Read Online Edge of Shadows (Shadows #1) by Cege Smith - Free Book Online

carefree about life, which was the complete opposite of Ellie. She had been rigid, intense, and conservative. They’d met when she was twenty-five and he had just turned thirty. She’d never really even had a boyfriend before him and the attention of an older man had been flattering and a bit empowering. But still she had felt deep down in her bones that it couldn’t last.
    How was she supposed to know that Jake’s appearance of being carefree was actually recklessness? That his confidence was actually a daredevil’s taunt against the universe? She had been completely unprepared for the unending rounds of emergency room visits as Jake seemed to be testing every physical limit of his body and constant worrying about what Jake would do next. But it was when he started whispering to himself in the middle of the night that she knew he was becoming unhinged. She had always felt like she was waiting for someone, and she had been a fool to think that Jake Coulter was her knight in shining armor.
    It had been the dream of the normalcy of marriage, of settling down and having a family, that had propelled her forward in the relationship. Those were all she had ever wanted since she was little. After both of her parents passed away when she was eight, leaving her alone in a very scary world, she had been shuttled between foster homes for the rest of her childhood. She had been fortunate that she hadn’t suffered abuse or neglect. The families had been kind, albeit distant, and she had grown up a loner. It had been so long since she had felt that sense of belonging, to anyone or anything, that she had forgotten what it was like. She craved it. When Jake came along her defenses had been weakened from years of a solitary existence, and she had caved.
    Ellie thought about her earlier walk, and her daydreaming of what life would have been like if she had grown up privileged and happy in one of those beautiful houses. She sighed. That romantic daydreaming side of her made her feel incredibly self-indulgent. She was too old for thoughts like that.
    Skipper yipped in a puppy dream and startled her out of her musings. She set the mug down on the table beside her and gently shifted around the little dog. She padded in slippers over to her bookcase. Another world seemed much more welcoming than her own reality right now.
    She ran her fingers across the bindings, slowing as she came across several historical romances. Linda had practically forced them on her a few months ago, telling her that they would do her some good. She felt silly the first time she actually read one, but then they became addictive. She was embarrassed to admit that she had added a few to the collection on her own. She pulled one of the paperbacks off the shelf and returned to her oversized armchair by the fire.
    “We’re all allowed our guilty pleasures,” she explained to Skipper, who was awake now and staring at her. “Cut it out. Quit looking at me. You can’t make me feel bad.”
    Skipper cocked his head as if saying, “I didn’t say anything.”
    Ellie opened the book and shut out reality, if only for a short while.
     
    The phone woke her from a deep slumber. The fire was only soft embers now, dying a slow death. She glanced at her watch. It was three a.m. She had a feeling she knew who it was, and considered letting it ring. But what if it was something important?
    She moved Skipper off her lap and walked to the phone. She looked at the caller ID, but it said “Not Available.” She picked up the receiver.
    “Hello,” she said warily.
    “Stupid woman,” was the snarling reply.
    Ellie instantly regretted answering the phone. “Jake?” she said. “You are really pushing it now.”
    “Who do you think you are? I gave you EVERYTHING. And even that wasn’t good enough for you!” Jake’s voice was angry and his words slurred worse than usual.
    “I’m hanging up, Jake. I’m not going to do this again,” she said. She hated the quiver in her voice