“I want to be. I just don’t know how to leave him. He threatens me all the time. Aspen, I’m not this girl. He’s been controlling and mean since the week he moved into my apartment. He said if I leave him, he’ll kill my parents.”
“Motherfucker,” Natasha growls. “Let’s cut off his fucking balls.”
Gretchen’s crying softly now. Her left eye is swollen shut. Her nose is puffy and split on one side. She winces as she sits on the couch.
“Ribs?” I ask.
“I think he broke a couple. He got mad at me because I told him I was going to work tomorrow. He wants me to stay home with him, but we don’t have any money. Every penny I make, he spends. I’m about to be evicted from my apartment, and he doesn’t care. He doesn’t love me at all.”
“No, honey,” Nina says as she walks in with a wet rag to dab at Gretchen’s wounds. “He doesn’t love you. Anyone who can do this to you doesn’t love you at all.”
“How did you get away?” Ellie asks.
“He fell asleep, and I just left. I walked here because I couldn’t risk starting the car and waking him. If he finds me, he’ll kill me. I know it.”
“Why is your voice so raspy?” I ask, already knowing the answer to that question.
“He choked me out.”
“Jesus,” Monica whispers. “He needs to be in jail. Aspen—”
“Absolutely,” I agree.
“No,” Gretchen says, shaking her head. “It’ll only make things worse.”
“No, it won’t,” Natasha insists. “Gretchen, you have to press charges and put this asshole in jail. He’ll keep doing this to you—or to someone else.”
“He tried to kill you,” I say. “It’s not just domestic abuse, it’s attempted murder.”
A tear falls down Gretchen’s cheek.
“I just wanted to find someone to love me.”
“And you will, sweet girl.” I wrap my arm around her shoulders and gently hug her. “You will. This isn’t love. This is evil. We’re going to do something about it.”
“I’m calling Liam,” Ellie says. “He’ll know what to do.”
“We have three security guards sitting outside,” Monica reminds us all.
“Don’t you worry,” I assure Gretchen. “There’s no way that bastard’s getting near you now. You’ll stay here for a while, and we’ll put a man on the house, keeping you safe.”
“You’d do that?”
“Of course, we’d do that,” Ellie says. “I’m calling Liam.”* * *“Gretchen’s in bed,” I say to Callum several hours later. We called an ambulance for her and met the police at the hospital where Gretchen was questioned, evaluated, and taken care of before she was released to us. I sit next to him with a sigh. “I’m exhausted.”
“Did the police arrest that fucker?”
His voice is hard, but his lips gentle when he kisses my head.
“Yeah. They said he’ll likely be out on bail tomorrow, so keeping security here for a couple of days until she can leave the state is important. I think he’ll try to come after her.”
“Agreed,” Callum says. “We’ll keep someone with her for as long as she needs.”
“Thank you. I’m going to send her to her sister’s place in Portland next week. She’ll be safe there and can start to heal. I feel awful for her, Callum. I feel so guilty.”
“Why on earth do you feel guilty?”
“Because I saw from the beginning what a creep he was. I knew he was bad news, and I didn’t do anything beyond telling her he was a douche. I should have done something more.”
“There was nothing more to do. She’s a grown woman who made a choice to continue seeing him. And then she got trapped in a horrible situation. I’m just relieved that she has you and trusts you enough to come here and ask for help.”
“Me, too.”
“Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you to bed. We’ve done all we can do for tonight.”
“If we stay here, David has to stay, too.”
“I love that you think of the staff and their needs, but this is what he’s paid to do, darling. David’s fine. I’ll let him know we’re staying.”
I kiss his cheek. “I’m grateful that I found you and that you’re so wonderful.”
He pulls me close and rocks me back and forth. “I feel the same way, my love.”Chapter 16~Callum~Getting up early isn’t new to me. I’ve always been a morning person, so rising before the sun to help Aspen at her café isn’t an inconvenience. I just hate that she had to get up so early after being up late worrying after Gretchen.
We dropped Aspen off at Drips & Sips, and then David brought me back to the boathouse so we could shower and change before joining Aspen once more to work through the day.
If you asked me a few months ago if I ever thought I’d be serving coffee in a small town in Montana, I would have laughed.