Abuse To Love

Chapter 4 Kelsey

I woke to the sound of my cell phone ringing. I look down at my black iphone 12 and see his face on the screen. I immediately silence the phone. We had been driving for hours, “Where are we going?” I ask Jaxon, “I have a friend who lives in Lake View who can help you get back on your feet. We have about another 3-4 hours before we get there. She lives on a small ranch and runs a business out of her home selling eggs and such. She can get you set up with helping on the ranch to help you get on your feet. They have a spare room for you as well.”

“Thank you so much Jaxon.” I say to him and he nods with a meek smile on his face. I look out the window and take in the surroundings as we drive down I105. I find myself thinking back to the days before Tommy became a monster. Back when we first married and how sweet and loving he was. Then the first incident happened.

Over the years he has stripped away my self worth layer by layer. My personality is gone, my old fun loving self no longer exists. If she does she is buried below years of mental, physical, and emotional abuse. Maybe she still lives inside me, waiting for the day to escape the dark cage in my soul and reappear in the daylight.

We were just getting home from our honeymoon. I remember this day like it was yesterday. This was the happiest I had been in a long time. I was with the love of my life, and we had just had a wonderful last two weeks in the Bahamas. As we walked into the house we went upstairs to unpack our clothes. We had a cab drop us off since we had both been drinking on the plan during the flight back home. This was the day everything changed for me.

As we entered the room I realized I forgot my suitcase downstairs and went to get it. When I came back Tommy was passed out on the bed face down snoring away. I walked over to him and started to take off his black shoes and his white socks. As I was taking off the last sock on his right foot he jolted awake.

“What the f**k are you doing?” He asked me with anger in his eyes. All of a sudden his eyes no longer looked blue but dark with anger.

“I was just taking off your shoes and socks to help you get comfortable.” I stammer back in reply.

“You think I am too drunk to take care of myself? You think I need to be babied? Well let me tell you something b***h I am a very wealthy man and I don't need help from a stay at home money sucking whore.”

I felt a pain in my chest like someone had just stabbed me. “I-I am sorry honey I was just trying to help you.” He stands up out of bed and walks towards me. If looks could kill those daggers that were coming from his eyes would have me dead in seconds.

He grabs my shoulders and pushes me up against the wall where our dresser is, hands on my shoulders. I hit the wall not hard but hard enough for my head to hit it which caused me to wince. “DO NOT ever treat me like a baby again or you will regret it.” He hisses in my face, I have tears coming down my face now.

What the hell just happened I ask myself. Where did my happy understanding husband go? He was replaced by this demon with no feelings and dark holes for eyes that you could get lost in if you stared too long. He lets go of my shoulder and walks over to the bed and lays back down. As he is getting back under the covers I walk to the bathroom to clean up. I look in the mirror and I see this terrified little girl with a tear stained face. Makeup running down her face, hair matted to her face sticking to the tears.

My heart is still pounding after I finish cleaning myself up and get undressed. I place my red nightgown on and walk out of the master bath to our bed. I climb into bed with Tommy. He instinctively rolls towards me to cuddle and I flinch expecting to get hit. Thankfully he did not notice because by this time he is snoring and fast asleep.

I am pulled from my thoughts when I hear Jaxon say, “we are here, home sweet home.” He says with a slight grin on his face. We get out of the truck and walk towards the green house. There was a long gravel road from the house down to the main road. The house was two stories and had a beautiful porch on the front of it with a porch swing. There were flower beds wrapping around the house and fields as far as you could see. There were horses and chickens, pigs, and cows. It looked like a scene out of a western movie. We walk up the steps to the front door where Jaxon rings the doorbell. I see a lady who looks to be in her early to late forties come to the door.

As she opens it a golden retriever bolts out the door to us and begins to wag its tail in excitement and hop up and down with its tongue hanging out. “Layla get back in the house.” The lady says and the dog goes right back inside standing behind her looking at us.

“Jaxon! It is so good to see you. It has been too long.” She says and then she sees me. “You must be Kelsey, Jaxon has told me all about you.” She says with a big grin on her face. I smile at her. “All good things I promise my dear. Come in please come in.” She says waving us into the house.

“My name is Dani, and my husband’s name is Stan. I have no idea where he is at the moment, he is probably out with the boys in the field moving the cows to another field.” She says as we walk with her into the living room which has a gorgeous view of the ranch. You can look out the large window right down to the barn where I could see people coming and going who I figured were some of the ranch hands.

