never forget when your big brown dog bit me on the ass. Don’t let your past bite yours.
Please be careful.
Love,
19
***
Nate
Belle sat and stared at the note, reading it over and over. Nate had written this, but now he was
dead. It was like hearing from the beyond.
The odd thing was the incident he mentioned and the fact that he’d gotten it a little wrong. She’d
always known Nate to have perfect recall, so this was strange. Her dog had been white, not brown.
Tears filled her eyes, blurring the words. Why would he send this postcard, then kill himself?
Had it been his way of saying goodbye?
She set the postcard on the seat next to the pile of junk mail before driving the rest of the way
down the street to her house. She pulled her car into her garage, lowered the door, and then grabbed
her purse and all the mail before going into her home.
Inside, after she’d tossed aside her purse and discarded the junk mail, she stood in the middle
of the kitchen and gripped Nate’s postcard. She closed her eyes and took a deep cleansing breath.
Right now nothing mattered but going back to Bisbee and being with her old friends as they said
goodbye to Nate.
Her mind jumped to what she had run away from as a teenager and she shuddered and opened
her eyes. As far as she knew, Harvey, her abuser, was still in Bisbee.
A weight came crashing down on her. She’d been through years of counseling where she’d
learned to accept that the sexual abuse had not been her fault. Her stepfather had shamed her and
capitalized on her self-guilt to have her buy into her shame and take it into debasement.
Fear that the abuse would escalate had caused her to run. She swallowed past the painful
tightness in her throat. For all she knew the bastard could have ended up killing her.
During her counseling sessions since, she’d been told she needed to face her abuser for closure.
Now the perfect opportunity was waiting for her in Bisbee. Her hands shook and her heart palpitated.
She didn’t think she’d ever be able to face the man without kil ing him.
~~*~~
Belle guided the car along the highway, glad she was finally closing in on the Texas/New Mexico
border. Not much longer and she’d make it to Las Cruces. She was exhausted from driving and very
much looking forward to a hotel room with clean linens and hopefully a comfortable bed.
Truth was, she hated to drive, especially across desolate stretches of land, and there was a lot
of that through Texas and New Mexico. It wouldn’t be so bad once she entered Cochise County in
the lower southeast corner of Arizona.
Driving gave her far too much time to think, and dwel ing on things she couldn’t change wasn’t
what she’d wanted to do. Thoughts of Nate, her stepfather, and Dylan continued to bombard her.
And Dylan being the one to call her—she hadn’t been able to forget the sound of his voice and
20
***
the way her body had reacted the moment she’d heard it.
She tried to think about good times. Their old hangout had been the Puma Den, a popular pizza
joint in San Jose, a subdivision of Bisbee. The pizza place had been named after their high school’s
mascot, the puma. She smiled to herself as she remembered the seven of them crowded around a
table eating garbage pizza, talking about school, sports, band, and anything else that might come
up. Nate had always had to have anchovies, which she’d picked off her pieces.
Then there were the plans she and Dylan had made for the future…the things they would do
and the places they would travel to. One of their favorite dreams was their honeymoon. They would
go someplace with snow and cuddle up in a cabin in front of a fire. Snow was something they got
little of in southern Arizona, and it had seemed so romantic when they were young.
Everything had been romantic until her life had fallen apart. Her throat ached. She had to stop
thinking of Dylan in that way. It had been over long ago.
Belle checked
Please be careful.
Love,
19
***
Nate
Belle sat and stared at the note, reading it over and over. Nate had written this, but now he was
dead. It was like hearing from the beyond.
The odd thing was the incident he mentioned and the fact that he’d gotten it a little wrong. She’d
always known Nate to have perfect recall, so this was strange. Her dog had been white, not brown.
Tears filled her eyes, blurring the words. Why would he send this postcard, then kill himself?
Had it been his way of saying goodbye?
She set the postcard on the seat next to the pile of junk mail before driving the rest of the way
down the street to her house. She pulled her car into her garage, lowered the door, and then grabbed
her purse and all the mail before going into her home.
Inside, after she’d tossed aside her purse and discarded the junk mail, she stood in the middle
of the kitchen and gripped Nate’s postcard. She closed her eyes and took a deep cleansing breath.
Right now nothing mattered but going back to Bisbee and being with her old friends as they said
goodbye to Nate.
Her mind jumped to what she had run away from as a teenager and she shuddered and opened
her eyes. As far as she knew, Harvey, her abuser, was still in Bisbee.
A weight came crashing down on her. She’d been through years of counseling where she’d
learned to accept that the sexual abuse had not been her fault. Her stepfather had shamed her and
capitalized on her self-guilt to have her buy into her shame and take it into debasement.
Fear that the abuse would escalate had caused her to run. She swallowed past the painful
tightness in her throat. For all she knew the bastard could have ended up killing her.
During her counseling sessions since, she’d been told she needed to face her abuser for closure.
Now the perfect opportunity was waiting for her in Bisbee. Her hands shook and her heart palpitated.
She didn’t think she’d ever be able to face the man without kil ing him.
~~*~~
Belle guided the car along the highway, glad she was finally closing in on the Texas/New Mexico
border. Not much longer and she’d make it to Las Cruces. She was exhausted from driving and very
much looking forward to a hotel room with clean linens and hopefully a comfortable bed.
Truth was, she hated to drive, especially across desolate stretches of land, and there was a lot
of that through Texas and New Mexico. It wouldn’t be so bad once she entered Cochise County in
the lower southeast corner of Arizona.
Driving gave her far too much time to think, and dwel ing on things she couldn’t change wasn’t
what she’d wanted to do. Thoughts of Nate, her stepfather, and Dylan continued to bombard her.
And Dylan being the one to call her—she hadn’t been able to forget the sound of his voice and
20
***
the way her body had reacted the moment she’d heard it.
She tried to think about good times. Their old hangout had been the Puma Den, a popular pizza
joint in San Jose, a subdivision of Bisbee. The pizza place had been named after their high school’s
mascot, the puma. She smiled to herself as she remembered the seven of them crowded around a
table eating garbage pizza, talking about school, sports, band, and anything else that might come
up. Nate had always had to have anchovies, which she’d picked off her pieces.
Then there were the plans she and Dylan had made for the future…the things they would do
and the places they would travel to. One of their favorite dreams was their honeymoon. They would
go someplace with snow and cuddle up in a cabin in front of a fire. Snow was something they got
little of in southern Arizona, and it had seemed so romantic when they were young.
Everything had been romantic until her life had fallen apart. Her throat ached. She had to stop
thinking of Dylan in that way. It had been over long ago.
Belle checked
Similar Books
Bone Deep
Randy Wayne White
All Wounds
Dina James
Sweet Memories
Lavyrle Spencer
Seal Team Seven
Keith Douglass
A Map of the Known World
Lisa Ann Sandell
The Bride's Farewell
Meg Rosoff
Killing Gifts
Deborah Woodworth
A Simple Song
Melody Carlson
Saddle Sore
Bonnie Bryant
Plan B
SJD Peterson