“What are your plans for the day?” he asks.
I’m still trapped under his body. I can’t make my break for it until he moves. His come is slowly starting to dry all over me, while we sit here and have this heart-to-heart. As if he can sense my anxiety over being trapped under his body, he shifts his weight while looking for something to clean up with. He tosses his discarded t-shirt to me, and I start to wipe up the mess. Definitely going to need a shower.
“I’m going to go over to my house and see what needs to be done. Make a list, so I can get the construction going once I have the keys.” The fact that I am waiting for keys is hysterical. The house is wide open. I am sure people have come and gone on their own for some time. Including the local wildlife. The door was cracked open and one of the large picture windows had no glass, so I figure it won’t be hard to get in.
“There is no way you are going over there on your own. I know that piece of shit has been following you. No fucking way, Star. It just isn’t safe.” His concern warms me. It’s completely founded, but I hate feeling like a victim. I vowed I wouldn’t live like that anymore. I don’t want Blue to rule my life anymore. No way.
“I’m fine. I’m not scared of him.” I say it with bravado. I’m trying to convince myself, even though the thought of being alone with him sends me into a panic.
Scarlett’s voice cries from the living room and catches Chrome’s attention.
“Daddy, please stay here with me, can I come sleep in your bed?” He can’t stay no to her. I can see him lose the battle, and I know I will be able to make my way out for the day without him acting like a bodyguard. He stands, takes a couple paces across the room, and pulls back the bottom of an old movie poster on the wall. There is a small safe built into the wall and he turns the knob a few times before it pops open. I try not to be nosy. I don’t want to know what is inside the safe. It isn’t my business.
“If you are going to be so fucking stubborn, I want you to take this with you.” When he turns around, I see it. He is holding a small, black handgun. I want to recoil away from him, but the simple idea of keeping that with me, even just in my purse, makes me feel so much safer with Blue creeping around. The more I think about it, the more I know I would never use it. Not in a million years. But it fucking empowers me in a way I have never been empowered before. It reaffirms the fact that I will never be a victim again.
“Chrome, I don’t even know how to use that,” which is the honest truth. I have never even held a gun in my life. He begins a little Gun 101 class right there in his bedroom, and I feel a little bit more comfortable. I know I don’t need the experience of shooting it to know how to keep myself safe and not shoot my own fucking foot off. It’s common sense. I carefully place the firearm into my purse and head for a much needed shower.
“Go to bed. I am going to freshen up and head out. I’m gonna stop at Maggie’s and get Scarlett some more soup, too. If you want anything before I get back, just call me.” I lock myself in the bathroom. His bathroom. I lock him out of his own damn bathroom. I laugh because I know if I don’t, there is no way I am ever going to get out of this house today.
God, I’ve missed him.
CHAPTER 10
After fully surveying the outside of the house, listing all the yard work that needs to be done, I make my way toward the porch. The lawn is overgrown, the trees need to be trimmed, and some need to be pulled, along with a bunch of old shrubs that smell like cat pee. The driveway leading up to the house is far too overgrown to be safe; that will need to be the first thing accomplished.
I climb the steps and I hear something inside the house. It’s dark and out in the middle of nowhere. With the shade of the overgrown trees, I can’t see much, even with the sunlight. I should have brought a fucking flashlight. That would have been the smart thing to do. I write it down on the top of my list with a bunch of exclamation points, because those will apparently make me not forget next time around.
I hear it again. It sounds like claws on wood. I don’t want to find out what the sound is. I stomp on the porch a couple times, hoping to scare the shit out of whatever is scaring the shit out of me. My foot goes right through the rotted out board in the porch. Fuck. Damn. My luck.
I look up at the missing window as I pull my foot free, and I can see two eyes staring at me. I scream like the little bitch I am. I turn to run away, but my fucking foot slips right back into the hole I just created. Just then the owner of the eyes jumps out of the window and runs off the porch. My life flashes before my eyes, but it was only a fucking raccoon. You have got to be fucking shitting me. Maybe I am not cut out to live in the middle of the woods.
I laugh to myself and wonder how many more of those little fuckers are rooming for free in my new house. I won’t be going inside to find out. Maybe I can get some kind of animal wrangler out here to put some traps in the house.
I pick my bag up from the porch where I dropped it minutes before and sling it back over my shoulder. I am so fucking done with this place today. A branch snaps in the distance; I can hear it crash through the cool fall afternoon. It is a common sound in these parts, especially this time of year. I unlock the car and climb in, backing up onto the grass so I can drive straight down the narrow driveway. I can barely drive, let alone back up all that way.
That is when I fucking notice it. That loud branch that fell Directly across the fucking driveway. There is no way I can get past it, and no way I can move the overgrown log on my own. Fuck it all to hell! My damn luck!
I put the car in park, grab my purse, and get out to see if it is as bad as it looks. Of course it is. The trunk of the oversized branch is too heavy for me to kick, let alone drag. I dig through my purse finally locating my phone and dialing Chrome. It rings for what seems like forever. His sleepy voice fills the line.
“Yeah, I am totally stuck at the house. This huge branch fell across the driveway.” I stomp my foot on the ground, as if he can see my little fucking fit through the phone. Not that I have anyplace else to actually be, but I hate being stuck anywhere.
“I will be there in a few. Is it a big branch? Do I need a chainsaw?”
I would think so. I mean, from the size of it, I would think he would need help. Although with arms like his, I wouldn’t put it past him to just pick the shit up and toss it to the side. I chuckle to myself.
“Just come quick, I miss…”
I try to get the last word out when something hits me from behind. The phone goes flying and I scream. Shit, that hurt. I look up, expecting to see more branches falling down, but I can see clearly up to the sky. Not a hanging branch in sight. What the fuck?
My ears start ringing and instantly my head is throbbing. Of course, this is exactly what I get for coming here all by myself. I take a few steps and turn to walk back to my car, but I am paralyzed.
It all fucking makes sense now.
Nothing fell on me. Nothing about this was an accident, because about three yards in front of me stands Blue, holding a huge branch and standing next to a handheld saw. I might as well start my fucking Hail Marys now because he is going to kill me. Right here. In the middle of nowhere. He’ll hide the body and no one is ever going to hear from me again. I am never going to find my daughter. I am never going to know the love of a child. I will never see my thirtieth birthday.
My mind runs a mile a minute, thinking of all the possible ways he is going to kill me and chop me into pieces with the saw lying on the ground. I close my eyes and the tears start to fall. I swore I would never be his victim again, but some things just never change.