The next morning, when Mac awoke, she felt like she’d been in a boxing match with a heavyweight. When she tried to move, she bit her lip so she wouldn’t cry out. So she lay still and thought about last night.
Rick had gotten drunk and attacked Nathan.
Mac had tried to stop him, and he elbowed her in the stomach and flung her across the room. Intentionally, like all those other times.
Firefighters and police arrived. Some she knew. Some Carl knew. Talk about embarrassment.
And Mac had gone home with Nathan. Marcy initiated the whole thing and brought along the boys, but her sister-in-law went to bed while she and Nathan were still in the hot tub. He’d been so soft spoken and tender when he told her about his students in order to distract her.
Then Mac got drowsy and she tried to stand on her own but was too weak, from the injuries and from the heat…
“I’ll help.” He stood in front of her, drew her to her feet, braced her up the steps with firm arms around her waist. She shivered and he bundled her in a robe. She had to hang onto him when he took her into the first-floor bedroom.
“I’ll leave you to change. I’ll be right outside the door.”
She sat on the bed, bent over, tried to get her underwear off.
When she couldn’t, tears threatened. A few fell and she wiped them away with the back of her hand. To hell with modesty. “Nathan, I need help.”
He came in and assessed the situation.
“You can’t get your underwear off?”
She nodded.
He knelt, and kept his gaze on her face as he eased down her panties. But he was smiling.
He did the same for her bra. He’d already set out a T-shirt that he slid over her head; it practically covered her. Still, he’d slipped pj bottoms on her, too.
Earlier, he must have drawn back the covers, so he helped her slide under them, and tucked the sheet around her. The last thing she remembered was a light kiss on the forehead. She’d fallen right to sleep…
Now, she relived every minute of the entire time with him and wished the circumstances were different, wished she’d led a different life so she deserved someone as good as Nathan. She could never be enough for a guy like him.
She moved again, and pain spiked everywhere, but she pushed off the cover anyway and gingerly swung her legs off the bed and onto the floor. That’s when she saw a bottle of water and three ibuprofens on the nightstand plus a note. It read, Take three pills right away. And wake me if I’m not up.
After she swallowed the medicine and half the water, she used the adjacent bath. Boy, this room was big for a guest. She scanned the skylight, a huge shower, toilet and beautiful double vanity. Then she saw the evidence of him: a tooth brush in a holder, with a packaged one left out next to it. Shaving cream left on the counter. Aftershave and other bottles on a shelf.
He’d let her sleep in his bedroom.
Probably so she didn’t have to climb any steps.
Pain brought her back to the present as she brushed her teeth. Finally, she looked in the mirror. Fuck. A bruise the size of a golf ball had formed on her cheekbone. It was stingingly red. She touched the skin there and moaned.
Taking a deep breath, she made her way back to the bedroom and noticed now all the masculine touches and décor. Deep blues and grays on the bedcovers, gray walls, off-white drapes, a huge TV on the wall and some interesting art.
Summoning strength, she got her phone off the nightstand and punched in numbers. “Tess DiMarco.”
“Hi, Tess. It’s Mac.”
“Hi, honey. It’s early. Is something wrong?”
“Yeah.” A hesitation. “Something happened to me last night. I want you to contact the other Sisters of Fire before it gets around the department.”
“All right.”
She detailed this incident without emotion. If she showed weakness, Tess would dissolve.
Still, Tess whimpered. “I’m so sorry.”
“I know you suspected something like this has been happening—even asked me outright once. So, yes, this isn’t the first time. And yes, I’m done with him. I have to get him out of my life, then stay safe.”
“Where are you?”
Mac looked around Nathan’s bedroom and gave a little smile. “I, um, can’t tell anybody yet. Besides, I won’t be staying here anyway. I’ll call you when I’m safer.”
“All right. I’ll tell the others.”
“Thanks.”
“I love you, Mac.”
She always said that. Mac never did. But today she murmured, “Me, too. I love you.”
