Winter Peril by Pinder Victoria

Author:Pinder, Victoria
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-08-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Eventually, Erica yawned, then stood to walk stiffly back to her bedroom. Her legs were cold and weak, and she fought off dizziness. The heat of her shoulder reminded her to rest and heal.

Her cheeks held her dried tears.

Isolation and bleakness hadn’t been natural in her life. Normally, she spent her day with a million things to do and never had time to think about her personal demons. She rubbed her arms and opened the door to her room. Every day, she ran at full throttle to keep her mind busy, but what happened in the hallway hadn’t been that bad. Except, in this house, she turned so lonely and cold. In Miami, cold ended fast. She’d turn the air conditioner down a little and the problem was solved. But in this house, the draft seeped under the skin.

In her room, she closed the door and plopped back in her bed. Finally, she closed her eyes and tugged the blankets on top of her. The coldness hadn’t dissipated yet. And she couldn’t sleep. So she ran her hands down her legs to get warm.

Nothing was in this house except her and Gabriel.

Her ears drummed louder. And her throat constricted. Sleep was impossible, and her mind raced back to the diary. What if Gabriel had been violent? Or what if Tiffany had done something so hurtful that he’d never talk about it? She couldn’t believe it, but right now, the question took on a life of its own. She tossed in the bed and hoped to find some respite.

She sighed, then sat up in bed. Unable to stop herself, she reached for the diary, though she vowed to read only one more passage. Taking a breath for a second of sanity, she opened the book.

I confronted my husband while he worked. I could stand no more of his constant abuse. Then he fell on top of me and claimed it was the ladder. I knew better. I clawed at him to free myself, but he pushed me back. His damn hammer and nails were more important to him than me. One day I’ll use his tools against him. I’ll use his house against him.

He told me to leave. I threw myself on top of the wood he was drilling a hole in, and he almost hit me with the hammer. Yelling didn’t help, and I clawed at him. Again, yelling, I told him he wasn’t a good husband or lover, and it made it worse.

He pushed himself on me, and I screamed and screamed. But then I clawed at his clothes. He threw me off him. He was supposed to love me, not want a divorce. He hates everything about me. What am I supposed to do? My sister said it’s good if I’m finally telling her the truth now, and that I should agree to the divorce. She thinks his settlement is fair. She’s a disloyal bitch. No one listens, and I’m alone. My parents used to call me names too.

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