by Baxter, Cole
Mary couldn't agree more.
"We should order something stronger than coffee and properly celebrate," Shannon suggested.
"You know what? You're absolutely right," Mary replied.
They ended up heading to a different restaurant and ordered lunch as well as a bottle of wine.
"To Ruby," Shannon made a toast. "May she rot in jail for the rest of her life."
"To Carla and to all the other women Ruby killed. May they finally find some peace," Mary said.
The food and the wine were simply divine, and they were laughing in no time, completely forgetting about Ruby, as they should.
"Now, tell me, what's the deal between you and that mountain man?" Shannon asked out of the blue.
"What mountain man?" Mary asked, confused.
Shannon gave her a look. "Oh, don't play coy with me. I saw the two of you sitting together, holding hands in court . . ." She left the sentence unfinished, her meaning obvious.
"You mean Mace?" Mary replied.
Shannon rolled her eyes. "Of course I mean Mace. Now spill it," she urged.
"We're just friends," Mary insisted.
"For now," Shannon added with a wink.
It was Mary's time to roll her eyes at Shannon. "You're impossible." They weren't schoolgirls but grown women.
"And you're protesting too hard," Shannon pointed out.
Maybe she has a point, Mary admitted if only to herself.
It was really good, chatting with a friend about regular things and not about crazy people and murderers.
Life is good.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“Despite the fact that it's all over now, I don't feel like it is," Mary told Dr. Carson during her session. It was the same notion she'd shared with Shannon, and now she wanted an expert's opinion on how to deal with that.
"Just because Ruby is in jail, and will remain there, doesn't mean that all the pain you are feeling, all the hurt she inflicted, will simply go away and get locked up someplace with her and you will be free. It doesn’t quite work like that," Dr. Carson said.
Mary chuckled despite herself. "You really know how to comfort a girl," she only half-joked.
If there was no hope, then what was she doing here in the first place? To be perfectly honest, that wasn't what he said. He'd simply stated there was no magical key that could lock all her troubles away. She had to work on them, and that made perfect sense.
His next words confirmed as much. "My point is, it's a process. There are no easy fixes."
Sadly, there weren't, although life would be so much easier if there were. "I get that," Mary replied. "What I don't get is how I allowed such a dangerous person in my life in the first place."
Mary was still pretty devastated by that fact because Ruby had not only ruined her life, she’d killed Nick as well. There was a chance she would never fully forgive herself for that, not to mention she was angry as hell at herself. Mary had been so happy she'd made a friend that she’d completely ignored all the warning signs even though they were clear as day.
It was pathetic, really, how her loneliness made her act like an idiot without a brain or a shred of reason. If I had listened to Dr. Carson in the first place and kept my distance, then maybe Nick would be alive. Carla too. That notion that she was to blame for everything got her instantly depressed.
Don't think like that, a part of her snapped. All that happened was a tragedy, that much was true, but there was a silver lining. Mary discovered a serial killer and brought some kind of peace and justice to the families of all Ruby's victims. That had to count for something.
"It's not your fault, Mary," Dr. Carson said gently. "Your defenses had already been worn down by Nick," he explained. "Being with an abusive husband who’d managed to isolate you from the rest of the world in order to control you, shape you to his will, was bound to leave a mark."
So I was just ripe for the picking, Mary joked without actual humor. No matter how she looked at things, she was an idiot who didn’t think with her head, which resulted in people getting hurt and killed.
Dr. Carson continued, unaware of her little reverie. "Sadly, you were quite used to bad treatment, isolation, and a lack of support. We'd just started to work on those issues when Ruby came into your life," he reminded her in his usual calm manner.
"And I made everything worse by not coming to therapy," she added, being completely honest with Dr. Carson. If she had continued coming, sharing everything with him, then maybe Dr. Carson would have seen through Ruby and none of this would have happened. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. Mary stopped herself there.
"I'm so sorry about that. I don't know what came over me." Actually, she did. She had constantly put Ruby's needs above her own. Mary didn't need a therapist to tell her how messed up that really was.
"Don't apologize for that," he said. "Ruby is a master manipulator who used you, your kindness, and all your vulnerabilities against you," he told her, but he wasn't reprimanding her. He was as kind as ever, simply helping her see things from a different perspective. "Now that she is finally gone, you can put your life back together."
That was easier said than done. "I want that more than anything," she confessed. She couldn't keep living like this.
"And you will." Dr. Carson sounded confident. That made her feel the same way in return, and she grinned.
Apparently, Dr. Carson sensed that was the right moment to move on to a different subject. "Now tell me on a scale of one to ten, what are your levels of anxiety being inside this room?"
Mary thought about that for a moment before answering. "They went down the moment you opened the window, so around four, maybe."
"I figured as much."
Mary still struggled with enclosed spaces. While looking for a new apartment, she realized she wanted one with an open floor plan. There would be no unnecessary walls or doors, apart from the ones around the bathroom, in her new apartment.
"How do you manage it at your new job?" he asked next.
