Page 115 of The Lucky Heart (Jamison Valley 3)
“Don’t apologize. Let’s sit down.”
Silas followed us inside, then swiped his phone from the kitchen counter and mouthed, “Jess?” When I nodded, he started dialing while I sat with Khloe on the couch.
“Silas is calling the cops.” She flinched and her eyes widened, but I didn’t let her protest. “It’s time to stop this, Khloe.”
“I know.” Her frame slumped in defeat. “I’m just scared. Derrick won’t like that I involved the police.”
“We’ll think of something,” I promised.
“Jess is on his way,” Silas said. He came to the couch and smiled at Khloe, giving her some space. “Don’t worry.” He gave me a sad smile before jogging upstairs to put on a shirt.
“I really believed that he had changed,” Khloe whispered before starting to cry. I let her lean against my shoulder while I stroked her hair and let her talk.
“Things were going great.” She sniffled. “He’s been a different man lately. Loving and sweet. Just like he was after we got married. And he quit drinking.”
“Was he drunk tonight?”
“Yeah. We were supposed to go to a dinner party tonight but I’ve been sick so I stayed home. He told me he’d be fast, that he’d make his appearances and then come home to take care of me. And he promised me that he wouldn’t drink.”
Obviously, he’d broken that promise along with a whole slew of others.
“He came home late. Drunk. He wanted to have sex, but I told him no because I was sick. It sent him into a drunken rage. He told me that if he couldn’t get off one way, he’d find another. And then he hit me.”
Derrick must have focused all his blows on her face because there wasn’t an inch of it that wasn’t red, swollen or cut.
“You have to press charges this time.”
She started crying harder, but nodded. “How could I have let it come this far? I’m a stupid, pathetic woman.”
“Don’t say that, Khloe. This isn’t your fault. It’s his.” In addition to the physical abuse, I was sure that prick Derrick had convinced Khloe that she was to blame. I fought to keep my calm and not storm out of here with my stun gun. That guy deserved more than a few jolts.
“Here.” Silas was standing over us with a glass of water and three painkillers.
I left Khloe to take her medicine while I pulled on my jeans. “Damn it,” I muttered to myself. I should have gotten Jess involved sooner. I should have pressed harder with Khloe. Maybe all of this could have been prevented.
Before I could go back to the couch, Silas came to my side and pulled me in for a hug. “Are you okay?”
I shrugged. “I should have done more.”
“You’re a good friend, babe. There’s nothing else you could have done.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“I am,” he said. “She’s here because you gave her a safe place to go. Your friend trusts you. If she didn’t, she’d still be at home with that fucker and not here with you.”
“Thanks.” I melted into his side. Silas always knew what I needed to hear to chase the doubts away. We broke apart, and I went back to Khloe while he pulled the mattress upstairs.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your night,” she said.
“Don’t be.”
“I didn’t know where else to go.” Her voice broke. “He’d find me at the motel and I don’t have any other friends. No one wants to hang around with a woman who’s too dumb to leave her abusive husband.”
“It’s their loss and you’re not dumb. You’re just going through a rough patch. We’ve all had them. Anyone who would abandon you to go through it alone isn’t much of a friend at all.”
She rested her head against my shoulder. “Thank you, Felicity.”
“You’re welcome.”
