Page 2 of Satisfied
My eyes snap back to Doc. “Uh…oh, I said, okay.”
“Did you now?” He smirks, his eyes dancing with humor. “Well then, just make sure to do everything I just told you.”
I nod, even though I didn’t hear a word he said. He smiles, patting my hand before getting to his feet. He grabs the Gladstone bag he always carries with him and walks to the door. I watch him say something to Ransom before the two men step outside.
“You didn’t hear a thing Doc said, did you?” Cara says with a laugh. “Your eyes were on Ransom the entire time. It was so cute to watch.”
I develop a sudden interest in my nails, picking at them just so I have something to do with my hands. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Abby, we’ve already established that you like Ransom,” she says, laying her hands over mine and forcing my eyes back to hers. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I’m not ashamed—well, just a little bit, but…” I glance at the shut door and let out a sigh. “Have I told you how my ex-boyfriend and I met?”
She shakes her head. “And you don’t have to. I know talking about him hurts you.”
“Our parents introduced us,” I tell her. “When I first met Jack, I thought he was exactly as my mother had described him to me. He was handsome, well-groomed, and came from a nice background. Our parents met in church and ran in the same social circles, so they thought it was a great idea to introduce us.”
“And you fell in love?”
I laugh at that. “I found out pretty early that Jack and I had nothing in common. The life he presented to his parents and friends was a lie. Behind the polished man with pretty blue eyes and a love for classical music was one whose temper flared at the bat of an eyelash. He was quick to throw a tantrum when he didn’t get his way and…no, I did not love him.”
I tried to.
The hopeless romantic in me tried to love the man, and I wanted to do my best to make my parents happy. Especially after my sister gave them such a hard time. She was the rebel, and I was the good girl. The girl who did what she was told.
“The first time he slapped me, it was because I wouldn’t kiss him. He swore he didn’t mean to hurt me. Bought me tons of gifts and begged me not to tell our parents.”
“And did you?”
“No. I convinced myself that he hadn’t meant to do it, so I took his flowers and accepted his apology.” Now I’m at a women’s shelter, so much good it did me. “When it happened again, I told my parents, who quickly dismissed me. They didn’t believe that a sweet boy like Jack, who was nice to his parents and respected by everyone, could do what I was accusing him of.”
“Abby—”
“I thought I could handle his moods and that perhaps, with time, I would learn to love him or he would realize how much he was hurting me and stop. Turns out I was asking for too much.”
My mind wanders to the day he gave me a ride home from work. My parents weren’t home at the time, and when he asked to come in and watch a movie, I couldn’t come up with an excuse to refuse. He’d placed his hand on my lower back as we walked into the house, and then his hand moved lower until he was practically touching my butt.
“Part of our agreement, seeing as we both come from conservative religious families, was to wait for sex until marriage, but Jack didn’t want to wait. That day…the day I showed up here injured, was the day he decided he was done waiting and suggested we have sex. No one would ever know we’d broken the promise to wait, he said.”
“Abby, he didn’t force—”
“He tried pressuring me into being intimate with him, and when I wouldn’t give in, something in him snapped.” A shudder rolls through me at the memory of those blue eyes turning hateful and the veins in his temples threatening to pop. “He became verbally abusive and when I asked him to leave, then he shoved me hard. While I was lying on the floor, he kicked me on the side and bruised my ribs.”
Cara jumps to her feet and starts pacing, then stops to look at me. “My God!”
“A few minutes after he shoved me, my parents walked in to find me curled up on the floor, whimpering, and Jack claimed that I’d fallen by accident. They didn’t believe me when I tried to tell them what really happened, even accused me of trying to seduce him.” My heart thumps with hurt and anger…with betrayal. “They left me alone with Jack, told us to ‘work things out.’” I scoff. “He was so angry. Livid that I would try to smear his name in front of my parents, and that’s when he gave me the black eye and the split lip.”
“But you got away,” Cara whispers, her eyes glistening with tears. “You came to us!”
“Yeah, I managed to push him away and get out the door. Adrenaline kept me on my feet for a while, and I just ran as far as I could. When I stopped running, I realized I was lost. I had my phone, so I ordered an Uber. I remembered our church collecting donations for Haven House, so I had the driver bring me here.” I smile at the memory of what happened next. “And then you were there, holding me. And Doc was treating me, and Ransom…” My voice trails off as my eyes shift back to the closed door. “Do you see now? How crazy it is that I’ve allowed myself to fall for another man—for Ransom—just a few weeks after I nearly died at the hands of my ex?”
“Abby, it’s only natural that you would be attracted to someone as caring as Ransom. He hasn’t left your side since you showed up here.”
“I know,” I murmur, my eyes welling up. “But even if I was shameless enough to fall for someone else, how can I move on when Jack won’t leave me alone?”
Cara’s eyes fire up at my words. “What do you mean? Has your ex been bothering you again? I thought you blocked him.”
I look away, unwilling to share the extent of Jack’s continuous harassment. He’s been blowing up my phone and calling from different numbers when I don’t answer. I went back to my student teaching job a week ago, and that’s when the flowers started. First, a large bouquet of red roses was sent to the school. And then another arrived at the shelter with my name and a handwritten letter pleading with me to meet and talk things out.
