Threat of Darkness(29)
“Yes. More bruises, mostly. I started to fill you in earlier but after you told me about my car burning up it totally slipped my mind.”
“Did you report abuse again?”
“Sure did. I called Child Protective Services. And this time the right authorities listened.”
“Good. What about the boy’s safety? Are they going to take him away from his parents?”
“I don’t know. He’s safe enough while he’s still with us. The doctor has promised to delay his release until a judge has heard the case.”
“Is that enough?”
“It’s a start,” Samantha said. “I have other good news, too. I’ve been assigned as Danny’s official CASA representative. That means I’ll be able to intervene to help him. And it will also give me access to any other records there may be from the past.”
“Hmm. The Southerlands can’t have always lived here or I’d know them. Where are they from?”
“Georgia, I think. At least that’s their most recent former address. If I find out they’ve moved around a lot it will be an even bigger red flag.”
“Because they might have a record of abusing Danny in other states?”
“Yes.” She pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head. “It’s a good thing for his father that I’m a woman. If I were a man I might be tempted to give him a taste of the punishment his son has had to endure.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” John said tenderly. “But I do understand how you feel. There were plenty of times when I wanted to do that to your dad.”
Had he spoken too boldly? John wondered. Revealing the unvarnished truth was not always wise, especially since he wasn’t positive how Sam was currently relating to her parents.
When she turned her face to him, however, and softly said, “Thank you,” he knew it was going to be all right.
“You went through a lot back in those days. I wish I could have done more for you.”
“You were my friend. You stood by me when I wanted to move in with Elvina, and my folks pitched a fit. That was plenty.”
“But they still needled you about coming back to live with them, especially until you were out of high school.” Pausing, he wondered if it was necessary to say more, to tell her that his efforts to get her to leave Serenity with him had been an attempt to distance her more from her familial trials.
“Yes, they did,” Sam said, “but by that time, Elvina and I had grown very close. Once I’d experienced life under her roof, it felt as if I was living with my real grandmother.”
“It still would have been easier on you if you’d married me and let me take you away from here,” John said with a brief but telling sigh.
Samantha shook her head. “No. It would have been idiotic. You’d have eventually realized that in trying to rescue me you’d imprisoned yourself—for life. I couldn’t let you make that kind of sacrifice, John. I know you meant well, but neither of us was ready for marriage.”
No mention of love or the blissful contentment he’d expected them to find together, he noted. And not a single indication she’d understood a word he’d said when he’d tried to explain how he’d felt, then or now. It was as if they had each participated in the same encounters, the same conversations, yet had viewed them in a completely different light.
That was how it often was with eyewitnesses to a tragedy or a heinous crime, he reminded himself. A person related an incident based on what their personal background happened to be, which was why such reports were often so contradictory.
He and Sam had done the same thing with respect to their past. He had seen them as being madly in love and she had seen only that he was trying to liberate her. Her view was correct, as far as it went. What she had missed was the deep, unconditional way he had loved her.
The way, if he allowed himself to admit it, he still did.
* * *
Gaze searching the passing countryside, Samantha had to stop herself from actually holding her breath. It was almost as if she were standing outside during a thunderstorm and waiting for a bolt of lightning to strike right at her feet. Thankfully, they were almost home and nothing else strange or threatening had happened. Yet.
“You okay?” John asked.
She wished he wouldn’t stare at her that way. It would be a lot easier to reassure him that she was fine if she didn’t have to do it to his face. Not that a positive response would be a lie, she reasoned for the sake of her conscience. It was simply harder to say and do anything in a calm manner when he was sitting this close.