Chapter 16
“We were living in a rundown apartment in South Providence when Charlie moved in next door.”
Grant kept his arms around her and watched the play of emotions on her expressive face. “How old were you?”
“Eleven. My mother had been sober for a couple of months, and things had been pretty good for once, even if we had almost no money and the apartment was a pit. At least she was home and keeping her hands off me, so it didn’t matter much where we lived.
She could be so nice when she wasn’t drinking or using. She was a totally different person.”
He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was far away from him, locked in memories.
“Charlie’s ex-wife had taken him for everything he had, so he was starting over. That’s how he ended up living in the same crappy building we were in.”
“What did he do for work?”
“He was a high school science teacher. He had so many cool stories about the planets and trees and dirt.” A hint of a smile graced her lips.
“I remember thinking how odd it was that this grown man loved to do things like play with mud and bugs and worms. He was fun to be around. I’d never known anyone like him.
He talked to me like I was a person and not a stupid kid.
“Even though I was still young, I knew there was something going on between him and my mom. She was pretty, and when she was clean, she took good care of herself—did her hair and makeup. I could tell he was really into her.”
“That must’ve made you happy since you liked him so much.”
“I was a nervous wreck over it. I wanted so badly to warn him off her, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it because I didn’t want to lose my new friend.
Do you know how many times over the last fourteen years I’ve wished that I hadn’t been so selfish?
None of this would’ve happened if I’d said something. ”
“Aw, Steph, you don’t know that. You could’ve given him all the warnings in the world, but if he was in love with her, he would’ve seen what he wanted to see.”
“At least he would’ve known what he was getting into. By the time he figured it out, they were married, and he’d bought a cute little house for all of us. We were living in this fantasy world for a couple of years, but my stomach was in knots the whole time . . . waiting. Just waiting . . .”
Grant’s heart broke for the young girl she’d been and the woman she was now, having to relive it.
“They’d been married about eighteen months the first time she came home high.
I can’t say for sure if it was the first time she used when she was with him, but it was the first time it was obvious that she’d been doing something.
I felt so bad for him. He was shocked by how nasty she was.
It was like someone had flipped the switch, and she was back.
Of course he had a million questions for me about whether it’d ever happened before .
. .” Her voice trailed off, and tears filled her eyes.
Grant wanted to tell her to stop. He wanted to tell her he’d heard enough, but he needed to know what’d happened so he could try to get her the help she needed so badly.
As if she was willing away the tears, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “When Charlie asked me if it’d happened before, I lied. I pretended to be as surprised as he was.”
“Because you were afraid he’d leave,” Grant said.
Nodding, she said, “Once again, I did what was best for me.”
“You were a kid, and he made you feel safe for the first time in your life. No one could fault you for wanting to protect that.”
“I can fault myself. He’s been in hell almost since the day he met us, and I could’ve prevented that.”
“I hate that you blame yourself.”
She shrugged. “Can’t help it.”
“Did she get loaded again?”
“Yep,” she said with a sigh. “As always, she fell hard. It didn’t take him long to realize that she was a drunk and a junkie, and I was a liar.”
“I’m sure he understood why you lied to him.”
“We’ve never talked about that. I’d like to think he gets it, but I don’t know.”
“How did he end up taking you from her?”
“He came home and found her beating me,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone that chilled Grant to his bones.
“She was screaming and pounding on me with her fists. He pulled her off me and picked me right up off the floor. I was more or less out of it by then. When I came to, we were in a motel room. He’d cleaned up my cuts and tucked me into bed.
” She paused, seeming to collect her thoughts.
“I wanted to ask him what’d happened, but my mouth was cut and swollen. It hurt to talk.”
“Jesus,” Grant whispered, wanting to commit violence on the woman who’d hurt her so badly.
“Charlie was sitting by the window, staring out into the darkness. There was this orange sign in the parking lot. I can still see him outlined in an orange glow as he probably tried to figure out what the hell we were going to do next. The next time I woke up, the police were there, and they were arresting him.” Her voice caught on a sob.
“The bitch had reported me kidnapped and told them he’d been sexually abusing me the whole time we lived together. ”
Grant was afraid to say a word for fear of scaring her with his anger. He’d never heard anything so outrageous in his life.
“Because my clothes had been bloody and ruined, he’d put me to bed in just my underwear.
I was black and blue and swollen and mostly naked.
With hindsight and adult maturity, I can see that it looked really bad.
I kept telling them he’d never laid a finger on me, but they didn’t believe me.
They took me to the hospital, subjected me to a rape kit.
” Her slim frame trembled as a shudder rippled through her.
“It was the worst thing I’ve ever been through. ”
Grant hugged her tighter and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m so sorry, honey. I wish there was something I could say that wouldn’t sound stupid and insignificant.” His eyes burned with unshed tears over what she’d endured.
Using her sleeve, she wiped the dampness from her face. “That was just the beginning of the nightmare. The day before, my friend had been trying to teach me how to ride her bike.”
Grant had a flash of Big Mac teaching each of them to ride a bike when they were six or seven, running through the marina parking lot after them, laughing and yelling his encouragement. How lucky they’d been, and they hadn’t even known it.
“I’d fallen on the bike and had bruises on my upper thigh and . . . And . . .”
“The bruises cemented their case,” he said for her.
