This Christmas (Pride Oregon #21)

Prologue

Ally held her breath as a shadow passed within a few inches of her hiding spot. She held Charlotte’s face to her breast, the baby happily sucking, enjoying the meal without knowing the danger that they were in.

Tonight, she knew that nothing would stop Ted. She had hoped things would get better after he got the promotion he’d been using as an excuse for his outbursts over the past three years. Instead, he’d grown even more bold, more angry, more… evil.

The abuse, both physical and emotional, had grown worse during her pregnancy. She had always wanted a baby, but she had taken precautions to avoid pregnancies while trapped in the current situation.

She hadn’t wanted to bring a child into this hell. It wasn’t as if Ted had wanted to be a father. Tonight was proof of that.

She’d tried leaving him before, but he was a man who couldn’t let go of anything.

Including her. He’d made it very clear to her that there was no leaving till death do us part.

No matter how that had to happen. She’d paid the price last time.

Now, however, she didn’t just have herself to worry about. She had Charlotte.

As the snow continued to fall, she wrapped the bathrobe around the baby and herself and closed her eyes, ignoring the bitter chill she felt on her bare feet and legs.

Rushing from the house in nothing but her nightgown and bathrobe hadn’t been her first choice, but she didn’t have many options. Hiding on the deck outside one of their unused guest rooms wasn’t a solution, but it gave her time to think.

The argument had started small almost two days earlier, but he had a full week off work coming up for the holiday break, and she knew it would continue the entire time he was home.

Holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries were always the worst. No matter what she did, he’d find reasons to be angry. The facts were, she could never do anything right by him. Had never done anything right in his eyes.

What had she done to cause the hell this time?

She had forgotten to cut his toast into triangles.

It was a stupid mistake. She’d been tired from being up with the baby, but she knew better.

So maybe she’d deserved the slap. At the time, she’d considered herself lucky.

After all, it was the least of what he’d done to her over the years.

But an hour later, it got worse. Because of her initial mistake, he’d thrown his dishes all over the kitchen.

When she’d cleaned that up, she’d missed a fork that had slid under the cabinet.

She supposed it was because her back was still sore from where he’d used his belt on it.

It would hurt to bend down to look under the cabinet.

For the next two hours, he’d called her names, comparing her to a child, who would have obviously cut his toast correctly and not missed the fork. He’d pushed and hit her.

When the baby cried, she’d gone to feed her, hoping to escape the argument.

But he’d stood over her and continued to yell.

When Charlotte started fussing, he’d yanked the baby out of her arms and put her back in the crib.

Then he’d grabbed Ally’s arm and pulled her back into the bedroom, where they could finish their “discussion.”

She knew better than to raise her voice at him. The one time she had done so, he’d threatened to cut out her tongue and even held a knife to her throat. The thought of that scared her enough to never yell again.

She couldn’t even remember a time before his abuse. Had she ever been a good person? Had she been smart or happy?

There were so many rules in the house that she often forgot one and slipped up. Like cutting his toast diagonal instead of straight.

“I know you’re here somewhere,” Ted teased as he stomped through the massive mansion they called home. Even out here she could hear him.

Ted had always insisted on the finer things. He’d come from a very prominent family, had attended the best colleges, worked at high-power jobs. He was in line to be the next district attorney in the city. If they only knew.

She’d gotten less than five hours of sleep in the last two days that the fight had been going on and hadn’t managed to change Charlotte in hours. The baby was fussy and needed a clean diaper and a bath. But most of all, she needed a stable home.

Ally knew it was time to go. She felt it in her bones.

The four years she’d been with Ted had come to a close. Even if it meant giving up her own life. All that mattered to her now was getting Charlotte someplace safe. Somewhere he couldn’t touch her ever again.

But first, she had to escape this hell house. He’d broken her phone in the first hours of the explosion two days before.

She wondered if anyone had tried to call her in the past three days. It wasn’t that she had any friends left. He’d seen to that.

The months after they’d married, every single one of her friends had disappeared from her phone. Then, they had stopped calling her. Stopped asking her if she was okay. Stopped… caring.

Her brother was busy with his career and probably in Europe somewhere.

Her younger sister, well, Faye had her own issues and Ally was not going to drag her into this horror. Her mother was too busy trying to help Faye to notice what was going on.

Besides, Ted was really great at acting like the perfect husband around anyone else. Whenever he was around others, he was the nicest, most caring man.

“Ally.” She could hear Ted’s voice from downstairs.

She stepped out from her hiding spot and tiptoed to the edge of the deck. The Christmas lights hanging on the eaves of the house glowed brightly in the darkness, guiding her.

Her entire body shook as she shimmied over the railing while holding Charlotte tight against her chest. Her nine-month-old had fallen fast asleep now, thankfully.

She took her time but still slipped several times as she climbed down the lattice, the thorns from the dormant vines cutting into her.

Her hands were split open in several places, but she knew better than to let go.

She wasn’t worried about hurting herself—she was covered in bruises and cuts already—but the fall could kill Charlotte.

“There you are!” The shout came from over her head, and she jerked up to see Ted leaning over the railing, reaching toward her. “I’ve got you now, you bitch.”

She must have screamed. The sound echoed in her head as he bent over the railing and sliced at her wrists with a sharp kitchen knife. The pain was instant, stinging on her cold skin.

Then, she was falling. Her hands and arms went instantly, protectively, around her baby. Silently, she prayed that a miracle would happen and Charlotte would survive the fall.