It was never this easy. I could never really fall asleep until I knew Daddy was home safe. I always worried that he wouldn’t make it home. That someone would kill him…and, eventually, someone did.
We all eat lunch at the dinner table, and during our meal, I pick up on Aunt Minnie asking Uncle Jack where Clark is. Uncle Jack tells her he’ll be back, but nothing more. By his dismissive tone, I assume he has no idea where Clark is either.
After helping Aunt Minnie clean, Jen takes off to her bedroom to look for ski resort tickets, and I walk out to the deck with a cup of chamomile tea. Though it’s a little windy, it blends perfectly with the warm, buttery sun. I sit in one of the rocking chairs, drawing my legs up so my feet touch my bottom, staring up at the mountains.
As I sip the tea, I catch sight of the scars on my wrist and I sigh. I place my tea down on the table beside me, looking down at the scars, running my fingers over them. They circle all the way around now, bold, pink scars that will never go away.
Scars that are a clear reminder of where I was. Memories that will never fade—that will always haunt me.
The door behind me creaks, and I look over my shoulder, spotting Aunt Minnie. She steps out with a warm, close-lipped smile, her eyes falling down to my wrists.
I drop my hands and tug my sleeves down, picking my tea back up again and sipping.
“Nice out here, right?” she asks with a small sigh. She takes the rocking chair to the left of me, looking up at the mountains, too.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmur.
Sitting back, she rocks slowly in the chair, breathing evenly. The wind tousles my freshly done hair, gold tendrils curling around my face. I tuck it back, and Aunt Minnie stops rocking. I feel her looking at me, so I look up. Her head is tilted, eyes slightly narrowed, like she’s trying to read me.
“Can I ask you something, sweetie?” she asks.
“Sure,” I answer. “Anything.”
She sits up higher in her chair, her eyes shifting down to my hidden wrists and then back up at me. “While he had you, did you by any chance, happen to fall in love with him?”
Her question catches me completely off guard. My eyes grow a little wider, my heart slithering to the pit of my stomach. All I can do is look at her.
How can she tell? How does she know?
I let out a tattered sigh, glancing around. “What makes you ask that?”
“Oh, trust me. You can’t fool me.” She smiles. “I know heartbreak when I see it. I’ve been through it way too many times not to know when I’m in the presence of it. You…cared about him—about the man that abducted you.”
I press my lips, focusing on the amber liquid in my teacup.
“You love him,” she states.
I shake my head, my eyelids sealing. “No.” How can I love a monster? How can I love a man who killed my husband? How can I love a man who kidnapped me, punished me like an animal day and night—who didn’t take me seriously until I was completely demolished and torn down, beaten and raped?
“You don’t have to hide the truth from me, Gia. I promise I won’t tell your Uncle Jack—or anyone for that matter.”
Fiery tears threaten to fall, but I squeeze my eyes shut and sigh again. “I . . . don’t know what it is I feel for him, Aunt Minnie. It confuses the hell out of me, honestly.” I open my eyes and laugh again.
When I meet hers, she’s smiling.
She stands up, eyes gentle, face soft. “What you’re feeling, my sweet Gia, is this crazy, wild thing called being in love. It will make you think you’re insane, but when it lures you in, it takes over all of you. And once you’re hooked and trapped, there is no going back.” She presses her lips, like she’s thinking about something.
“Maybe he was a monster to you, maybe he wasn’t,” she continues. “Maybe you want to hate him, but all you can see is the good—the positive traits. The sacrifices, like the one he made by sending you here, risking everything just so you could live on. He had to trust you in order to do that. He had to know you wouldn’t speak or lay out his secrets. I don’t believe what your Uncle Jack tells me about his loyalty to your father being the only reason you were sent here. I see right through it. A man that powerful, no matter how good he had it with your father, wouldn’t just send you away—not unless he knew for sure you would keep quiet about what you know about him.”