Page 24 of Forever my Love

ChapterEight

How do you go about asking someone to give you more details about being beaten and raped as a child? He knew whatever his next move was, he had to tread lightly. After all, it had taken him a full year to get her to trust him enough for a date.

“You want to know more about Fred.” She sighed after taking a sip of her coffee. Then she motioned towards the living room. “How about we head in there and sit in front of the fire?”

He nodded and followed her into the living room. She sat down on the sofa, and he started a fire in the fireplace. Before sitting down, he went back into the pantry and grabbed a bag of popcorn that was made locally by one of the girls he’d dated in high school. Cyndi now had a successful business making gourmet popcorns in a variety of flavors.

He poured the entire bag into a bowl and sat next to Hailey. Ali had snuggled up against Hailey, and she was scratching his dog’s head.

“I love Cyndi’s popcorn,” she said after taking a bite.

“Me too. I dated her in school. For all of a month.” He chuckled, wanting to lighten the mood. Maybe it would help her talk about her dark past.

“I won’t tell you everything,” she said, suddenly. “What I feel comfortable telling you now is that Fred was in our lives for only a year or so. In that time, however, he changed everything. Our mother…” She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again, she avoided his gaze by looking into the fire. “She wasn’t there for us. Then Fred was there. I don’t know when the abuse started with Harper. Fred used to slap us around, like our mother did. I didn’t think there was more to it until the night before…” She closed her eyes again and shook her head.

He could tell she was struggling with telling him more. He could see the pain on her face even if he couldn’t see her eyes.

“That’s enough,” he said, taking her hand in his. “For now. I don’t need to know everything.”

She nodded and looked down at their joined hands. “Harper is safe with Nick?”

“Yes,” he said quickly. “And you’re safe here,” he assured her. “You think it was Fred?”

“There isn’t anyone else.” She finally met his eyes.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he ran through the possibilities. “Your mother?” he asked, only to remember she’d mentioned that she was gone already.

She shook her head slightly. “No, she’s dead.” She took her hand away from his.

He’d guessed as much but hearing her say it in a monotone assured him that she felt nothing about her mother’s death.

“Why would he be coming after the two of you?” He asked the question he’d been playing over in his head since finding out the sisters had a stalker.

She shrugged. “He’s crazy or obsessed, I suppose.” Her eyes moved to his. “What makes anyone mad enough to do something terrible to someone else?”

He sighed and then leaned back as he looked into the fire. “Darkness can be in anyone. I’ve never had something like that touch me personally, but a few fighters I’ve gone up against have struggled with addiction or ended up in prison because of their abusive behavior. Some can’t separate the sport from their real lives.” He glanced at her. “I’m not one of those. I’ve never hit anyone outside of the ring.”

She nodded slowly. “If I’d thought that about you, I wouldn’t have agreed to stay here.”

He smiled as he felt warmth rush through his entire body. He wanted to kiss her. Wanted to be with her.

But he could see the rawness of the emotions she was feeling and knew that it wasn’t the right time.

“You probably want to head up and get some sleep.” He started to get up, but she shook her head.

“No, it’s nice just watching the fire.” She shifted slightly. “I like your home.”

“I’m glad you decided to stay here.”

“Me too.”

They watched the fire until the embers burned out while they chatted and enjoyed their popcorn and coffee. Then they headed into the kitchen and dropped their mugs in the sink. He let Ali out while Hailey headed upstairs.

He climbed into bed with Ali at his feet and fell into a deep sleep, thankful that Hailey felt safe under his roof.

The following day, he showed her around outside. She kept talking about how wonderful the view of Pride was from up there.

Even though his house was surrounded by tall trees, there were enough clearings to give him the best view around.