With that settled, she following the strong scent of coffee down the corridor. Nathan stood at the kitchen window, staring out over the lawn. He wore the same kind of pajamas as she did. From the back, she could see the breadth of his shoulders spanning a navy T-shirt. She said, “Nathan?”
He turned. His face fell. She touched her cheek. “It looks awful.” Her tone was apologetic.
“It is awful.” He lifted his cup. “Want some?”
“Yeah.”
“Sit at the table. I’ll get you a cold pack, then some coffee.”
He brought the icy blue square to her before pouring her coffee, then dropped down adjacent to her. He must have showered because she could smell soap and man. He gave her a half-smile. “Good morning, Trish.”
“Morning.”
His brows formed a vee. “Do you feel terrible or horrendous?”
“Somewhere in between. But the ibuprofen’s kicking in. Thank you for that and the water and for giving me your bedroom. Where did you sleep?”
“The house has four bedrooms. I bunked upstairs.”
“Ah.”
Silence for a while as they sipped. Then he asked, “Do you want to talk?”
She faced him squarely. “I’d like to get this part over with.” She took in a deep breath. “Rick Franklin has been my boyfriend for about eighteen months. Things were low key until he got hurt and was laid up. He moved in with me and gradually became more and more aggressive. Six months ago, he started tossing me around. Then he started hitting me.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me why I stayed?”
“Do you want to tell me?”
“Intellectually, I realize I don’t deserve to be hit, but when I was little, my father did the same thing.”
“Oh, Trish.”
“I was mistreated for a long time. And guess I expected it.”
“Wait a sec. Wasn’t Carl living at home?”
She looked away for a second. “Yes.”
“He let it go on?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Then fuck him!”
“Yeah, I guess. I refused to see him last night when Marcy said he wanted to come in, partly because of that. I have to figure out a relationship with him.”
He nodded. She could tell nice, normal Nathan, who’d been raised in a loving family, was horrified by what she told him.
“As far as Rick goes, I believed, in my heart, not my head, that I was lucky to get a guy like him after being told by my father I was worthless and ugly. Actually, Rick aggravated that belief by saying that I was lucky to get him, he was so handsome and popular and I’m well, not attractive.”
“Bullshit. You are!”
Ignoring the compliment, she went on. “He said he was teasing me, but when something bad happened to him or he got drunk he harped on it.”
“That is so wrong, Trish. You’re a good person doing great things for humanity. You’re sweet and kind and interesting.”
“I never saw myself that way. I was…grateful to him for being my boyfriend. Then all the verbal and physical stuff made me even more insecure. My…My father said I wouldn’t be worthy of any man.”
His fists curled and he took them off the table and hid them under it. “I’d like to strangle both of them with my bare hands.”
“Thanks. I have to tell you one other thing. When I met you a couple of weeks ago, you made me feel special. Like I was somebody. Thank you for that.”
“You are special. Not only to me. The firefighters who came last night were outraged by what happened to you. Jacob and Harry adore you. Marcy cares for you very much.”
“I’ll have to concentrate on that more.”
As if on cue, Marcy came to the doorway. “Good morning.” She crossed to them and stood next to Mac, squeezed her shoulder. “Hey, there. Are you any better?”
“Some.”
“Let me see…Oh, hell.”
Nathan stood, said, “I’ll get you coffee. Sit here.” Marcy dropped down in his chair and focused on Mac. “I have some things to say.” She picked up the cup Nathan had brought her and sipped, as if she was buying time. Then she grasped Trish’s arm. “I should have spoken up before. I’m sorry I didn’t.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to take sides.”
She bit her lip, then said, “Carl asked me to tell you that he was so sorry he didn’t act better last night.”
Her eyes started to well. “H-he’s my brother. He should have watched out for me when I was little.”
“What?” Marcy asked.
“He let my father treat me the same way.”
Her face literally drained of color. “I’ll kill him!”
Mac shook her head.
“He told me last night he knows he was wrong not to stand up for you. Maybe he meant when you were young, too. Still, he deserves to be called on the carpet.”
“I don’t want to see him, Marcy. Not yet.”
“All right.”
The boys raced into the kitchen.
