Page 39 of Seeking Happily Ever After

Yes. It was a pretty easy life to get used to.

She took a breath and pulled her gaze away from her ring as her cell phone rang. Without glancing at the caller ID, she snatched it up.

“Hello?” She practically singsonged into the phone.

“Damn.”

Charlotte’s heart stopped for a split second.

“It’s good to hear that voice. Baby, where’ve you been?”

She punched the button to end the call and dropped the phone on the floor in front of her, staring at it as if it would explode at any second.

No.

Billy.

The anonymous calls with no one on the other end. They weren’t wrong numbers. But…

Billy didn’t know how to find her.

Not that it would take a genius to know she was back in Glacier Falls. But no one had her number. Only her close friends and family. And there’s no way he’d come for her. He wasn’t that kind of guy. He was a controlling, emotionally abusive asshole, but he was also a total coward. There’s no way he’d set foot in Glacier Falls. Not when he knew her brother would make sure it was the last time he ever used that foot.

She’d been so sure he’d leave her alone. He’d go off and lick his wounds and move onto someone else.

She’d been sosure.

Which was why she’d never said anything about the other calls.

She was such an idiot.

The phone rang again, and she fell to the floor and put her arms over her head. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t let this man come in and ruin what was going so well. He’d already taken so much from her. She couldn’t deal with it. She couldn’t—no!

What she couldn’t do was sit there and let herself be a victim again. The words of her therapist, Lauren, ran through her head. “You are strong and capable. You always were. He didn’t take that from you; he just made you forget for a little bit. It’s time to remember who you are.”

Remember who you are.

Char took a deep breath and picked up the still ringing phone. She stared at it for a moment before closing her eyes and pushing the button to answer it. “You need to leave me alone, Billy.”

“I miss you.”

“No.” She worked hard to keep her voice even and strong.

“I do. You left me.”

She nodded, but didn’t speak.

“You weren’t supposed to leave, Char. That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“It was part of mine.”Right. Strong.“We’re done, Billy. You need to move on.”

“You shouldn’t have left.”

Was that a threat?

He’d never been violent with her. Not really. Well, not more than once or twice. At the time, she hadn’t considered his rough handling of her abuse. But it was. She knew that now.

“Good-bye, Billy.” She exhaled slowly, letting the tension fall from her shoulders. She was about to hang up when his words caught her attention.

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