“I’m sorry things didn’t work out between the two of you. I thought Liv was the one.”

“Yeah. Me too. But after nearly a year of dating, she wanted to move to the next level and I just wasn’t ready after all. I can’t blame her for moving on. I look at Kyle and Maggie and I know that if I’d truly loved Liv, I’d have asked her to move in or marry me long before a year passed.” Matt cocked his head. “Cassie may be able to get spitting mad at you but I don’t think she’s the plaything type. Don’t play with her. I don’t think she can handle it. And she deserves more.”

Shane’s lips tightened as he stood up and began to pace. “Hey, f**k you, okay? I don’t play with women, Matt. I’m just not serious about them. I’ve made mistakes, I grant you that. But I have no intentions of harming Cassie Gambol. She’s different. She moves me and I want to know more. A lot more.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I should be running for the door right now, looking to hook up with a woman who’ll make me forget those eyes. But she makes me want to stick around. I think I’m in trouble.”

Standing in the payphone she’d spied earlier that day in the grocery store parking lot, Cassie punched in the numbers and waited for Brian to pick up. The shaking had finally abated but the after effects of the attacks always left her feeling off balance.

“Hello?”

“Hey, B. I’m here safely.”

“I was ready to get on a plane and come looking for you. Why didn’t you call me last night? Is everything okay?”

“My phone won’t be hooked up until Monday. And I got into a small fender bender and my car is in the shop but yeah, everything is okay. I got a job.”

“Already? Great news. Doing what?”

She told him about the bookstore and the five favorite authors question. “She’s giving me a week’s trial and if she likes me, she’ll make me permanent. Who’d have thought I’d be so excited about something like this?”

“You’ve been through an awful lot. Of course something like this job is exciting. You’re claiming your life. Now, a fender bender? Did the new identification work?”

“I guess so. The sheriff hasn’t arrested me yet. And it was his mother who hit me. Rear ended me at a red light. I’m all right but my car needs some TLC. My furniture arrived and there are people coming out of the woodwork to offer me help. It’s all very stereotypical southern small town here. Lots of people calling me miss and ma’am and going out of their way to be nice. It’s odd. Disconcerting and yet, it feels nice.”

“Did you tell them?”

“Hell no. That’s my past. I mean, they offer to drive me places and move my furniture, that sort of thing. The sheriff has taken it into his head to try and save me. He’s like nine feet tall and four feet wide. I’m wagering he was the quarterback in high school. In any case, I’ll have to disabuse him of the notion that I need saving.”

Brian laughed. “Honey, you can let people in, you know. You haven’t done anything wrong. There’s nothing for you to be ashamed of and he won’t find you. Maybe telling the sheriff is a good thing, he can keep an eye on you.”

“You just said Terry won’t find me so why do I need an eye kept on me?” And she was ashamed. She knew she shouldn’t be but she was. She graduated at the top of her class and yet she’d let a man in her life who’d estranged her from her family and had nearly killed her. He’d taken away one of her greatest passions when he used a hammer to shatter the bones in her fingers. How she let things get that far, and more than once, was still something she didn’t understand. And if she didn’t how could she expect others to?

“You going to see that doctor they recommended? The one in Shackleton?”

“Yes, she has evening hours and I have an appointment on Wednesday night. I suppose I’ll need to clear it with my job.”

“You promised you’d go. She’s a specialist with domestic violence survivors, Car—Cassie. Don’t break that promise.”

Closing her eyes, Cassie leaned her head against the cool glass of the enclosure. “I won’t. I promised and I’ll see it through. Even though I don’t need it.”

“No one can live through what you did without needing some help.”

“It was a year ago.”

“Yes and you spent months in the hospital. You were in a coma for three weeks. They weren’t even sure you’d be able to use your right arm again. And then the trial and the f**kups. You need someone who can help you process it all. You’ve just been existing for the last year. Hell for the last several years.”

“Fat lot of good the trial did when they found him guilty and he’s out there free.” Free and filled with violence and the need for revenge. She shivered against the ninety plus degree heat. Fear made her cold.

“I know, Cassie. I know. It’s wrong. But you’re alive and safe and damn it, you need to claim your life again and live. Get a boyfriend, go on dates, neck at the movies. If you like this town, buy yourself a house and settle there. When they catch him, I won’t have to hide when I come and see you. Or you can come back here.”

The mere idea of a life where she could have those things mocked her. Could she? Could she be normal and have friends and a boyfriend? A life where she didn’t weigh every word and action out of fear? It seemed like such a ridiculous fantasy, rage bubbled up within her. But she didn’t want to unleash it on her brother, who’d been her rock through everything. “I have to go. I need to get home and get some dinner. I’ll email you and call you with my new info once my phone gets hooked up on Monday. Thank you, Bri. I love you.”