“Aunt Mac?” Harry said loudly. “You look awful”
“Holy shit!”
“Language, Jacob.” But there wasn’t much heat in his mom’s scolding.
Jacob moved in close to Mac. She took his hand and told him, “Bruises are worse the next day. Remember when you got hit by that baseball in the leg?”
“I guess.” He turned to his mother. “Why did Rick do this, Mom?”
All the adults stilled. How could they answer a question like that?
* * *
As the kids had some time in front of the TV, Marcy stayed with Nathan and Mac in the kitchen. She checked her watch. “I told Carl I’d be home before his shift started at eleven. Do you want to come with me, Trish? Stay at our house?”
“No, I don’t wanna see Carl. And that’s the first place Rick will look for me.”
“Will he do that?”
“I’m not sure. But he isn’t going to leave me alone forever.”
“If you press charges, get a restraining order, he’ll have to.” This from Nathan.
“Would he? His cop buddies who show up could very well give him a slap on the hand. Abuse happens within their ranks, like Rick.”
Nathan touched her arm. “Stay here this weekend.”
“Thank you, but Rick will come here, too. He can guess where we went.” She cleared her throat. “He was jealous of you last night. That’s what made him attack you.”
“I can protect you.”
“No, I’m not putting anyone else in danger.”
Marcy’s brows shot up. “You can’t go back to your house.”
And Nathan’s upset showed on his face. “Let’s leave town, then. Go away for a while.”
“I hate running. I have to figure out an alternative while I heal. Some place I can stay until I go back to work on Monday night.”
“But where can you possibly go in town that’s safe?” Marcy asked.
“I—wait a minute. There’s somewhere he can’t get to me.” She picked up her phone. Typed in a number. “Eleanor, hello, it’s Trish Mackenzie.” She waited. “I’m afraid I need to take you up on your offer to help me if I ever needed anything…”
When she ended the conversation, Nathan asked, “Who’s Eleanor?”
“The mayor’s sister, the woman I told you about.” She explained the save to Marcy. “She’s still living at the mayoral mansion. It’s gated and there’s security.”
“Oh, that’s perfect.”
“You can’t tell anyone, Marce. Even Carl,” Nathan told her.
“I promise I won’t.” She squeezed Trish’s arm. “Do you want a ride there?”
“Let me take her. You have the boys and it’s best they don’t know either.”
“I guess they couldn’t keep her whereabouts to themselves.” She glanced at Nathan then back to Mac. “Can Nathan take you, Trish?”
“Yep.”
When his family left, Nathan dropped down next to her. Though she hinted at her feelings for him, he wouldn’t push anything on her now. “When is Eleanor expecting you?”
“In an hour.”
“What will you do without any of your belongings? Your car?”
“I’ll figure that out. Right now, I’m going dressed in the clothes I wore last night.”
“You can borrow a clean shirt to wear with your jeans.
“Thanks.”
They both stood. “Nathan, I should say thank you for all you did for me last night, but that sounds like a brush off. Will you come spend some time with me at the mayor’s house?”
Despite the circumstances, her invitation made his heart sing.
* * *
Eleanor Parker opened the same kitchen door as she had before to greet Mac. But this time, her face paled and her mouth dropped. “Oh, dear Lord in Heaven. Come in, Trish.”
Nathan stood behind her on the stoop.
Mac turned to him. “I’ll call you when I get settled.”
He nodded.
As she stepped into safety, she wanted to bring Nathan with her, but she had to stand on her own two feet. Eleanor closed the door. “What do you need right now, Trish?”
“An ice pack, first.”
Eleanor retrieved one, and Mac pressed it to her incredibly painful cheek. “Would you like to sit?”
“At the table.” She pointed to the small one by the window.
They sat. Mac sighed.
“You don’t have to explain anything to me right now. You can go rest.”
“I wanna tell you. Because I need somewhere to stay where he won’t have access to me.” At Eleanor’s questioning look, Mac added, “Rick Franklin, my now ex-boyfriend, is a cop.”
Eleanor shook her head. “Unfortunately, abusive men cover all spectrums of life. But I assume you’re afraid his cronies won’t stop him from hurting you again.”
