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He? Grant didn’t know who he was, but unless the guy was superhuman he wasn’t going to be able to travel in this weather, either.
Getting back on the road was the last thing she needed to do. Currently, Grant was barely able to stay upright, the wind was blowing so fast and hard. The rain was pelting him - and her - and it was only going to get worse. The visibility when driving would be awful, and there might be downed electrical in the roads.
Mia Gamble wasn’t going anywhere.
She simply hadn’t accepted that yet.
2
Mia wanted to pound the steering wheel and howl in outrage. Her luck sucked. Absolutely sucked. She’d been driving for hours, and the weather had begun to get worse and worse. But her only thought had been to put as many miles between her and Kevin as possible. If she could have put an ocean between them, that’s what she would have done. Her inattention had caused her to drive into a damn hurricane.
She’d been heading to a friend’s home in Naples, and she hadn’t paid any attention to the weather. She’d driven into a terrible storm. It had to be one of the dumbest things she’d ever done.
She had no one to blame but herself for this mess. It was always her fault. Maybe she really was as stupid as Kevin always said she was.
She’d finally found an opening to run from him. That’s what she’d been concentrating on, not the weather forecast. His attention had been with his visiting friends, and she’d grabbed the opportunity as if it had been sent from heaven above.
She’d packed her car, grabbed the cash she had been hoarding for over a year and hit the road. She hadn’t had much of a plan after that except to get to a friendly face. She’d simply wanted distance to think things through. Kevin didn’t give her much time to herself. He didn’t want her thinking. About anything. He didn’t like that she had her own ideas and opinions. He’d been clear about that more than once.
By now he’d know that she was gone. He’d be right behind her, maybe only a few hours or less. She didn’t have the luxury of staying somewhere and then languidly getting back on the road in the morning.
Her intended destination had been Naples. Kevin had made sure that Mia was estranged from her family and friends but there had been one – Lane - that had told her that she’d be there for her whenever she wanted to leave Kevin. Mia had remembered that, tucking the address in a spot that Kevin would never find. Occasionally, she’d take it out and look at it. It represented freedom, and maybe even some happiness. Mia couldn’t remember the last time she was truly happy.
Or when she wasn’t afraid.
That had become her daily life. She walked on eggshells, wondering when the next time Kevin was going to find fault in her and blow up in anger. At first, he hadn’t done it all the time. Just here and there and then he’d shower her with love and affection right after, telling her it would never happen again.
At some point, he must have decided that he had her broken down enough that she wouldn’t leave. Then everything made him mad, and he didn’t bother to be sweet afterward. He was just the same horrible, nasty person to her.
A few weeks ago, he’d told her that she was lucky he didn’t hit her. He’d said that no one would blame him because she was just so stupid and ugly. When he’d stomped out of the room, for a moment she’d thought that he was right. Maybe she was all those things.
I don’t think that I am though. Not truly.
She’d known for a long time that she needed to get away, but that conversation was what had sealed the deal. She was going at the first glimmer of an opportunity. No more “second chances”. No more thinking that she wasn’t “worthy” of love and happiness.
She’d tried to leave before but he’d always tracked her down and convinced her that things were going to change.
Fat chance.
It was ironic that this police officer had asked if she was hurt and needed a doctor. There weren’t any outward injuries, but there were a million invisible cuts and bruises from the things he’d said and how he’d treated her these last few years. No one could see them, but they were there. A medical doctor probably couldn’t help her, but she might need a therapist to explain why she’d put up with all of it for so long.
I deserve better.
That was her new mantra. If Kevin found her, he’d have to kill her because she wasn’t going back of her own free will. Never. She was done. She’d crossed over some line in her head, and the past was no longer acceptable. She couldn’t live like that. If she had to run forever, she would.
And now she’d told this nice, polite officer that she was afraid of someone while crying in a hurricane. If this were a rom-com, it might be cute, but this was real life. Her life.
She wasn’t laughing. It wasn’t funny in the least.
She had to convince this cop that she was fine, and she wouldn’t do anything stupid. She’d already done about a million dumb things in the past three years. She was finally smartening up and doing something about it.
Running might be the smartest thing she’d ever done in her life.
“Ma’am, are you listening?”
No, I wasn’t. I was thinking about my bullshit life.
“Sorry, I…” Shit, she didn’t even know how to describe her emotions. None of them made much sense. “I really do need to keep going. Can I get a full tank and then promise to drive very carefully? I’m a safe driver. I won’t take any silly chances.”
