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Hayley just shook her head.
They were still holding hands, and Sophie lifted them up so Hayley could see the small stump on each of their hands where their pinkie fingers had been before they’d been chopped off by a psychopath out for revenge against their parents. “If you’re strong enough to survive this then you’re strong enough to do anything. Even take a giant leap of faith and find out if you and Brian could work out.”
“That was different,” Hayley protested. “That was survival. When we were in that basement, we did what we had to do. Just like before I was adopted, my sisters and I did what we had to to survive. This isn’t the same.”
“Yes, it is. This is survival too, just a different kind of surviving. You deserve all the happiness in the world, Hayley. You were abducted as an infant, grew up in a house with a monster who abused his other victims, and would have done the same to you when you were older. You want what your parents have, and if Brian is the one then you should do something about it. Do you want to let fear hold you back and watch him fall in love with someone else? Do you want to miss out on your chance? Your family and mine are friends. Can you spend the rest of your life watching him with someone else knowing that maybe you two could have been together?”
“No,” Hayley said softly.
“Then do something about it.”
“I’ll think about it if you do the same. If I can overcome the messed-up stuff that’s happened to me then you can too. You were right there with me in that basement, and you survived. You’ve survived every horrible thing life has thrown at you, which means you're strong enough to find a way to put it behind you and find happiness. We’ll do it together. Deal?”
Hayley was wrong.
She wasn't strong.
What life had thrown at her had cut too deep.
Sophie didn't know how to move on.
She wasn't even sure it was possible.
But if Hayley needed to hear her say that she would so she could give herself permission to be happy then she’d agree to the deal.
“Deal,” Sophie said, lying to her best friend for the very first time. “So, tell me about the case that started this mess.” She pulled her hand from Hayley’s and gestured at the large lump on the side of her friend’s face.
“Thirteen-year-old Leah Turner was found dead under suspicious circumstances. Then her five-year-old sister drew a picture at school that made her teachers concerned. They spoke with her and found bruises on her back. We were called in, and I was the one assigned to the case. There was definitely cause to remove the child from the home, and with the father’s violent history we were worried that it wouldn’t go smoothly. And it didn't.”
“Understatement of the century,” Sophie said with a small laugh. She’d had enough of talking about the deep stuff for one day. Hayley stood a chance at having happiness if she would just tell Brian that she liked him, that was all that mattered. “How’s the little girl doing?”
As she listened to Hayley talk about Kinsley Turner, she felt herself relax.
Safe really wasn't so bad.
Really.
It wasn't.
* * * * *
7:32 P.M.
Something woke her.
Hayley blinked and groggily opened her eyes.
It was dark, and she couldn’t remember where she was.
She wasn't lying in her bed, and from the shadows surrounding her it looked like she had fallen asleep on one of the couches in the living room. After Sophie had left, she’d intended to just rest her tired eyes for a couple of minutes then go and cook something to eat, take a long, hot shower, and go to bed. Exhaustion from the day’s events must have gotten the best of her, and she’d fallen asleep.
Yawning, she reached over to the coffee table and fumbled about for her cell phone. When her fingers brushed against it, she picked it up and glanced at the time. Seven thirty, she’d been asleep for almost two hours. It was really too early to go to bed, but she was tired, and she had a headache, so may as well head upstairs.
There was a missed call on her phone.
Brian.
He’d called once already—just like he’d told her he would—while Sophie was still here which had started up round two of her friend’s lecture about telling Brian how she felt about him. She must have slept right through the second call. It was a wonder he hadn't driven back over here and battered down her door to check up on her.