Mary shrugged. "It's okay. I'm surrounded by a bunch of other people and that helps, plus Alisa is wonderful to me so I can't really complain."
Dr. Carson took notes before proceeding. He asked her a lot of questions and Mary tried her best to answer them honestly. Overall, it was a good session. Dr. Carson really opened her eyes on some issues she had. His faith in her also gave her the confidence to start trying new things or go to places she would never dare visit before all this madness with Ruby started.
Notions like Nick wouldn't approve of that or Nick would punish me for this no longer plagued her. She was free to do whatever she pleased, experiment for a change, and Mary decided to take full advantage of that because she only had one life and it was on her to live it to the fullest.
Listening to some inner impulse, Mary took out her phone and dialed before she convinced herself it was a bad idea and lost her nerve.
"Hello, Mary. I was just thinking about you," a familiar raspy voice greeted her. Hearing it immediately put a smile on her face.
"Hi, Mace," she said. "So, what are you up to?"
"Nothing much."
"I'm not interrupting you with something, am I?" Mary wanted to make sure.
"Nah," he was quick to reassure her. "I just finished some blueprints for that client in Albany. You know, I told you about her."
"The high-maintenance one?"
"Yes, so now I feel a bit restless," he confessed, which coincided perfectly with what she had in mind.
Mace was an architect who once upon a time worked for top agencies that operated in New York City, however now, he preferred to live in the middle of nowhere, dealing with clients strictly online. In a way, he was like Mary, or how Mary used to be, she corrected.
"So you're not busy then?" Mary asked.
"Nope. Why?"
"Care for some breakfast?" Mary asked a bit sheepishly. It was a crazy notion that he would come all this way simply to have some pancakes with her.
Mace chuckled. "I
see you've started stealing my lines. Good to know I can be a role model for someone."
Mary rolled her eyes even though he couldn't see her. "I didn't know you patented that," she teased him.
"Of course I did, but I will let it slide since I'm a good guy and all that."
Mary started to laugh at that. "So?"
"You read my mind. I'm on my way," he replied.
Mary cheered. "I'll wait for you at Patrick's." It was way across town, yet Mary liked to walk. She'd started avoiding the subway, though she wasn't sure as to the exact reason, although she knew she wasn't afraid of riding in it. She simply chose not to if she didn't have to. She figured it probably had to do with her not liking enclosed spaces.
"Perfect," he replied before saying goodbye.
Although it was a considerable drive for him, Mace always came when she called him, every time. She'd also visited him a couple of times. It was difficult at first. Mary was constantly assaulted by all the bad memories, but over time, it got better, especially when those awful memories started to be replaced with good ones, like hiking with Mace or building a birdhouse or simply watching the sunset.
Mary couldn't decide if it was a sound idea for them to be friends considering how they’d met. They had been forced into each other’s lives by a madwoman, connected by a very traumatic incident. That wasn't fertile ground for a healthy relationship, or so she believed, but she'd been wrong before, after all.
At the same time, after speaking about that with Dr. Carson, she wasn't afraid some kind of a co-dependent relationship was in the making. They rarely spoke about Ruby, especially now that the trial was over, and even less about that night.
They talked about anything, everything but that. That wasn't to say they were avoiding the subject. It was just that it wasn't their main focus. Mary loved listening to Mace talk about architecture. He was deeply passionate about his job, always striving for his creations to be a part of nature, like his cottage, and not ruin it. He didn't leave New York City because he was fed up with creating and building. It was the people who got in his way. That didn't mean he was grumpy, far from it. He was a positive, down to earth kind of man who appreciated his peace and quiet more than anything else in this world.
Mace told her life in the city got too fast for him. He'd only worked and had no time for anything else, so he stopped and reflected until he figured out what he truly desired from his life. Mace wanted to enjoy life while he could and do his job, which he genuinely loved, in a measured amount that didn't overshadow everything else.
Mary thought that was a healthy way of looking at things and hoped she could achieve something like that regarding her life one day.
Mary was incredibly grateful she had a friend like Mace in her life. And he really was a true friend. Thanks to Ruby, no matter how weird that sounded, Mary now knew the difference between true and false friendship.
As she told Shannon, Mace was just a friend, for now. That didn't mean she wasn't open to the possibilities in the future. Mary could never know in which direction life could take her, good or bad. All she could do was hold on tight, enjoy the ride, and learn her lessons on the way.
Mary smiled as Mace entered the old-fashioned-looking dinner. "Have you been here long?" he inquired, looking a bit worried.
"No, just got here," she reassured him.
"So, what are we having?" he asked next, snatching the menu out of her hands.
One of the things she liked about Mace was that he liked to eat and appreciated her healthy appetite as well. Mary felt comfortable around him, to not to have to count her bites and pretend she was full when she wasn't. It was a nice change of pace for her.
"Everything," she teased.
"I'm game if you are," he replied in the same manner.
"I'm game," Mary replied, still smiling. She was doing that a lot around him. Shannon would say that was because she was in love. Mary knew it was because she simply enjoyed Mace's company.
