State of Mind by Ronni Meyrick

Author:Ronni Meyrick [Meyrick, Ronni]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, thriller, love, suspense, drama, sex
Publisher: wickedpublishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

***

A herd of wildebeest stampeded through the veins and arteries of Tori’s heart when her foot made contact with the first of three concrete steps that would take her into the house. Her tastebuds watered with saccharine saliva, her stomach rolled, and the urge to vomit swept over her.

I can do this!

She stumbled through the door and braced herself against it while she caught her breath. Her gaze wandered around the room. Each picture or precious memento was still in place on the walls and units of the hallway. But there was something foreboding about it now…

It doesn’t feel like home anymore.

Her hand tightened on Madison as her legs wobbled. Plump tears rained from her eyes, across her cheeks, and down onto her shirt. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, as though she’d just run a marathon.

Step by step, she made her way to the room where she’d been assaulted. She swallowed hard against the acrid bile in the back of her throat.

When she reached her office, she stopped dead in her tracks in the doorway. Small beams of light entered through the open curtains, the tiny shards of glass Abbey and Romany had missed glinting against the darkness of the parquet floor. The aroma of bleach and polish permeated the air.

Splotches of deep brown marked the walls and floor in certain places. A large outline of a stain still marred the floor in front of her desk. The blood from the cut on my leg. From the smudges around it, she could see one of them had tried to remove the mark.

Her tears continued to fall. A sob tore from her throat, and she raised her hand to her mouth and covered it. She turned and fell instantly into Madison’s waiting arms, where she buried her face into her chest and closed her eyes. “I… I can’t.”

“Okay everyone, that’s enough!” Madison’s hold tightened around her. “Let’s get you back to the car.”

She led her back outside and held her while she cried.

“I’m sorry, Maddie. I thought I was strong enough.”

“It doesn’t surprise me that you couldn’t do it, sweetheart. This house holds a lot of bad memories for you.” She wiped the tear tracks away with her thumbs. “What do you want to do now? Would you rather stay with your parents or with me?”

“Can I come and stay with you?”

“Sure, I’d love that. There’s also room for your parents and Abbey if they don’t want to leave you.” She kissed her on the cheek and stepped back. Their gazes locked and held as she asked, “Is there anything in the house you need?”

Tori reeled off a list of things, and then watched as Madison, Brenda, and Abbey went back into the house to collect it.

When they emerged fifteen minutes later, they had another three bags to add to the growing pile in the car. They said goodbye to Romany and waited while Abbey gave her a lingering hug, which was only broken when Madison cleared her throat, before they got back into the car.

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