Page 60 of A Little Luck

Then I started thinking about the consequences and all the different ways it could go wrong. I thought about baring my soul to strangers when I hadn’t even told my best friends. My mother didn’t even know.

It would be a matter of my word against his with people I’d never met, which again raised the possibility they wouldn’t believe me. And if they did believe me, what then? Did I want him to go to jail? Did I want to press charges?

Would I go to court and face a lengthy, public trial where I’d be asked a bunch of embarrassing questions?

It wasn’t what I wanted. I only wanted it to stop.

I wanted to be free.

“Do you think work is the best place to have that conversation?” Her question is neutral, not accusatory.

“We were at my house, but my house is right behind the newspaper office, so she went there to find me.” I think about Jemima flirting with Adam, and my lips twist.

“What’s wrong?” Drew studies me through the screen.

I feel my cheeks heat, and I shake my head. “It’s my friend’s little sister. She came back for the wedding, but I think she’s planning to stay.”

“You gave her a job?”

“She asked if I had anything she could do…”

“But?”

A knot is in my throat, and I’m a little embarrassed to confess. “She’s been flirting with Adam.”

Drew’s quiet a moment, watching me. “How does that make you feel?”

Pressing my fingers to my hot face, I confess. “Jealous.Reallyjealous, and I’m so ashamed. Jemima’s just young and playful, but it makes me so angry. Then it terrifies me.”

Her brow furrows. “Why?”

“Rex would get that way. He said he cut me because he was jealous, so no one would want me… He said I was the same way.”

She’s quiet again, and I wish we were in her office. Talking on my phone feels too intimate, like I have nowhere to hide, and all my emotions are plain on my face.

“Did you ever hurt Rex physically?” Her blue eyes are serious.

“No!” I shake my head. “I never touched him except to push him away when he was hurting me.”

“Do you want to hurt Adam physically? Or your friend’s sister?”

I start to see where she’s going with this, and I shake my head again. “I can’t imagine hurting someone that way.”

“Everyone feels jealous sometimes, Piper. It’s a normal human emotion. Abuse is not.”

Blinking down, I don’t understand why this makes me want to cry. “I know.”

“You didn’t make Rex do what he did to you. He made that choice.”

I know she’s right, but sometimes my mind tries to tell me I’m wrong. “These past few nights, in the dark with Adam, I could pretend I wasn’t damaged or scarred. I was free.”

“That’s good.” Drew’s voice is kind, and I glance up to see her gentle smile.

“I’m afraid when I tell him the truth, when he sees my scars, things will change.”

“They might.” She nods. “You might be freer than you’ve ever been. You’re no longer hiding, and the real you is no longer trapped in the past.”

“Could I be that lucky?” I huff a laugh, a hint of sarcasm in my tone.

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