Page 62 of Love Me Gently

What if…

What if Jonathan didn’t care? What if Jonathan left me alone? What if Cole could protect me? What if Icouldleave Jonathan?

The questions kept coming, long after Cole left for work, leaving me alone with nothing to do other than wander.

I cleaned up his kitchen. I made my bed. And then I sat, phone cradled in my hand as it powered on.

Call someone. There was only one person I could talk to, and even then, it wasn’t like I’d ever memorized Valerie’s number. I’d programmed it into my phone and never looked twice.

But what if…

Cole wouldn’t leave me helpless and stranded. Sure, he said he’d call his mom, but it could be hours before she got here.

The screen on the phone lit up, and my finger hovered over the internet icon. I could find Kip. It’d be a risk, but no onehadto know who I was when I asked for him. No…

Cole wouldn’t leave me helpless.

I hit the contacts icon instead and for the first time in weeks, a genuine smile stretched across my cheeks. A water drop hit the screen, and I brushed it away. Then my cheeks. This was crazy. So he was helpful and gave me phone numbers. I was being ridiculous.

Still, I couldn’t stop crying as I scrolled through the few numbers he must have programmed in. Ashley. Bridget. Cole. There were so many. He hadn’t given me just his mom’s number but his dad’s.Myparents’ numbers. Even my sister was in there. I ignored them all as I sniffed back more tears and scrolled to the end, past Kip’s name all the way to Valerie’s.

I hesitated over the phone icon. I hit the message one instead.

Me: Hey it’s Katrina. Can you talk?

There. Now she’d know.

My phone rang almost immediately and more tears, bigger ones that burned my cheeks fell as I answered it.

“Hey.” My voice shook and I couldn’t hold back my cries.

“What’s wrong?” Valerie snapped. “Are you okay? Why are you crying?”

I sniffed, and it came out more like a snort and a laugh. Another laugh. That had to be two in a single day.

“I’m fine, I’m good. Or, well, I think?” Another snort-laugh fell from me. Valerie called my name, quieter this time, and this time I flinched at it.

“Please. I can’t bear that name anymore.” Odd because I’d snapped at Cole fornotcalling me it, but I liked the idea of this. Not being who I used to be. Not who Jonathan turned me into.

This time…today at least, I got to decide.

“Okay, honey,” she muttered. “You’re really okay?”

I sniffed and looked around the room with its bare walls and television I had never turned on. The only life in the room were the pictures of Cole’s girls that as much as it hurt to see, I kept pulling out of the nightstand drawer and staring at.

“I don’t know if that’s the word I’d use to describe me right now.”

“But you’re safe, right? And getting better?”

That one took longer. Was I?

“Physically, I’m getting better, yeah.”

“Okay,” she breathed out through a sigh. “That’s good, real good. And I’m glad you called. I’ve debated whether or not to call Cole, and I know he and Kip have talked, but you should know Jonathan’s mad. And I don’t want to scare you?—”

“How mad?”

“Well, he’s not going to the cops, and he’s been questioned more by them since the good ones don’t believe his story for a minute, so there’s some suspicionhedid something with you. People who helped you get out are staying silent though, and no one really knows what happened so if Jonathan takes the fall, I’m not sure I care, but you should know he’s looking.”

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