Slater whispered, “We will add this to our present. Just so you know we also bought her two baby swings.”
She bit her cheek to keep the groan in, as she knew they hadn’t taken any notice of what she had just said to them. It’d been like this the last couple of months.
Almost three months ago, she’d moved into Susie’s old place all by herself. It would have been sooner if not for the shifter killer. On the night the killer died, she had heard Susie and her husbands talking about who the killer was, and how they would need to keep a closer eye on Samantha as the killer had been Greg’s cop partner, Michael. Greg denied any involvement in the killings, and as he was still in jail for assault, there was nothing the authorities could do to prove he’d had any involvement.
Slowly feeling safe again, what with Greg in jail, Sammy had asked Susie if she could rent her old house. Susie had agreed that as soon as Sandy and her men moved out, she could move in. Before Sammy moved in, a state of the art security system had been put in, and if anything went wrong not only did it alert the police, but also Slater and her friends’ husbands. Sammy thought it was a bit overkill, but with what she’d gone through and the killer turning out to be Greg’s partner she hadn’t said anything.
Sammy knew her friends were worried about her, and she loved them for looking after and loving her, but she needed to be by herself and learn to be her old self again.
The anniversary of her mother’s death was coming up, two years, and it was still hard on her. Sammy was glad she had her best friends. She’d known Sandy and Susie since primary school. They had become instant friends when their names all began with an S and they all only had one parent. It had been the three of them for a long time until Susie met Jane. She fit in perfectly and didn’t mind that they all had S names and had known each other for years.
“How are you doing in the house by yourself? Is everything working? Remember you’re welcome to paint or put hooks on the walls for photos. I’m sure Brock or Slater would be willing to help you with anything.”
Sammy glared at Susie. She’d been on her case lately to give Slater and Brock a chance. Sandy had been asking questions, too, as to what her plans were with the men. Sammy was unsure herself. One week she thought she was ready to have a dinner date in a public place with them and go very slow. Another week, like this week, she was sick of men and didn’t want to date or have anything to do with the opposite sex.
Her psychiatrist and therapy group all encouraged her to get out and give another man a chance. “Don’t let Greg win,” they’d said. Some told her about the great relationships they were in now or ones they had been in before and so on.
“Thanks, Susie. I know, but I don’t want to bother them, or lead them on. I need to learn to do things for myself. I might paint my room a color just for me like purple, or pink, if that’s okay?”
Susie smiled and nodded. “Of course it’s okay.” She pouted. “I would come over and help paint, but…” She patted her huge baby belly.
“Me, too,” Sandy piped in. She had a decent size belly on her also. She wasn’t too far behind Susie, a month or so, maybe less.
Sammy hadn’t really been a good friend these last several months. Now she thought about it, she hadn’t really seen much of her friends since she’d gotten out of the hospital. Sure she’d seen Susie when she lived with her and her men, but she’d stayed in her room when they were around. She had only ventured out when they were at work or out.
Sandy had called. They’d gone out for a coffee, and Sammy had visited Sandy when she was in the hospital because of when Michael, Greg’s work partner, tried to kill her mates. Sammy winced at that thought and felt a tear roll down her cheek. Oh God, I almost got my best friend killed. If only I wasn’t such a gullible fool. Why didn’t I leave Greg? How could I have not noticed he was taking over my life? My friends wouldn’t have gotten hurt if I’d left him after one of the many times he beat me. Why did I stay with him? Why did I let him destroy my life and hurt my friends?
“I need air. Excuse me for a moment.” Sammy didn’t want them to see her cry. She was sick of being the victim, the cry-baby. Tonight was a happy event, and she wasn’t about to bring it down. Over and over, she repeated what her psychiatrist said to her. It is not your fault. You didn’t cause Michael to go on a killing spree. You did nothing wrong. He would have fixated on someone else, and he would have still killed who he did. You being with Greg didn’t cause these killings.