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“How about some more of that ice cream?” Grant suggested. “I’ll get us a couple of bowls if you’re in the mood.”
She was, wholeheartedly.
“I can help,” she offered, beginning to lever up from the couch, but he waved away her offer.
“I got this. It will only take a minute.”
True to his word, he was back with two heaping bowls of the ice cream, handing one to her before settling back onto the couch with his own. They ate for a few minutes, not really saying much except for how good it was and that it hit the spot.
She could hear the wind howling outside and the branches beating against the building. She’d almost been out in that, possibly on the road. Hurt or killed. She’d been lucky that she’d run into Grant Anderson. He’d probably saved her life.
“Are you a veteran of these storms?” she asked, taking the last bite of her ice cream before placing the bowl on the table. “Are they usually this bad?”
She’d had a few tropical storms since living in Savannah but nothing like this.
“They can be a hell of a lot worse. Hopefully, we won’t see too much damage in the morning. For some reason, it seems like storms always come at night. I don’t know why that is.”
“I’m glad I’m not out in it.”
“I’m glad, too.”
“I would be if it weren’t for you,” she admitted.
“You seem like an intelligent person. I’d like to think that you would have realized fairly quickly that your plan wasn’t feasible.”
“But I wouldn’t have known where to go or what to do.”
She hated crying. Absolutely detested it.
But she could feel the tears beginning to well in her eyes, that overwhelming feeling of gloom, doom, and panic. She could have been out there all alone and in danger. She’d done so many stupid things in the past few years, made so many god-awful dumb decisions. She wasn’t sure how she was going to fix this mess of a life. She only knew that she didn’t have any other options.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Grant said when he realized that there were tears streaking down her cheeks. “You’re safe and dry. No one is going to get to you here. No one is getting through me.”
It was clear that Grant totally believed what he was saying. There was a quiet confidence in this man that she hadn’t ever experienced before. She wanted to believe him…
“You don’t know Kevin,” she said, trying to brush away the wetness on her face.
“I don’t know Kevin specifically, but I know about a hundred assholes just like him. They’re always the same, picking on someone weaker than they are. They find the right victim and the right moment in their life, and then they attack. They take their time, wear their mask until they think you’re too far gone and under their control. I see this shit all the time, and I wish that I didn’t. Trust me when I say that your Kevin isn’t actually all that smart or scary. Not really. When the going gets tough, he’s not the kind that’s going to stick around. He’s going to run. He’s only putting on the pressure because he thinks you’ll fold. But I don’t think you will. I think you’ve got this, Mia.”
“He said if he can’t have me then no one can,” she confessed. “I think he’d kill me before letting me go.”
“Has he been violent before?”
“He’s never hit me if that’s what you’re asking. But…he has a terrible temper. I believe what he says. He’d rather see me dead than not be with him.” She shuddered as she remembered a news story she’d read in the paper. “I read about a murder-suicide happening near me. I think Kevin is capable of that.”
Now that she’d said it out loud it was still scary as hell, but yet not at the same time. She had never talked about the situation because she hadn’t had anyone to talk to about it. Kevin had effectively ended all of her relationships outside of him. Except for her one friend who had understood why Mia had to cut off their friendship, but she’d made it clear that she’d be there for her whenever Mia was ready to get away.
That’s where she had been headed when she’d been interrupted by the storm. She hadn’t even been sure of her welcome, to be honest. She’d obtained a burner phone after leaving her old one behind, but she’d been afraid to send a text to her friend Lane. She’d been paranoid that somehow Kevin would find out about it and miraculously be there when she arrived.
And that, folks, is how far down the rabbit hole I’ve gotten.
If she’d just sent the stupid text, Lane probably would have warned her about the damn storm and told her to hide at a motel nearby. But she hadn’t, so here she was. She’d, of course, lucked out, but that didn’t mean that tomorrow was going to be a picnic. She wasn’t in the clear. Not by a long shot.
“Mia, I know you don’t know me but believe me when I say that I’m not going to let this guy near you. I won’t. You’re safe here at the resort, and you are welcome to stay as long as you need to.”
“Careful, that’s quite an offer you just made there,” Mia tried to joke. “I could decide to stay for a long time. Change my name and get a job.”
“That’s not a bad idea. I could help you with that. What do you do?”
