Page 74 of Sunny Skies Ahead
“Kameron!” Abbie shouted, and it was the sound of her voice, angry and desperate, that made time speed back up.
Kameron whipped his head towards us, fist still posed to strike, and something in me broke.
It was the image of Kameron with his fist raised, eyes blazing with anger, combined with Jacob’s awful laugh, that made me shut down. I gripped Abbie’s arms, silently begging her to get me out.
I need your help.
Memories of the night I left my husband slammed into me. Me, cradling my broken arm, stumbling up the stairs to Abbie’s condo, barely coherent as I begged her to let me in.
I didn’t know where else to go.
It was all falling apart.
Connor immediately stepped into action. Abbie guided me towards the exit, my chest rising and falling rapidly with the bone-deep panic that threatened to take over.
“I’ve got you, Im,” Abbie whispered. “I’m here. You’re safe.”
You’re safe.
The room spun around me.
I was never safe.
I would never be safe again. Jacob made sure of that.
Kameron—
I lurched forward, feeling like I was going to be sick.
“Imogen!”
I distantly heard Kameron’s voice calling out to me over the cacophony of the bar, but I was barely cognizant of walking. I couldn’t find the words to make him understand. To make him understand, I couldn’t handle seeing him like that—brutal and fierce in the most threatening kind of way.
Only Abbie’s tight grip on my arm, her whispered promises of getting back to her place safely, kept me upright.
I was never safe.
It had all been a lie. I had constructed this new life on unstable ground. I would never truly be free of the death grip Jacob held on my life. He would always find his way back.
This is why you promised.
I willed that voice to be silent and focused on Abbie’s floral perfume and the rustling of distant wildflowers.
I wasn’t there anymore. I was home. I wassafe.
I repeated it over and over to myself as I focused on what I could feel and see.
Anything to forget the look in Kameron’s eyes when he raised his fist.
Chapter twenty-four
Imogen
Iwoke up the next morning in the guest room of Abbie’s condo. The morning light filtered in through the blinds. I sat up in bed, rubbed the sleep from my eyes, and stared at the phone on my nightstand. Someone had plugged it in for me.
Kam
I am so sorry Imogen.