“I appreciate you doing this for her.” I hear Jaxon say behind me.

“Of course Jaxon, a girl in her position, should not have to deal with that kind of thing. We will take good care of her and get her back on her feet. Will you be staying with us for a little while?” I hear Dani ask Jaxon.

“I plan to return in the next couple of weeks. I have to get back to the hospital in Lincoln and put in my two weeks notice before I can come back. I will help you guys around the ranch until I can get a job here in Lake View. I don't want to let her out of my sight, I want to keep her safe from that monster. I don't know everything that happened but she needs to stay out of Lincoln,”

I pull myself away from the window and turn around and walk towards the beautiful dining area where Dani and Jaxon are seated at the large wooden table.

“Jaxon, why don't you show Kelsey around the house and show her where her room is. It is the one you used to sleep in when you would come to visit.”

Jaxon nods and we head out to his truck to grab my bags to bring them into the house. We walked up the carpet stairs to the second floor. From what I could see it was probably a four bedroom house with at least 2-3 bathrooms one being downstairs and the other two being upstairs. As we come to the top of the stairs there is a second living space that could be used for a living room and a hallway off of the space with a few rooms and a bathroom. We walk down the hall to the third room on the right. As I open the door I see a queen bed with a log bed frame, a beautiful log book shelf, and a beautiful white dresser with clear crystal looking knobs on the drawers. There is a walk-in closet with a beautiful gray barn sliding door on it.

There is a second gray sliding barn door about 5 feet from it which leads into a beautiful bathroom. There is a white marble countertop with a dark gray vanity under it. A beautiful mirror with the same dark gray colored frame around it which is hung on a black metal track just like the doors. There are two sinks side by side with black faucets and handles. The bathroom is a beautiful cream color and there is a jacuzzi bath and a walk in shower.

“This is absolutely gorgeous.” I say walking into the bathroom.

“Stan built this house with the help of me and a few buddies.” Jaxon replies.

I am absolutely speechless at how amazing this room is. The bedsheets are a beautiful maroon and the carpet matches the color of the bathroom. There is a small desk next to the bed with a nightstand on the other side. Both a beautiful dark gray like the vanity in the bathroom.

“I will leave you to unpack and get settled. I will be down at the barn with Stan if you need me, and Dani is right downstairs getting super ready.” He says as he walks out the door to head downstairs. I walk over to the window where there is a small window seat with white cushions. I look out the window and see Jaxn walking down to the barn.

“I cannot believe that he is helping me.” I think to myself. “I wonder what he wants in return for this?” I ask myself. I shake my head at the thought. “He is not the type of person who would ask for anything in return from what I had seen. I am not used to a man treating me like this. He seems so sweet and selfless. Not many people would go out of their way to help a stranger.” I think to myself as I walk away from the window to my suitcase to start unpacking. I walk over to the closet and grab a few empty hangers and start to hang up the little clothes I brought with me. I then put my pants and under garments in the dresser. I pull out the photo album from my duffle bag and place it on the nightstand next to the bed.

“I will need to go into town at some point and buy a few extra clothes and boots if I am going to be helping around the farm. None of the clothes I brought with me would work for that. I thought to myself. I was a little nervous for what lay ahead, but all I knew was I was finally safe. Finally away from that monster. I could be happy right? Find true love? A man who would treat me well and not a boy who would abuse me. I shake my head, who would want a broken woman like me? A woman with so much baggage that was too heavy to even lift. A woman with a heart so broken and abused who knew if it could even find the strength to love again. “

I finish unpacking everything I brought with me and walk into the bathroom to shower. I turn the faucet to hot and begin to undress. I test the water with my hand and make sure it is the temperature I want and I get into the shower and begin to wash my hair with the lavender scented shampoo in the shower. It was greasy and matted from being in the hospital to a couple of days. I wash my body with the same lavender smelling body wash. Great, now I am going to smell like a flower shop, I say giggling to myself. I get out and dry myself off and get dressed. I use the red hair dryer that is under the sink to dry my hair. I then walk out of the bedroom and make my way downstairs where I smell cinnamon rolls. My mouth begins to water, I had not eaten a good meal that wasn't hospital food in a few days. I could also smell what I thought was pot roast as I walked into the kitchen to find Dani pulling cinnamon rolls out of the oven.