2. Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Savannah
Present Day
L ooking in the rearview mirror, I watch Kenzi kicking her little feet. She’s singing “You Are My Sunshine.” It’s her favorite song, one she always asks me to sing to her when she goes to sleep at night.
“Kenzi, sing with Mommy.”
My encouragement is all it takes for her to join me, her adorable little warble making me smile.
I stop singing to see if she knows the last few words and listen to my precious girl.
“You ever know, dear, how much I wuv you. Peas don’t take my sun-sign away ,” Kenzi sings.
“Good job, precious girl,” I praise warmly. My daughter truly is the light in my dark world.
“Look, Kenzi, we made it to the cabin.”
“It’s so pwetty, Mama,” she gushes excitedly.
Our cabin is nestled amidst towering pine trees, providing a sense of seclusion and tranquility. Its rustic charm is enhanced by a stone fireplace, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere on chilly evenings. The interior is tastefully decorated with wooden furnishings, giving it a cozy and homey feel. The large yard surrounding the cabin is perfect for Kenzi, my energetic three-year-old daughter, to run around and explore to her heart’s content. And I have to admit, spending time outside, with the crisp mountain air filling my lungs, never fails to rejuvenate my senses; it’s easy to find solace in the serenity of this place. The panoramic views from the cabin’s summit are truly awe-inspiring, with rolling hills, majestic mountains, and a vast expanse of untouched wilderness stretching out before you. It’s the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Something I never thought I would find again.
People in town are friendly, although, for safety reasons, I guard the secrets of my past closely. I only hope it lasts and Derek never finds us. If he does, I’m a dead woman walking. He won’t have mercy on me.
The only person I’ve gotten to know well enough to trust with my worst-case-scenario plans is Kate. Olivia would be my first choice, but I can’t take the chance that Derek will find her. He knows Olivia’s name and knows we used to be close. The person I hand my daughter to needs to be someone he won’t suspect or know how to find.
Kate has been watching Kenzi while I work, and she says it keeps her young, but honestly, she doesn’t look a day over forty. She’s in her sixties and is an inspiration to women aging gracefully everywhere. Again, she was referred to me through Olivia’s grapevine and our initial introduction was over FaceTime. She doesn’t charge me as much for babysitting as she should, and her son, who works a lot, had an empty cabin for rent. With him being consumed by work, he left the cabin for her to handle, which means I pay my rent directly to Kate. She agreed to accept my rent in cash and to not put my name on any lease or rental agreement. My request was a dead giveaway to her that I was hiding something, but thankfully, she’s allowed me to keep my secret, thus far. To be honest, I am grateful she’s the one I have to deal with to pay rent every month, because I don’t want to be in the presence of any man, especially alone.
I know his cabin is nearby, and there are certain spots where I can catch a glimpse of the structure through the trees, but I’ve yet to encounter its owner. Sometimes, I see the lights illuminating its windows, but we aren’t close enough for me to see anything else. Kate says that when the trees are bare during the winter, we will see the cabin better.
Kate’s son is rarely home, but I get the sense she’s planning on being a matchmaker. She shouldn’t bother, though, because there’s not a chance in hell of me ever trusting another man again.
Other than that, I don’t have to worry about seeing another person unless I need to get groceries or supplies. Unfortunately, my financial situation has taken a turn for the worse. I’ve been in Magnolia Falls for a year and the money I have saved is running low. I know it will eventually run dry, but I’d hoped to make it last just a little longer. Olivia helps by sending money when she has it to spare, and Kate is always giving me clothes for Kenzi, fixing us supper, or sending us home with leftovers. These kindnesses are only delaying the inevitable, though.
In addition to the cabin owner, Kate has another son, who happens to be the town sheriff. I’ve seen him around town from afar but try to stay as far away from him as possible. Any man in a law enforcement uniform sends chills through me. I’ve never seen her other son, but Kate said he spends most of his time in the woods cutting and processing trees. By the time I get off work, no one except her and Kenzi are at her house normally, so seeing them hasn’t been an issue so far.
Working at the local diner, my hours vary. Night and weekend shifts make better tips, so I try to take as many of those as I can. Really needing the extra money, I plan on applying for some extra hours at a bar in town. According to Kate, the townspeople consider it the neighborhood hangout, although it does get rowdy. However, living in such a small town, my options for work are limited.
Kate is divorced. She told me that they caught the woman who was engaged to her son cheating on him with her husband. That means the woman was sleeping with her soon-to-be father-in-law. Talk about a small-town scandal; it saddens me to think about Kate caught up in that mess. She's such a gentle soul and deeply cares for her sons. No way did she deserve what happened to her, but then again, I don’t think I deserved what Derek did to me, either. As a result of what happened to me, I’ve built walls to keep everyone at arm’s length. The only person who is truly close to me is my daughter.
