AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They knew how to break you down so they could control you,” Cassidy said.
Brynn nodded. “And it worked for a long time.”
Belle rubbed her hand in a circle on Brynn’s back. Could she feel the raised scars? “When you find out who and what you are capable of, that’s when you start climbing out. I’ve known you since you first came to this town.” Belle gave her a knowing look. “And I can tell you, you are miles from that scared and lost girl. Healing takes time, and lots of effort.”
“Trauma doesn’t ever leave us. I know that isn’t what you all want to hear.” Cassidy sighed. “But the truth is you can heal from it, just like all wounds heal. Trauma leaves lasting scars. You won’t be the same as you were, but you can still find happiness.”
Brynn shook her head. “I don’t think I deserve it. Not after—”
“Shame is an ugly monster. The most devious because it tricks you into believing you’re not worthy when, in fact, you are. You deserve everything good.” Cassidy lightly touched her knee. “Brynn?”
She met her eyes.
“It was not your fault.”
Brynn shook her head. “But—”
“You were a child. Your sister was a child. You were a victim of your environment. You are not to blame for the actions of others.”
“I should have left with her,” she argued.
“And then you both would have been terrorized.”
Brynn gasped.
Cassidy’s expression softened. “You will drive yourself mad with the maybes of life. We can’t go back. All we can do is move forward. Take it one day at a time, one minute when even that is too much.”
“I feel so guilty that I’m living life and she’s dead.”
“There are no words to take that shame from you. That is something you will have to work through. And it will be a grieving process,” Cassidy finished.
Jasmine cleared her throat and turned towards Brynn. “I had already started my journey of healing when Atlas came along. But he presented a lot of new struggles for me, as well as a safe place for me to land. He didn’t heal me; I did that on my own. But my relationship with him provided the opportunity for growth. I’m sure you know what I mean. Being a newlywed might be stirring up some of this stuff and opening the wound again, so it all feels fresh. Just give it some time to settle.”
Right. They think my marriage is real. “Was it hard for you to be with a man after . . . ?”
Jasmine nodded. “There are some things we can’t do sexually because it triggers me. But Atlas is so patient and gentle. It’s how I knew he was different, that he was worth the extra work I had to do internally, and the risk involved with being vulnerable.”
Is there any hope for me? Aaron was both patient and gentle and about a million other things.
“Sometimes Aaron seems too good to be true,” Brynn confessed.
“Maybe that’s because all you’ve ever known was the wrong kind of people. Your intuition must be telling you deep down that he truly is someone to be trusted if you married the man.” Jasmine gave her a tender smile.
“Right.” Brynn nodded. It didn’t seem right to deceive these people about her sham of a marriage, but it was what she had to do for Dani. And a part of her would feel like she betrayed Aaron by telling them too.
“Trust that voice inside.” Charli echoed the same words Brynn had once shared with her.
Brynn nodded. She had a lot of work ahead of her. But if she didn’t deal with it, she knew in her heart that Dani would be the one to suffer. And Brynn wouldn’t put her child through any more.
Guilt crashed over her. I wasn’t strong enough to leave earlier. That horrible place left a lasting mark on Danielle. But it ends here, with me.
