different when it’s me.”
“Why?” he asked in genuine bewilderment.
“I don’t know,” I answered helplessly.
Gage rubbed his face with both hands. He stood from the table. “I’m going to get dressed and go to the office for a while. I won’t make any calls.” He paused deliberately before adding, “Yet.” Going to the high chair, he lifted Matthew and held him aloft to make him squeal with delight. Lowering the wriggling body, Gage kissed his neck and cuddled him. “Hey, pardner. You be a good boy for Mommy while I’m gone. I’ll come back later and we’ll do some guy stuff.”
Settling the baby back in the chair, Gage leaned down to kiss his wife, sliding his hand behind the back of her neck. It was more than a casual kiss, turning harder, longer, until she reached up and stroked his face. Breaking it off, he continued to look into her eyes, and it seemed an entire conversation passed between them.
Liberty waited until Gage had gone to take a shower before telling me gently, “He was so upset after he brought you home. He loves you. It drives him crazy, thinking of someone hurting you. It’s all he can do to stop himself from going to Dallas and . . . doing something that’s not in your best interests.”
I blanched. “If he goes to Nick — ”
“No, no, he won’t. Gage is very self-controlled when it comes to getting the results he wants. Believe me, he’ll do whatever is necessary to help you, no matter how hard it is.”
“I’m sorry for involving you in this,” I said. “I know it’s the last thing you or Gage need.”
“We’re your family.” She leaned over and gathered me into another of those long, comfortable hugs. “We’ll figure it out. And don’t worry about Gage — I’m not going to let him bully you. He just wants you to be safe . . . but he’s got to let you be in charge of how it’s handled.”
I felt a wave of affection and gratitude for her. If there was any lingering trace of resentment or jealousy in my heart, it vanished in that moment.
Once I started talking, I couldn’t stop. I told Liberty everything, the way Nick had controlled the household, the shirts I’d had to iron, the way he called me “Marie.” Her eyes widened at that last, and she said in a low voice, “Oh, Haven. It’s like he was trying to erase you.”
We had laid out a big quilt with a barnyard design, and Matthew had crawled among the hand-stitched animals until he drifted to sleep on top of a flock of sheep. Liberty opened a bottle of chilled white wine. “Your prescription instructions say that alcohol may magnify the effects of the medication,” she warned.
“Good,” I said, holding out my glass. “Don’t be stingy.”
Lounging on the quilt with the sleeping baby, I tried to find a comfortable position on the pile of pillows Liberty had set out for me. “What’s confusing,” I told her, still pondering my relationship with Nick, “are the times when he’s okay, because then you think everything is getting better. You know what buttons not to push. But then there are new buttons. And no matter how sorry you are, no matter how hard you try, everything you say and do builds up the tension until there’s an explosion.”
“And the explosions get worse each time,” she said with a quiet certainty that got my attention.
“Yeah, exactly. Did you ever date a guy like that?”
“My mother did.” Her green eyes were distant. “His name was Louis. A Jekyll and Hyde type. He started out charming and nice, and he led Mama step by step into the relationship, and by the time things got bad enough for her to leave, her self-esteem was shredded. At the time I was too young to understand why she let him treat her so badly.”
Her gaze wandered over Matthew’s slumbering body, limp and heavy as a sack of flour. “I think the thing you’ve got to figure out is if Nick’s behavior is something that could be helped with counseling. If your leaving
“Why?” he asked in genuine bewilderment.
“I don’t know,” I answered helplessly.
Gage rubbed his face with both hands. He stood from the table. “I’m going to get dressed and go to the office for a while. I won’t make any calls.” He paused deliberately before adding, “Yet.” Going to the high chair, he lifted Matthew and held him aloft to make him squeal with delight. Lowering the wriggling body, Gage kissed his neck and cuddled him. “Hey, pardner. You be a good boy for Mommy while I’m gone. I’ll come back later and we’ll do some guy stuff.”
Settling the baby back in the chair, Gage leaned down to kiss his wife, sliding his hand behind the back of her neck. It was more than a casual kiss, turning harder, longer, until she reached up and stroked his face. Breaking it off, he continued to look into her eyes, and it seemed an entire conversation passed between them.
Liberty waited until Gage had gone to take a shower before telling me gently, “He was so upset after he brought you home. He loves you. It drives him crazy, thinking of someone hurting you. It’s all he can do to stop himself from going to Dallas and . . . doing something that’s not in your best interests.”
I blanched. “If he goes to Nick — ”
“No, no, he won’t. Gage is very self-controlled when it comes to getting the results he wants. Believe me, he’ll do whatever is necessary to help you, no matter how hard it is.”
“I’m sorry for involving you in this,” I said. “I know it’s the last thing you or Gage need.”
“We’re your family.” She leaned over and gathered me into another of those long, comfortable hugs. “We’ll figure it out. And don’t worry about Gage — I’m not going to let him bully you. He just wants you to be safe . . . but he’s got to let you be in charge of how it’s handled.”
I felt a wave of affection and gratitude for her. If there was any lingering trace of resentment or jealousy in my heart, it vanished in that moment.
Once I started talking, I couldn’t stop. I told Liberty everything, the way Nick had controlled the household, the shirts I’d had to iron, the way he called me “Marie.” Her eyes widened at that last, and she said in a low voice, “Oh, Haven. It’s like he was trying to erase you.”
We had laid out a big quilt with a barnyard design, and Matthew had crawled among the hand-stitched animals until he drifted to sleep on top of a flock of sheep. Liberty opened a bottle of chilled white wine. “Your prescription instructions say that alcohol may magnify the effects of the medication,” she warned.
“Good,” I said, holding out my glass. “Don’t be stingy.”
Lounging on the quilt with the sleeping baby, I tried to find a comfortable position on the pile of pillows Liberty had set out for me. “What’s confusing,” I told her, still pondering my relationship with Nick, “are the times when he’s okay, because then you think everything is getting better. You know what buttons not to push. But then there are new buttons. And no matter how sorry you are, no matter how hard you try, everything you say and do builds up the tension until there’s an explosion.”
“And the explosions get worse each time,” she said with a quiet certainty that got my attention.
“Yeah, exactly. Did you ever date a guy like that?”
“My mother did.” Her green eyes were distant. “His name was Louis. A Jekyll and Hyde type. He started out charming and nice, and he led Mama step by step into the relationship, and by the time things got bad enough for her to leave, her self-esteem was shredded. At the time I was too young to understand why she let him treat her so badly.”
Her gaze wandered over Matthew’s slumbering body, limp and heavy as a sack of flour. “I think the thing you’ve got to figure out is if Nick’s behavior is something that could be helped with counseling. If your leaving
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