yesterday was some kind of wakeup call. I just hate that it happened the day before you came.”
Her eyes sparked with hope. “You weren’t lying when you said you’ve snapped out of it. Thank God, the real Camille is still in there, I can tell.” Her eyes appraised me. She gently rubbed one of the bruises. “Do they hurt badly?”
“They’re okay.”
Her nostrils flared and she closed her eyes, pressed her fingers against her temples. “We have to turn him in now. Before he shows his face at the house. I can’t be held responsible for what I’d do to him.”
I put up my hand to stop her from saying anything more. “He’s more of a threat to you than you’d be to him, Audrey.” I gestured to my arm. “He’s dangerous when he wants to be.”
And then I explained my plan, the one I rehearsed in my head on the way to pick her up this morning.
Horror washed over her face. “Absolutely not, I--”
“He won’t come around while you’re here,” I said quickly. “I don’t think, anyway. We can enjoy these two weeks together, and you can trust me to call the police after you leave.”
“There is no way in hell I’m going to get on that plane and leave you here with him, are you crazy...?”
My hope that she would remain calm ended. She started yelling like she was talking to an inanimate object who couldn’t understand her. From there, we went around in circles while full darkness fell around us. With us both exhausted, we came to a compromise: To keep from ruining the next two weeks, she would let me wait until she left to go to the police.
“But I cannot sit here while you go out with him,” she added. “You cancel the date. If he shows up anyway, I’ll be here.”
I feared saying no to him would put Audrey in danger, especially since I had no guarantee the protection spell would work. I said, “He’s so unpredictable, I doubt the date will even happen. But if I can’t cancel it, if he shows up--”
“Nope. That’s part of my compromise. Tell him you won’t go out with him and stick with it, and I won’t bother you the rest of the time I’m here about going to the police. If he shows up angry, then I’ll call the cops. I’ll be a witness that way. He’ll be turned in, and you’ll have no date to worry about.”
And that was that. She refused to let me go on the date, if it happened, to protect her. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. “Agreed.”
“Okay. Let’s get back to the house. It’s so dark out here I can barely see a thing,” she locked arms with me to walk toward the house, “and I’m creeped out now, talking about this guy. It’s going to be all right, Cam. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, remember?” With a tight smile, she nudged me into a walk.
“I think I’m past the first step, aren’t I?” I said. “I’m about to kick him to the curb and ban him from my life.”
Her face grew serious again. “He’s never going to put his hands on you again. We’ll make sure of that. You’ll pick up right where you left off when you moved here. A little banged up, some wounds to heal. No pun intended. Although I still can’t believe I’m agreeing to wait.”
“It’s not your burden to bear, Audrey,” I said. “It’s my problem. I got myself into it and I’d like to get myself out of it. Preferably not while you’re here on vacation.”
“Please. My vacation is hardly priority at the moment. I’m just glad I came when I did. I can’t imagine if ...” She glanced at me and I nodded to show her I understood.
Another good part of living in the country is being able to really see the night sky. I looked up to a panorama of winking crystal stars against the inky-black backdrop. Despite her worries about me, Audrey’s words encouraged me, confirming that yesterday’s epiphany still applied today. Talking about it with her after making the decision to rid myself of this toxic relationship for good was the beginning.
I gave her arm a squeeze as we approached my front door. “Seriously, thank you for doing this. For your help.” I unlocked the door and held it open, to let her in first. But she didn’t go inside.
“I know