Page 67 of Second Chance at Love (Chance At Love Duet 1)

Rick’s fury was like fire. He paced around the room like a beast caught in the cage. I had to calm him down and convince him not to seek Jack out. He wanted to kill Jack.

“Listen,” I tried to rationalize with him. “It’s over, and I’m fine. And I’m not going back. ” I was impressed at myself for being so calm. “You have to think of Betty and your boys. The girls and I will be fine. I promise you.”

He hugged me, careful not to squeeze me hard and cause pain. Rick was always thoughtful like that.

“You are my family too,” he mumbled against my hair. “We’ll figure this out together. Go take a shower and then we’ll talk about plans. Betty has a room at Wolf’s Lodge for three days. We can figure out the path forward.”

After the shower, I realized I had no clothes to change into. I wrapped myself into the biggest towel I could find and stepped out into the hallway calling out, “Rick?”

He came out of the master bedroom with clothes in his hand. He was a step ahead of me.

“Here,” he handed me a pile of variations with a gentle smile. “All those still have tags on them and hopefully will fit.” After I was dressed, I went back downstairs and Rick was waiting for me at the kitchen island counter with a cup of tea.

“I should go find that bastard and teach him a lesson,” he spat angrily brushing his finger lightly across my bruised cheek.

“No, you shouldn’t,” I replied firmly.

We kept going in circles on what the best path forward should be. He suggested he should just kill him and he wasn’t laughing.

“Don’t be stupid, Rick,” I warned him. “And don’t say something like that again!”

“I should have never let this happen,” Rick mumbled unhappy.

“Rick,” I whispered. “I’m not your responsibility. I let it happen by putting up with it for far too long. I should have left him a long time ago.”

We sat in silence for a while. I knew what I needed to do, but I kept hoping for a better idea. I glanced at Rick, his eyes focused on me, and I wondered if he was thinking the same.

“I think,” I started quietly, “I should go to the police and maybe file a restraining order against him.”

It killed me to say it. Not because I wanted to protect Jack but because I wanted to keep all the laundry out of the public court system.

Rick nodded in agreement. “Would you go with me?” I begged him quietly. “Please.”

I remembered Rick’s look of such sorrow and pain. I felt so torn to ask him since they were cousins. He hugged me tightly and promised we’d go together. It would be all ok. He has gone through so much with me, I couldn’t imagine my life without him and Betty.

“Tomorrow,” I mumbled. “I don’t think I can take it today.”

We’d agreed to go the next day, and for the rest of the night, we tried to come up with a plan on where the girls and I should go so he couldn’t find me till the legal process was behind us. It was ironic really that I had to leave my own home, all my sweat and tears had gone into buying it, but I had to keep my girls and myself safe.

That night I received a call from the highway patrol. Jack was in an accident with a tractor trailer. He got so drunk at the bar that night, and attempted to drive with his newest girlfriend in her sports car. They were both killed.

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