Read Online Remember Love by Jessica Nelson - Free Book Online Page B

blustered and paced.
    "Are you
sure you won’t go to the hospital?" Katrina peered at the digital photos,
a frisson of alarm tingling along her nerves. The cut looked more vivid onscreen.
    "No. I
can’t." Sharon visibly swallowed and looked away.
    At least they
would have pictures then. Pursing her lips, Katrina snapped a few more shots
and then steered Rachel out the door, shoving the camera into her hands. Her
friend talked the whole way out, but she left. Thank goodness. Nagging was the
last thing Sharon needed. She was weary, overwhelmed and sat on the couch with
a dull glaze in her stare. Katrina dropped down beside her, thankful for the
plump cushions that welcomed her tired body.
    Sharon’s eyes
were closed, her head leaning against the back of the couch. "He’ll know I
came here."
    Katrina almost
missed the softly spoken words and felt a shiver course through her when the
statement registered. "You think so?"
    "I’m afraid
of it."
    "We called
the police." As soon as they’d been safely on the way home, Rachel phoned
Sharon’s injury in. A police officer met them at Katrina’s house and took
Sharon’s statement. They should be safe now, Katrina hoped, but the image of
Steve getting anywhere near Sharon and the kids gave her chills.
    Just thinking
about him was enough to make her second-guess bringing Sharon here.
    Sharon’s hands
trembled. "He looked like he wanted to kill me."
    Katrina shifted
closer to Sharon, ashamed she’d just regretted Sharon’s rescue. With gentle
fingers, she picked up her friend's injured arm. "He slashed you pretty
good. Is this why you let us come get you?"
    "Pretty
much. And the kids." Tears rolled down Sharon’s swollen cheeks. "They’ve
seen his rages, and now this, and things just became clear. Look what I’ve done
to them, trying to make this marriage work. How will they ever know what a real
family is like?"
    "He could’ve
killed you." Katrina shuddered. "How did you get him to stop?"
    "I locked
myself and the kids in the bathroom, left the breakfast dishes in the sink. He
passed out a few minutes later. I woke him up for work around four and he acted
like nothing happened." Sharon’s voice broke on a thinly disguised sob.
    Katrina covered
Sharon’s clammy hands with her own warm ones. "You can’t blame yourself
for Steve, but I’m glad you decided to come here." Katrina stopped herself
from going on. "Everything will be okay," she said instead, and hoped
fervently she’d be right.
    Later that night,
heavy pounding pulled Katrina from a deep sleep. She bolted from her bed and
ran into the living room, heart thudding against her ribs. Sharon’s shadow
hunched against a wall.
    "Steve?"
Katrina crept toward her.
    Sharon nodded in
reply as her husband continued rattling the front door knob and screaming for
her to come out. One of the kids began crying from the back room and Katrina’s
mouth tightened. "Go take care of them. I have a bat and I’m calling the
police."
    "Do you have
to?" Sharon’s pale face peeped out from the shadows.
    Katrina’s hands
clenched. "Yes. Put your kids first. Go and comfort them."
    Sharon rushed
away, and Katrina tried not to feel guilty for her harsh answer. She grabbed
the softball bat from the front closet and looked for her cell. The pounding on
the door grew louder, broken only by Steve’s hoarse cursing. She threw a pillow
off the couch. Shoved aside a blanket. No phone. The new locks would hold the
door but if he got desperate he might break a window.
    Shaking, she
scanned the living room. There. A shaft of moonlight glinted off the silver
phone wedged between the TV and DVD player. She lunged for the phone. Fingers
trembling, she dialed 911.
    *****
    Insistent
knocking on the front door roused Katrina from uneasy dreams. She clutched the
bat to her chest and stumbled up from the couch, hips and legs protesting the
movement. Warm sunshine spilled through her lacy curtains and covered the
carpet with snowflakes of light.
    Made a