He placed both hands across his chest. "A woman after my own heart," he announced, and they both laughed.
Chapter Forty
Six Months Later . . .
“Well? What do you think? It's finally starting to come together the way I wanted it." Mary was video chatting with Shannon. She was showing her what she'd done with her place.
"I like it, especially all the details done in blue-violet," Shannon complimented in return.
"That was Mace's idea," Mary replied.
"Mace's, you say?" Shannon instantly jumped to the opportunity to say. "And how is our pal Mace?" Shannon teased, and Mary ignored it.
"He's well," Mary said simply.
"And?"
"I already told you nothing is going on between us."
Luckily, Shannon decided to drop the subject. "Now that you finally have a couch and chairs, for that matter, I might even come to visit you."
"You'd better," Mary replied.
They chattered for a bit more before Shannon said, "My shift is about to start. I gotta go."
"Talk to you later."
After blowing her a kiss, she disconnected.
Mary finally felt that she had put her life back together fairly well. There was always room for improvement. Perhaps she would always be a work in progress, but she was okay with that. All that mattered was that she had learned to enjoy the process.
Mary had managed to overcome some of her issues over the past several months, but others persisted. Yet that was life, constantly battling with the world and with yourself.
She still had nightmares, though they weren't as frequent anymore. Every once in a while, she would dream about her captors or Nick, but when she did have them, she didn't wake up screaming anymore. It was as though they'd lost all their power over her.
Dr. Carson was helping her with getting rid of them for good, among other things. She still saw him, but they'd cut back on their sessions, and now she went only once a week. That was his idea since he’d deemed her ready.
It was hard coming to terms regarding Nick's death. Mary couldn't help feeling guilty. Maybe I always will, on some level. She was working on that with Dr. Carson as well.
Mary tried really hard to live in the moment, focus on good things in her life and not dwell on the past too much. Because the past was the past and there was nothing she could do about it to change it, only accept it and try to do better in the future. Mary had her friends and she had her job, and that helped her a great deal in moving on from all the tragedies that occurred.
After some deep reflection and consultation with her therapist and friends, Mary accepted the offer from a publishing house and sold her rights to her story. Some stories needed to be told simply so somebody else wouldn't fall prey to the predators who lurked in this world, predators like Ruby.
Also, she received a substantial payment on Nick's life insurance policy. Mary hadn't even known he'd had one, so that was a big surprise.
However, the most peculiar thing was that she received her money back from her savings account, the money Nick had stolen from her. And she received it back from none other than Gretchen herself. Gretchen Midland, Nick's nineteen-year-old ex-girlfriend.
Despite all odds, they'd even become friends. Gretchen called her out of the blue when she returned to New York City to visit some family and apologized for everything. She asked Mary if she would be open to the idea of meeting, and Mary, feeling shocked and curious in equal measure, said yes.
They met for coffee and Gretchen returned the money. She confessed that she'd had no idea Nick had been married. She'd only found out about that from the papers during Ruby's trial. Nick had stolen that money to give to Gretchen since she was a bit short for her tuition. Naturally, since that was Nick, after all, he didn't do that out of the kindness of his heart. That was his way of trying to control her since he had no intention of allowing her to go to college. When Gretchen figured that out, she dumped his ass.
"I don't know how he got the idea that I broke up with him
because of you," Gretchen reassured her.
"Who knows . . . Nick was a complicated man."
Gretchen snorted. "That's the understatement of the year."
Gretchen and Mary bonded over their shared experience with Nick, but that wasn't why they remained friends.
Either way, thanks to all the extra cash Mary suddenly had at her disposal, she decided to buy a house and provide herself with that extra layer of freedom. After a lot of searching for the right place and location, she settled on a nice little house in White Plains, away from the crowded districts of New York City where she was forced to live until now. She loved the city. That didn't change, but she longed for something it couldn't provide her. A little bit of privacy, a big yard, and some peace and quiet.
Mace helped her renovate it. Mary remained adamant about how she wanted an open floor plan, and he made that happen, knocking down walls and incorporating a lot of windows so she had plenty of natural light and a view of the garden. Mary was not much of a gardener at the moment, but she was learning, and as it turned out, she was born with a green thumb. She enjoyed working outside as much as possible.
She continued to work for Alisa as her assistant, and she enjoyed her job. Alisa was a great boss and they got along great. Mary stopped worrying Alisa would fire her because she was now more aware of her qualities, so the fear went away. It was a bit of a commute to get to the office, but Mary didn't mind. Besides, she was learning how to drive at the moment, and Mace promised that he would help her buy a car as soon as she got her license so she could take herself to work. She liked that idea very much.
There was only one blemish, so to speak, in her freshly built life. And that was Ruby. Ruby was still completely obsessed with Mary and sent her multiple letters a day, despite the fact that Mary moved a couple of months ago. Mary couldn't say how Ruby got ahold of her address, but she had. As soon as Mary moved into her new house, letters started arriving with terrifying frequency. Not even the restraining order Mary had against Ruby helped.