Page 50 of Claws and Feathers

She had little experience with men. Jordan was the only person she had ever been with. He’d been her first and only kiss – until Cooper McAllister.

Was she… bad? Was she not good at kissing? Was he repulsed by her?

God, it was a horrible, gut-wrenching thought. Cooper hadn’t given her much of an explanation. All he could do was apologize.

Abby had to get out of there. She couldn’t look at him. She couldn’t be so close to him, knowing he didn’t want her. Knowing he wasn’t feeling whatshewas feeling. Abby would like to say that he’d broken her heart, but she feared that maybe it had never been put back together in the first place.

“It wasn’t meant to be, sweetheart. You’ll find the one.”

Abby glanced to her right, her anguished breaths catching in the back of her throat. Her mother sat in the passenger’s seat with a somber smile on her face. Her dirty blonde hair was plucked up with her favorite barrette. Her motherlovedthat barrette. Abby broke down.

“Oh, Abigail. It kills me to see you like this,” Gina said, resting a comforting hand on Abby’s thigh. She laughed lightly. “Goodness. Probably not the best word choice.”

“I miss you, Mom. I need you here with me,” Abby cried.

“Honey, you need to keep your eyes on the road.”

Abby looked ahead, the dark stretch of road appearing endless. Much like her black thoughts. “Maybe I’m not meant to be happy,” she said. She sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her arm. “Maybe I’m not meant to be anything at all. I just exist.”

“Don’t you dare say that. You’re aStone,” Gina told her, squeezing her leg with conviction. “The Stone women never give up. They never stop fighting.”

“All I do is fight!” Abby screamed. “All I do is fall and fail and fight until my fingers bleed. I feel so alone.”

“You’re never alone.” Gina raised her hand to Abby’s cheek, stroking away the tears. “I’m always with you.”

Her touch was warm. It gave her peace. It was a mother’s touch.

But then Gina’s fingers began to wrap around her neck and Abby let out a wail, jerking her head in her mother’s direction. Only, the person beside her was no longer Gina Stone. It was The Man.

“Eyes on the road,” he snarled, then lunged over the seat and began to strangle her.

Abby screeched in terror, twisting the steering wheel, and veering off the road towards a tree.

She woke up before she crashed, sitting up straight in her bed, gasping for air.

Then she began to sob. She cried so hard she thought she might pass out.

“Abby?”

Daphne came rushing into the room in her nightgown and fuzzy slippers, her hair pinned up in curlers. Abby was still staying with Daphne until she’d made more progress with her renovations. She was grateful for that. She needed a friend. She needed somebody –anybody. “I’m sorry,” Abby said, her voice trembling. “I had a nightmare.”

“Oh, Abby.” Daphne sat beside her on the bed, cradling her head against her chest. “It wasn’t real. You’re okay.”

No, she wasn’t okay. Abigail Stone was far from okay.

She wondered if she ever would be.

Chapter fifteen

Abby had decided to take her anger out on the ugly, outdated kitchen island of her new house the following day. She had contractors coming to demolish the kitchen next week, but sometimes all a girl needed was a good cry and a sledgehammer.

James and Kate were in the living room painting her walls while trying to hide their obvious flirting.

Good for them. At least some of them were happy.

Kate poked her head into the kitchen as Abby wiped dust particles off her face. “This doesn’t look like measuring cabinets,” Kate noted. “Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?”

Abby spared her a glance as her weapon came down on the island, as well as her emotional demons she was manifesting into the puke green laminate countertop. “I’m fine.”

---