Prologue
Ivy's green eyes glanced in the rearview mirror for the tenth or possibly twentieth time. She knew he hadn’t followed her; he had been sound asleep when she and her sleeping toddler had slipped out of the house. By this point, they, Ivy and Everleigh, were two hours from their old home in Tuscaloosa, but she still felt like he was following them. Watching them, getting ready to leap on them and drag them back like a monster hidden in the shadows.
The day before he had beat her in front of their one year old daughter. It wasn’t the first time he hit her, but it was the first time he had done it with Everleigh in the room. Ivy could not let him do it again, not after seeing her terrified toddler screaming in the corner for her daddy to leave her momma alone. He had broken his own rule and hit her in the face, normally he kept the beatings in locations where no one would see the bruises. Usually, he hit her in the stomach, or the arm, the legs, or sometimes her back. Anywhere he knew she could hide with clothes. That should have been her first clue that he was a monster, He literally thought about where he was going to hit her! Later that night he held Ivy in their bed while she fought off the urge to puke.
“I’m sorry baby. It won’t happen again. You know I love you. I just had a bad day at work. You know it’s hard for me to control my anger. You know why.” He had whispered to Ivy while he held her possessively against his chest, trapping her. It took every ounce of self-control not to flinch away from his touch. She wouldn’t make that mistake again. The last time she pulled away from him, he held her down with his hands on her throat until she nearly passed out. In fear of repeating history, Ivy just laid there silently praying that he would go to sleep soon.
“He’s not behind you. You and Everleigh will start a new life in Silverport. He won’t be able to touch you there… He will never find you.” Ivy said to herself as she tried not to focus on her swollen black eye in her reflection. She had promised her sleeping toddler that she would never have to see something like that again. As long as Ivy was alive her ex, something he should have been called long ago, would never get near her or her daughter again. She had finally had enough. It was long overdue, but she had gotten out.
Ivy drove to the small town of Silverport, Alabama with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and what she could shove in a backpack. She and Everleigh would be starting over, completely from scratch, but they would be free of the monster they left behind. Having to buy a few things would be more than worth it to leave that animal behind. She had money saved up, and a job already lined up. They would be fine, and she would show him. She didn’t need him or any man to take care of her. She could take care of herself and her daughter.
