Page 55 of Love Me Gently

She poured herself a glass of wine, and since she’d called me to meet with her and talk, I let her take this conversation at her pace. Her time.

It came after one sip of wine.

“You told me when you called me that first night that you’d tell me more details about what’s going on when you could. I decided to stop wondering and worrying and simply ask you.”

She was on one side of the island. I was on the other. We were facing off against each other like enemies, but it wasn’t lost on me there’d been a lot ofgoodtimes with us on this very surface.

And since Marie wasn’t only my ex-wife, but the mother of my kids, and the one who’d been pulling double duty and single parenting a lot more than usual lately, what she was asking for wasn’t wrong.

It’d been three days since Trina and I went for the brief car ride and nothing had changed. Trina was alone at my place. Since she preferred to stare into the void in the bedroom even though most of her physical wounds were healing enough for her to move around and get what she needed, there was no point in Mom being there with nothing to do but twiddle her thumbs.

I was still anxious to get back and check on her, make sure she was okay even if I doubted she’d tell me the truth.

Hell, I wasn’t even sure she knew what the truth was anymore.

“Remember that police conference I had to go to back in October?”

“I do.”

“I ran into Trina.” Her brows rose in surprise, and before she could wonder, I continued. “Walked right out of a coffee shop and ran straight into her, or rather, she ran into me, but whatever. That part doesn’t matter nearly as much as what happened after.”

Marie’s jaw worked back and forth, and I could practically see questions gathering in her brain like a tiny cartoon bubble above her head.

“She had bruises then, Marie. Her cheek. Her wrists. Covered in a way it was obvious she’d been doing it for a while and had a lot of practice.”

Marie frowned and her eyes slowly closed as she tilted her chin downward. “That’s horrible. Truly, it is.”

“I gave her my card. Told her to call if she ever needed help. She had a friend with her. That friend called me the night she ended up in the hospital. Apparently, and I don’t know how yet because Trina won’t talk about it, but she kept my card, and her husband found it.”

“That’s not your fault.”

Of course she’d move to protect me. “I know, and yet I still blame myself for it. I’ve worked with enough women to know how risky that was. But, regardless, Trina’s friend called me, asked me if I really was the kind of guy who’d help her.”

A soft, well-known teasing smile stretched her mouth. “So of course you had to be the hero.”

I grinned back and then took a drink. “I know this hurts you, and this is gonna hurt to hear, but it’s Trina. Of course I would.”

“I know. And yeah, it hurts, but not so much anymore, it’s more of a bee sting compared to a copperhead bite.”

“Comforting,” I muttered. “Thank you for that.”

“How’s she doing? Healing wise?”

Marie nipped at her bottom lip, a show she was worried. She also did that when she was uncertain. This was one of the reasons it was so easy to care for her, to even think I truly was in love with her. Despite her own fears, she was worried about someone else. If I were a better man, I’d work to set her free from more of that pain.

“Physically she’s getting better. Emotionally…mentally…” I paused and shook my head. There were stories that weren’t mine to share. Things that weren’t mine to give, but this was Marie, and out of everyone I knew, she’d be a tightly sealed vault. “She’s saying some scaring things, and it worries me.”

Her self-hatred topped the list. The fact she was so sure Jonathan would come and get her. I shook my head. There was only so much Marie needed to know.

“And you plan on helping her through all of that.”

“Marie…”

She held up a hand and swallowed. “I get it, Cole. I do. I wouldn’t have married you or fallen in love with you if you weren’t exactly how you are, it’s just…she can’t stay at your place forever. And the girls…”

“She wouldn’t even let me drive past her parents’ home earlier this week, Marie. Her own childhood home. She’s not ready.”

“Maybe not for them, but she has friends in town, right? Like Ashley and Heather? Someone who can help her.”

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