“I am. To be fair, the police captain that came to the house last night was seeing red about what Rick did to me. But his buddies, no, they won’t, even with a restraining order.”
“There are ways to stop him, dear.”
“H-how?” Her free hand shook. She was getting jittery from talking about this.
“Trish, my brother is the mayor. The police and fire department answer to him.”
“Oh! Yeah!”
“You’ll meet him when he comes home from his trip tomorrow. You can stay here as long as you want. Now, do you want rest or food or more discussion?”
Did she want to be alone? Not really. And she was hungry. She’d hardly touched her food last night, and could only nibble on toast this morning. “Maybe a sandwich. If you don’t fuss.”
“I’ll get it right now.” As she fixed them both grilled cheese, Mac broached something else. “If you let me stay here for a few days, I’ll need some things. I can’t go home for my own.”
Eleanor glanced at Mac’s shirt and her jeans. “Clothes first?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Let’s make a list while we eat. Either I can go get them, or we’ll have one of the staff do it.”
Mac sat as Eleanor cooked. “I have money, Eleanor.” She fished in her pocket for her wallet which, thankfully, had been in her jeans along with her phone.
“Let me take care of it, now. You can pay me back at some point.”
Tears sprang to her eyes at the woman’s kindness. “Thank you.”
“It’s all right to cry.”
As if in a trance, she said, “Don’t cry or I’ll give you something to cry about.”
“Excuse me?”
“That’s what my father always said to me. Unfortunately, he also gave me that something.”
Eleanor’s throat worked convulsively. “So, you were abused as a child.”
She swallowed hard, too. “Then I chose that life again.”
“Did this Rick show signs of abuse when you first got involved with him?”
“He was physically aggressive sometimes. Plus…” She hesitated. “He was a mean bastard.” She explained Rick’s assumption that she was lucky to get him. “So, yeah, there were signs.”
“You know what? Let’s not backtrack today. You might want to do that with a counselor, though. For now, let’s think forward.” She set the grilled cheese and some melon slices on dishes, put them on the little table and got a notebook out of the drawer. They sat together. “All right, first clothes and personal toiletries.” She took a bite of her sandwich. “Size pants and top?”
“Fourteen.” She looked down. “I’m a big girl.”
Eleanor laughed. “Me, too. But you’re so toned and fit.”
Mac ate some of the sandwich. It was creamy, rich, buttery.
“Now, number two. I’ll have a bed made up for you.” She took her phone. “Yes, Mia, would you make sure the room next to mine is ready for company. Uh-huh. A friend.”
Grateful to hear the word, Mac knew she needed friends now.
When Eleanor disconnected, she returned to the list again. “Number three, we’ll talk to Bill about the police when he gets home tomorrow.”
She sighed.
Eleanor put down her pencil. “Can I ask, who was that man with you? He seemed kind and solicitous of you. A brother?”
“No, a good friend of mine. Can I ask him to visit me here?”
“Of course. You seem to trust him.”
“He got me out of the situation that caused this.” She averted her gaze to the now-empty plate. “I stayed with him last night.”
“Ah.” She made another notation. “Number four: What do you like to do? TV? Puzzles? Reading?”
“All of those. I like to bake, too.”
“I adore sweets.” She seemed thoughtful. “Number five is for me to check into the nutrition center by phone. I won’t go in person today.”
“Y-you can leave me here alone.”
“I don’t want to. I’ll go back to the center when you go to work.”
“I appreciate all this. So much.”
Eleanor cocked her head. “Trish, do you live in his house?”
“No, he lives in mine. I’ll explain the whole thing later.” Her shoulders suddenly felt heavy and she felt sleepy. “Maybe I could lay down now? I’m very tired all of a sudden.”
“Of course.” She stood. “I’ll show you up.”
Mac forced back the emotion she didn’t want to feel. “Thank you, Eleanor.”
“You’re welcome, Trish. There are people to help you through all this. More than just me.”
With that comforting thought, Mac followed the mayor’s sister through the mansion.