She nodded. “No one would listen. I felt like I was screaming at the top of my lungs, and no one could hear me. I told every police officer, lawyer, social worker and doctor that he never touched me. I offered to take a lie-detector test, to swear on a stack of Bibles. Didn’t matter.
Every one of them patted me on the head like I was a stupid baby who didn’t know whether or not she’d been raped. No one listened.”
“I’m listening. I believe you. I believe you, Stephanie.”
Leaning her head on his shoulder, she looked up at him with big trusting eyes that slayed him. “That helps. Thank you.”
“What about your mother? When did you see her again?”
Her expression darkened at the mention of her mother.
“She showed up at the hospital and gave an Oscar-worthy performance with tears of gratitude that her baby had been found safe and maybe not so sound, but alive. She was calling Charlie every name in the book and going on about how a child predator had been taken off the streets. Of course, for once, she was stone-cold sober. I found out much later that he’d recently threatened to divorce her and file for custody of me if she didn’t go to rehab.
She was out for revenge, and she got it. Boy, did she get it.”
Grant linked his fingers with hers, wanting to comfort her in any way he could.
“Things happened really fast after that. Charlie was charged with kidnapping, sexual assault of a minor and a bunch of other felonies. Nothing he or I said or did made a bit of difference. I felt like was I drowning for months, forced to live with my mother in the house Charlie had bought for us with all his things around. His planet models and the fish tank and the ant farm he got me for Christmas.” A sob broke loose, and she began to cry.
All Grant could do was hold her and let her get it out.
After a long while, she finally settled, and he wondered if she’d fallen asleep. He sort of hoped she had. If her story was unbearable to listen to, he could only imagine how it must hurt her to relive it.
“I’m sorry,” she said, resting a hand on a damp patch her tears had left on his shirt. “The ant farm gets me every time.”
Moved by her attempt at humor in the midst of such darkness, Grant ran a soothing hand up and down her back. “Please don’t apologize.”
“What you must be thinking . . .”
“God, Stephanie. I’m in awe of all you went through and the strength it’s taken for you to keep fighting for him all these years.”
“I’ll never stop fighting for him.”
“I’ll help you. We’ll figure something out. I promise.”
“I appreciate that you want to help, but don’t get your hopes up. I’ve learned that nothing good comes of that.”
Grant refused to believe there wasn’t something he could do to help. He had things she didn’t—money and connections. He’d use every dime and every contact he had to get her out of this nightmare if that was what it took.
“Where’s your mother now?” he asked.
“She overdosed six weeks after the so-called kidnapping—without ever telling the truth about what really happened. They put me in foster care, forced me to testify against my stepfather, threw him in jail and left me to fend for myself in the system. The day I turned eighteen was the first time I saw him after I testified at his trial. It’d been four years by then.
I went to see him in prison and was shocked by the change in him.
He’d become this hardened, bitter man who I barely recognized.
He told me to go away, get on with my life and forget about him.
I said that wasn’t going to happen, and he’d better get used to seeing me because I planned to go back again the next week. ”
As she spoke, the devastation seemed to leave her, and determination took hold.
“That’s what I did. It took three months for him to say another word to me, and he again told me to go away and leave him alone.
I talked to him for the full hour every week.
I told him everything that’d happened since I last saw him, I talked about the case, about the lawyer I was going to hire as soon as I had the money.
I pretended like I didn’t care that he never said a word to me in return.
I took it as a good sign that he tolerated my visits. ”
“He probably lived for them.”
“Maybe,” she said with a shrug. “He didn’t have much family of his own, and his friends had deserted him after he was charged.
I was all he had. I still am. Anyway, it took a year, but I was able to hire an attorney—the first of many.
Some of them took my money and never returned my calls.
Others said they’d look into the matter and reported back there was nothing they could do.
It was a constant battle. This new guy seems different. I guess we’ll see.”
Grant’s mind raced with scenarios and plans and ideas about things he could do to bring attention to her plight. “You said you saw Song of Solomon,” Grant said, referring to his Academy Award-winning screenplay.
“Three times. I loved it.”
Pleased by her praise, he said, “A story about a death-row inmate must’ve struck close to home for you.”
“Far too close, but the ending . . . When the DNA exonerated Solomon. It gave me hope, you know?”
Grant nodded. “I did a lot of research on death-penalty cases, met with high-profile attorneys and became a quasi-lawyer myself. Have you heard of Daniel Torrington?”
“Of course I have. He’s only the top defense attorney in the country. Who hasn’t heard of him?”
“He’s a friend of mine.”
She sat up straight and sucked in a sharp deep breath. “Are you kidding me?”
“No,” he said, chuckling at her reaction. “I’m not kidding. How about I give him a call tomorrow and see what he has to say about all this?”
“God, Grant. My heart is pounding.” She brought their joined hands to her chest. “Do you feel it?”
He flattened his hand over her heart, and for the first time since she settled on his lap, his libido woke up and took notice. “Yeah.”
“I’m afraid to hope.”
“Don’t be afraid,” he said, moving his hand to her face. He bent his head to kiss her. “Whatever happens, you’re not alone in this anymore.”
“It’s not just Charlie and the case. It’s you, too.” She reached up to comb her fingers through his hair. “You make me want things I’ve never wanted before.”
“Don’t be afraid of that either.”
Her brows knitted with aggravation. “What about Abby?”
“Who?” he asked, kissing her again.
“Grant . . .”
“I’m not thinking of anyone but you, Stephanie. Only you.”