Page 53 of Home Changes
She nodded, and her eyes filled with tears.
“Who is he?”
She shook her head. “I can’t tell you. He’ll kill me.”
Okay, he’d come at it from another direction. “That’s fair. Can you tell me, did he cause the bruises? Was he hurting you?” Seth asked gently.
Her breath caught, and for a heartbeat, she didn’t move. Then she gave a tiny nod, as if any more than that might shatter her.
Seth waited. Silence was a void that most people couldn’t let sit. She didn’t look at him as she said softly, “He, he … I made him lose his temper.”
Seth said nothing. Just let her fill the silence.
“I thought I could make it right. Thought if I was better, quieter … he wouldn’t …” Her voice cracked. “But it got worse.”
She looked up, her eyes red, brimming but determined. “I didn’t think he’d stop that night. He finally got tired and went to bed. I waited till morning and left before he got home from work.”
Seth’s jaw clenched. He’d seen bruises on soldiers, civilians, and kids in war zones. But this? This was worse. The damage ran deep, past the skin, past the fear. Into her spirit.
She kept going, barely above a whisper. “I hitched rides. A couple of decent folks. Then a couple who … weren’t. They gave me the creeps. Kept asking weird questions. I told them I needed to use the bathroom, and I ran when we stopped here in Hollister. Hid behind the dumpsters at the gas station until they left. My bag was still in their back seat.”
“All your stuff?” Seth asked.
“A little money. My phone. My ID.” Her fingers twisted in the fabric at her knees. “Everything.”
Seth swore silently. Outside, he was controlled and quiet. This woman didn’t need to see any anger. She’d seen enough from the bastard who’d beat her.
“I thought I saw his truck on the highway,” she added. “Far behind us once. It didn’t turn into Hollister, but … it felt like he was close. Watching. It still does.”
A single tear slipped down her cheek. She didn’t brush it away as she continued, “I was going to ask if someone had day work, maybe wash dishes, sweep floors, anything. But I saw his truck come back and turn into town. He washere. He went into the diner and the gas station. I scurried under the boardwalk and hid. He stood over me.” Tears flowed down her face. “He tried to get into both of the shops. He was so mad. I could hear him.”
“You ended up sleeping under the boardwalk instead.”
Her head dipped. “Yeah.”
Seth ran a hand down his jaw. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You know that, right?” She shrugged. He leaned forward but not too much because she was still terrified. He kept his voice steady. “You survived. You got out. That takes guts, Lottie.”
She met his eyes but only for a second. Her voice was raw when she said, “I’m scared he’ll hurt someone else just to punish me. I was trying to get to my aunt in North Dakota. She’s the only one who ever helped me. She’d take me in, but if he thinks I went to her …”
“My question is, how did he know you werehere?” Seth said out loud. “But that isn’t an issue anymore. You’re safe here. That’s a promise.”
She looked at him then, really looked. There was so much fear in her eyes. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me.”
“They won’t. You’re not alone in this anymore.” He stood, letting the weight of his words settle between them.
“I’m going to talk to Ken. He’s the county sheriff. We need to get this on record. We’ll figure it out.”
“The police won’t help.”
Seth stopped. “Why do you say that?”
“Because they didn’t believe the neighbors. They called it in when they heard him hitting me. He made me tell them I’d fallen, that I was okay, that nothing was wrong. When they left, he threatened the lady next door. He told her he’d beat me to death if she called again.” She sniffed and wiped at her nose. “They never came back.”
“We can’t be intimidated, Lottie,” Allison said from where she stood. “If anyone tried that here, they’d find out what small town justice looked like and fast.”
Seth nodded. “If he shows up, he’ll have to get through us and every citizen of this town.”
Loretta glanced from Allison to him slowly, herface pale but a little less hollow. Maybe, just maybe, she'd started to believe them.
