Read Online The Weight of Shadows by Alison Strobel - Free Book Online

to lean in to hear her. “I haven’t slept in a few days. He was manic and made me stay up with him. I’m really tired. Could I maybe take a nap somewhere?”
    Debbie’s heart ached for the young woman. She handed her the welcome folder and helped her gather her things, then ushered her to her dorm room, explaining that they could go through her orientation later. After she got Stacia settled into her room, Debbie made a beeline for her office, where she shut the door and collapsed in her chair.
    She looked just like her, God. Deep breaths kept her from crying, but her thoughts were overtaken with the last conversation she’d ever had with her sister.
    “Look Gina, it’s your own fault. If he’s hurting you and you’re not breaking up with him, then you have no one to blame but yourself.”
    “It’s not that easy, Deb. Why are you being so judgmental?”
    “I’m not, I’m just calling a spade a spade. If you’re not happy, get out of the relationship. I don’t see why that’s complicated.”
    “Because I love him!”
    “You’re seventeen, Gina. What on earth do you know about being in love?”
    “Mom and Dad met when they were fifteen.”
    “Yeah, but Dad never hit her. How can you love someone who hits you?”
    “If I’d wanted a lecture I would have called Mom. Can’t you just listen and help me like a sister is supposed to?”
    “I am listening, and I am helping. I hear you saying your boyfriend hits you. I’m helping you by telling you to get your head straight and leave him. What else do you want me to do?”
    “I should have known better than to expect any sympathy from the golden child.”
    “Oh please, Gina, don’t pull out that old song and dance.”
    “Just forget it. Good-bye.”
    “Gina, come on, don’t hang up —”
    But the line had already been dead.
    Debbie rubbed a hand over her eyes and murmured a prayer aloud in the silence of her office. “God, I’m trying to redeem myself here. I know I’ve asked for forgiveness a thousand times. I know you’ve already given it. I’m sorry it doesn’t seem to stick. But did you have to throw Gina’s virtual twin in my face?”
    She wiped tears from her cheeks and blew her nose, then sat up and chugged half her water. She wasn’t going to do anyone any good if all she did was throw herself a pity party. She had a shelter to run, and right now it was two staff members short of optimal. Until Stacia awoke, she’d make it her mission to find some potential hires, and then she’d pour herself into getting Stacia well.
    Maybe it would heal a little bit of the hurt.

SIX
    Kim had forgotten she was supposed to be miserable.
    The last three months had been pure bliss. Meeting Rick had changed her life. She hadn’t picked up a romance book in weeks, and not just because she didn’t have time to read anymore. She’d even lost a few pounds, the result of dinners left cold on the plate while their conversation meandered from one random subject to another. She was happy. She was loved. Finally, after a life of independence and solitude, she was loved.
    But the morning of their three-month anniversary she awoke in a cold sweat, those haunting eyes staring at her from inside her mind, the ungodly scream echoing in her ears even when the pillow was clamped over her head. She huddled beneath the sheets, trembling, knowing she’d had her fun but now it was over. She’d had twelve weeks of respite from the dream. Now it was back, along with the guilt that squeezed her chest and soured her stomach.
    If he knew …
    She shook the thought from her mind. If he knew, he would leave her. How could he love someone who was so cold-hearted?
    The self-loathing she had worn like a stifling winter coat for the last seven years enveloped her once more. She didn’t remember losing it, but Rick’s attention and ardor had slipped it off when she hadn’t been looking. Now, as she looked in the mirror above her dresser, her face seemed altered, stark. The