Besides Olivia and Kate, I hardly interact with anyone else. In Kate’s case, it’s because she takes care of my daughter while I’m at work. She’s friendly, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep her at a distance, even though I try. I think that’s why she told me what happened to her marriage, hoping I’d reciprocate and tell her my story. However, it’s not that easy; someone finding out who Derek is could cost me and Kenzi our lives, so I continue to keep my secrets.
Life has taught me not to place my trust in men. Though Derek, by far, has been the worst, he wasn’t the first. My father left and divorced my mom when I was young; according to my mother, he was having an affair with a younger woman. This sent my mother into depression and drinking. When I was a teenager, she was driving home drunk from a bar and wrapped her car around a tree, leaving me an orphan. During my teenage years, I lived in a group home where male staff members behaved inappropriately towards me and the other girls. Once I turned eighteen, I was determined to get out and make a life for myself.
Derek used to frequent the local restaurant where I worked as a server. He exuded an irresistible charm that made it impossible to look away, and when he turned his attention to me and asked me out, I immediately said yes. I was na?ve and didn’t suspect he had his eye on me because I was an easy target. Now I realize he purposely chose me. Someone who had no family to turn to; someone he could groom and mold to be the perfect, subservient victim. Because I was in need and he was much older, he exploited the situation, whereas it was enough for me that he had a stable job and a place of his own to live.
Being young and in love, I never suspected that Derek was not who he appeared to be. In those early days, he lavished me with gifts and attention, and we soon moved in together. Things were going well until we got engaged and I started seeing the warning signs; however, at the time I didn’t realize they were red flags .
Slowly but systematically, he isolated me from everyone and everything—including Olivia. Once we were married, things devolved into Derek staying out until all hours of the night and coming home drunk. After the trauma of my mother’s death, I felt compelled to confront him about his reckless behavior. That was the first time he hit me. The next day he begged me to forgive him, promising that it wouldn’t happen again. But it did. Each violent encounter escalated in severity until I was sure he would kill me.
We didn’t plan to get pregnant, but it happened, and I thought it would be the thing that changed us—changed him. I was wrong. Things went downhill instead of improving, as I assumed they would. Then Derek started cheating; he didn’t hide it and would purposely throw it in my face to cause me to react. My punishment for speaking out was more beatings.
Thinking back, it was a miracle that Kenzi survived until birth. By then I was desperate to get out but didn’t have the means or a place to go. Derek’s verbal abuse escalated quickly once I gave birth to Kenzi and my body didn’t go back to what it was pre-pregnancy. He found the stretch marks and wider hips unattractive, and reminded me daily that I wasn’t good enough, pretty enough, skinny enough, or smart enough for him.
The day I left him, I made a promise to myself: I would never allow another man to be near me again. I’ll certainly never risk my daughter’s safety for a man. Raising Kenzi in Magnolia Falls, happy and safe, is what I need to concentrate on now.
The seasons are changing, and it’s getting cold up here in the mountains. A year ago, when I first rented the cabin, being this far up on the mountain top was what I wanted. It gave me a false sense of safety, knowing if Derek ever found the town, he would still have a hard time pinpointing my exact location. Now, my concerns are far more pragmatic. For instance, the winter weather is going to cause me trouble when there’s snow and ice on the roads. Especially working late nights and driving a compact car. Hondas are reliable cars, but they aren’t made for traveling up steep mountain roads in the snow.
With the onset of winter, I find myself becoming more reflective. Time is slipping away, the seconds ticking by like a relentless metronome. If Kate is the person I’m going to trust to take Kenzi when my time is up, I need to make sure she’s aware of the situation. That means I will have to come clean to her about my secrets—all of them—and make it clear to Kate the importance of having a contingency plan in place, a shield to safeguard my precious daughter. There are still reservations in the back of my mind with her having a son who wears a uniform similar to Derek’s. Though I quash that thought for now and run through my mental checklist.
I will need to hire a lawyer to draw up a will and the crucial documents with my signature, granting Kate the authority to seek medical care for Kenzi and enroll her in school. A vision of a bright classroom, filled with the sound of laughter and the rustle of textbooks, dances before my eyes. The scent of freshly sharpened pencils mingles with the echoes of excited children. I can just imagine my little girl going to school and meeting all the milestones of her young life. I’d like to be there for each one of them, but that’s not likely.
Yet, as much as I want to be the one who raises her, the looming threat of Derek’s arrival hangs over us like a dark cloud. He is a malevolent force, his heart tainted by cruelty and evil. I know, deep within my bones, that he’ll be relentless and refuse to stop out of mere spite. His eyes, filled with malice, haunt my dreams and fuel my determination.
The weight of urgency presses upon me, as if I am racing against an invisible clock. My unwavering priority is Kenzi’s safety. A pang of heartache grips me at the idea of relinquishing her to the care of another, but I will do whatever it takes to protect her from Derek’s clutches. The touch of her tiny hand, the warmth of her embrace, these sensations fuel my resolve to shield her from the oncoming storm that threatens to consume us.