Page 11 of Skid
Kelly helped connect me with people who understood what I lived through, and I was able to directly deal with the mental torment of running away from what I thought would be my future. I spent four months learning how I was manipulated and they, for lack of a better word, deprogrammed me.
I met Eddie a short time later, and he helped me find my way, learning to distance myself from my past and giving me a future to look forward to. He was the closest person in my life, and I feared where I would be without him.
The sun pushed through the trees, turning the darkness into shades of gray until the first patches of orange rose from the ashes of the night. The rays fell across the porch, warming my feet and legs and the sounds of the country came alive. Trucks carrying the early morning workers filtered past my long driveway as I stood from the porch and walked inside to make another cup of coffee. My phone sat on the kitchen counter, and I picked it up to find a missed call from Eddie.
I called him back and smiled when he answered, “Good morning, sunshine.”
“Good morning yourself. Are you ready for breakfast?” I asked and walked into my bedroom to pick out some clothes.
“I was waiting to head over until I knew you were awake. Are you ready now?”
“I’ll meet you at the end of the driveway,” I answered, and he grunted his reply before the line went dead.
After pulling on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, I slid my feet into my comfy tennis shoes and grabbed a hoodie from the coat rack. Locking the door behind me, I walked down the dirt driveway and waited for Eddie. The entire time, Kevin’s whispered words played on a loop in my mind.
Be a good girl for Daddy.
Chapter 6
Skid
The sounds of Gracewhining and thrashing on her bed woke me a few hours after I fell asleep with my laptop open on the pillow next to me. Sitting up, I grabbed it and ran my fingertips over the screen as I watched her fight an invisible enemy in her dreams. She whimpered and moaned as she twisted under the covers, and I wanted nothing more than to drive to her house and save her from whatever was haunting her dreams.
If I showed up in the darkness of the night, she would think I was a stalker. I was, just not the bad kind. I watched her as she moved around her house, and when she sat down on the front porch of her house, I saw the faraway look in her eyes and closed my eyes, feeling her pain.
When Eddie called and invited her to breakfast, I decided that was my opening. I needed to see her with my own eyes to know she was okay, so I quickly dressed and cranked my motorcycle before pulling out of my road. When Eddie’s truck passed by a few minutes later, I followed behind him and waited down the road as he picked Grace up from her driveway. They drove west, and twenty minutes later, they pulled into a mom-and-pop diner tucked along the interstate.
When I saw they were seated, I pulled my bike in and made my way inside. I walked in, and Eddie looked up from his menu, seeing me take a seat behind them. Grace had her back to me, and I could see a smile pushing against Eddie’s cheeks as I ordered a coffee and looked at the menu.
“Why don’t you join us, Dalton?” he spoke. Grace snapped her head backward, finding me sitting behind her.
“Is that okay, Grace?” I asked, and she nodded with a look of confusion.
I grabbed my cup of coffee and moved to their table, taking the seat on Grace’s side of the table, across from Eddie.
“What has you out so early?” he asked as the waitress stopped at the end of the table and took our orders.
