundrel,” Abbey’s dad said, faking outrage as Zach ducked away from his fake punch, laughing all the while.
Abbey’s eyes met David’s across the table and David’s mouth twisted into a cheeky grin. “I don’t know, do I have a say in this?”
“Apparently not,” Abbey’s dad chuckled, “when these three get their minds made up, good luck getting out of it.”
“It’s lucky for me that I’m in agreement,” David smiled, “I’ve been asking Abbey for weeks now but she wanted to wait until the kids were ready and she could get a divorce.”
“We’re ready!” Zach exclaimed.
“Totally ready,” Sophie joined in.
“I guess it’s happening,” David said, reaching across the table to Abbey’s hand. He took it, squeezed it, and locked his eyes on hers.
“It is,” Abbey agreed. “We’re doing this.”
And like that, Abbey’s life took another turn. It always amazed her how the smallest series of events could lead you from one place to another. Just a year or two ago she was living in fear with a man who controlled her every action. One decision led to her leaving him, and one more decision after another had led her straight into David’s arms, where she had supposed to be all along.
She was eternally grateful to have Zach and Sophie, but life was certainly way better than she had ever imagined when she’d been trapped back with Tom.
It was good though, Tom was slowly becoming part of her past, she could feel his ugliness and chaotic vitriol slowly leaching from her bones, pumping through her blood and evaporating into the air with each of David's smiles, his kisses, his touches.
David was slowly rewriting her history, her present and her future. He was slowly replacing the terrible moments with Tom, filling in until her head was flooded with memories and dreams of David.
He was becoming her air to breathe and the very thing she craved when she thirsted for more, when she hungered to be beautiful and desired and loved.
Tom was being replaced, each one of her cells was rejecting the poison she'd carried with her all these years, each second that passed meant she was another moment farther from the toxic life she'd had with her ex.
Now she just needed to make sure her life was in fact on track, she needed the divorce and she needed her freedom to marry David.
She wanted nothing more than to marry him, and be his wife, his partner and his love until they were both old and grey and holding their grandkids on their knees.
It would come, but she did have a plan to hasten it along a little. First she needed to get everyone home and happily tucked away, and then she would come back into town to talk to Tom.
To get him out of her life once and for all.
Joanne produced the paperwork with a dramatic flair and said, "All I need is his signature here, here, and here. Oh, and he must initial here. But are you sure about this? You don't want any child support at all?"
"Not a damned thing," Abbey replied, adding her own scrawling name to the divorce documents. She was asking for full custody, no child support, and an immediate divorce. She would let his parents visit the kids from time to time, but it had to be pre-arranged and always supervised.
Abbey couldn't bring herself to trust anyone with Tom's best interests at heart, and even though his parents knew he was an irresponsible, violent drunk of course they still loved him. He was their son after all, and perhaps they felt guilt at having created such a monster, or they just felt the need to cover up his actions, either way she wasn't going to trust them.
She took the enveloped and walked across the street to the jail cell where Tom was being held. Abbey wasn't even sure what he'd been arrested for, or when he'd be walking free, but she wanted to take advantage of having him over a barrel right then and there.
"Well, well, if it isn't my dear wife," Tom smirked as she approached the cell with a police officer standing close behind her.
"I'm not your wife, Tom," Abbey spat, "I never should have been and I'm here to correct that."
"I'm not signing anything," Tom replied stubbornly.
"I think you'll find my offer very generous," Abbey insisted. "You walk away scott free. No ties, no obligations, I want nothing from you."
"I'm not just giving that queer boyfriend of yours custody of my kids," Tom snarled.
"That boyfriend of mine almost killed you last night, you might recall," Abbey said in a low voice so the cop couldn't overhear her. "He was saving me, and god only knows what he would have done to make sure you never hurt me again. Remember that when you're trying to be cocky behind those bars."
"Come on, Abbey," Tom pleaded, "can't we talk? I waited for you to come back, but you hurt me, babe. You hurt me really bad."
"Not bad enough to give a fuck when I walked out," Abbey replied. "Not enough to stop using me as a punching bag, or fucking anything with two legs, tits and a tight pair of Wranglers. It was never love with you, it was possession. You saw me as an object and had to own me, I was no better than a prize mare to you."
"You're as big as a horse now, that's for sure," Tom chortled, "what the hell's Lizzie feeding you? You look like a fattened calf. Good enough to butcher up and grill."
"I look good and I know it," Abbey replied, staring him right in the eye until he glanced away nervously and she knew she was winning. "I'm not terrified to eat, I'm not scared to breathe the wrong way, and I'm not constantly fighting for my life. It's amazing how good a girl can look when she's being loved well by the right man."
"Fuck it, let me talk to my dad and I'll let you know later," Tom said, "I'll probably make bail in another hour or so but I can call you."
"You're not going to call," Abbey said, "Either you sign this n
ow or we use this arrest as leverage to get more money. Alimony too, because I supported you all those years and gave up my career."
"Bullshit," Tom snapped, but Abbey could see him calculating his options as he thought about her offer. "Fuck it, fine, hand me the papers."
Abbey's heart trembled as she handed the papers to the police officer who took them into the cell to Tom. She produced a pen and indicated where Tom had to sign.
He didn't say a word the entire time, he knew when he was beat. He was a poker player after all, and right now Abbey's hand was just better than his.
At least he knew when it was time to fold and leave the table.
Abbey felt like she was walking about ten feet off the ground as she crossed back to Joanne's office.
"I got it," Abbey squeaked as she handed the envelope to her lawyer.
"You did? I never believed it would work! You did it!"
"I did!"
"Fantastic. Now since it's a Sunday, I have to wait until tomorrow to file. This will happen though, you're getting your divorce, Abbey."
"Thank you so much for coming in today. I can't believe this is happening."
Abbey left the office, got in her old pick up truck and sang at the top of her lungs all the way home, eager to share the good news with her family.
As she drove up to her Dad's place, she noticed the flurry of activity happening around the front of the house. She stepped out and walked up slowly, watching David and her dad and the kids moving boxes from the house to David's truck.
"What's going on here?" she asked with a grin, knowing full well what they were getting up to while she'd been gone.
"We're making a decision," Sophie said cheerfully as she flounced by with a few of her stuffed animals in her arms.
"What decision?" Abbey asked with an amused tone.
"We're moving in with David today," Zach replied, walking past with some of his things packed loosely in an old container.
"Oh are we?" Abbey laughed and pretended to be scandalized by their behaviour. "So do I get any say in when we're actually doing this, or has that ship sailed?"
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