Scars From Within (The Franklin Blues #1) (2 page)

Chapter One

Hailee

A Year Later…

Franklin, Tennessee…

W
alking home in the Tennessee countryside felt like a dream come true. When I first arrived in Franklin a little over a year ago, I was a scared little girl who didn’t know if I would ever be able to live my life without looking over my shoulder to see if the boogey-Brandon-man was going to come after me.

After that eventful night, I awoke in the hospital and took stock of my injuries. I don’t remember much of it, but the one thing I remember was begging for Brandon to stop. What I was begging him to stop doing, I’ll probably never know. I could tell from looking at my body that this was the worst of all the times he’d hit me. He usually didn’t hit me anywhere visible since he had a reputation to uphold in the community.

Brandon was a firefighter, and everyone in our small town of Danville, Indiana looked up to him. They all saw him as some God-like figure who helped save lives on a daily basis. He had them all fooled—except me. Oh, no he could never fool me into thinking he was this great human being.

When I gazed around at the hospital room, I saw a man near the window. I screamed when he stared at me, even though I knew it wasn’t Brandon. He walked over to me and I saw that it was Eddie our neighbor who’d helped me with groceries today.

He looked tired like he hadn’t slept in days. “Hey darlin’, how ya doin? Oh, my God, Hailee you scared the daylights out of me and Steven.”

I just stared at him like he’d grown a third eye.

He must’ve realized what he said, because he chuckled to himself and shook his head. “Steven is my partner. We’ve been together for nearly two years now.”

“You’re gay?” I shouted. I didn’t mean to be so loud. I instantly knew my mistake and bowed my head. After a long minute, I looked up at Eddie.

He just gazed at me like he wanted to cry. “Hailee, sweetheart, I’m not going to hurt you. That’s where the bruise on your wrist really came from isn’t it?”

I could tell he was angry, but for some reason I knew he wasn’t mad at me. I’m not sure why but I felt safe telling him the secret I’ve carried with me for the last three years and I nodded my head. I felt so ashamed of myself. When I was younger, I always told myself I would never be with a man who would put his hands on me. As I tried to remember what happened to me last night, my whole body started to shake as the sobs consumed me.

“Hey, now darlin’, we’ll have none of that, you hear me? It’s not your fault and I have a plan to help you. I’ve spent the last 4 days developing this plan with Steven.”

I jerked my head up and stared at him with confusion. Had I really been here for four days?

He must’ve noticed because he held me tighter against his body and whispered, “It’s okay, baby girl. Yes, you’ve been in here and unconscious for 4 days, but you’re awake now, and I’m going to help you get away from him.”

That’s when he told me his plan…

That was a year ago and I have to say, Eddie and Steven were my lifesavers. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know where I’d be right now, but I’m almost certain I would be dead. They went to my house while Brandon had a shift at the station, and got most of my clothes. Apparently, they knew what had been going on that night when I screamed for Brandon to stop, and they called 911 right away.

Brandon took off after he was done with me, and I didn’t hear from him the whole time I was in the hospital which I felt grateful for.

Now, here I was, alive and walking down the street as I heard a car coming from behind me that brought me out of my bad memories. I turned my head and saw the most gorgeous truck ever to be on the road, barreling towards me at what seemed to be warp speed. I don’t think the driver saw me because as they sped right past me, I had to jump out of their way.

All of a sudden, the driver of the truck slammed on the brakes and backed up.

I just stood there while I waited for the truck to come to a complete stop. When it did and the driver’s side door opened, I thought I was done for.

The driver was male, which automatically put me on high alert. The first thing that I saw was his work boots. Next, I saw his skintight jeans that hugged his legs like a second skin. I immediately, had thoughts running through my head, but knew that those thoughts needed to stop, because I was definitely not ever going to be with another man again.

Oh, my god those arms! What I wouldn’t give to have those arms wrapped around me, helping through the pain that is in my life. Wait, Hailee you need to stop, you don’t even know this guy. And you don’t want another guy EVER, not after what Brandon did to you. Men are all the same, they let you think they love you, but it’s all an act to show you the true monster beneath the kind act they have going on.

“Hello, miss are you okay?” His voice sounded like butter, all smooth and rich.

I realized I’d been in my own world and didn’t even realize he was talking to me or that he’d rounded his truck. I snapped my head up and stared at him. Oh, my God was he a looker. He was probably at least a foot and a half taller than my below average height of only 5 feet. Brandon used to say my height made me an easy target for him since I was so tiny.

Man, I need to stop thinking about Brandon. He can’t hurt me anymore.

A hand came down slightly on my arm, and I cowered in fear. I dropped to the ground, and in doing so, I pulled my arm out of his grasp. I curled up in a ball and rocked myself.

Chapter Two

Shawn

I
was heading to my buddy, Lance’s house when I saw this petite woman walking along the side of the road like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She didn’t see me coming at first, but then she looked up she jumped out of my way like she was on fire. I’d never seen her before, and I’m not sure what compelled me to stop. The next thing I know, I’m slamming on my brakes. After putting my truck in reverse, I noticed she just stood there watching me back up towards her.

I put my baby in park, and opened the driver’s side door to climb out of the truck. When I made my way over to where she was, I realized she’d zoned out or something. The first thing I noticed about her was her gorgeous shade of strawberry blonde hair. It almost looked like it glowed in the sunlight with just a hint of red to it. It went down to her shoulders, and you could tell she wasn’t one of those girls who spent a ton of time on her hair. I really wanted to run my fingers through it. “Hey darlin’, you didn’t hurt yourself when you jumped out of my way did you?” I noticed she was still staring at me like I’d grown two heads.

She looked like such a tiny thing…like she only weighed about 90 pounds, soaking wet.

I need to put some meat on her bones. Wait, where did that come from? Get yourself together Thompson; you don’t even know this woman.

“Hello, miss are you okay?” I didn’t want to scare her.

She shook her head as if she was trying to clear her muddled thoughts.

I couldn’t help but wonder what she was day dreaming about. I reached my hand out to touch her arm, because it looked as if she was drifting again.

Next thing I know, she’s curled up in a ball rocking herself back and forth. I’d never in my life seen someone react like this. It was almost like she was waiting for me to hit her or something. Now, I may not be the best guy in the world, but if she were alive, my momma would tan my hide if I ever laid a hand on a woman. My momma may have been a tiny little thing, but Lord knows if you crossed her, you would pay dearly for it.

I squatted down to her level, and tried to compose myself with the anger coursing through my veins when I thought of a man putting his hand on a woman in a violent way. “You okay? I promise I’m not going to hurt you.

She slowly looked up at me.

Then I noticed her eyes were the color of emeralds. They were the most beautiful shade of green…even greener, because they were filled with tears that were running down her face.

“Can I have your name ma’am? I just want to make sure I have a name to call you.” I asked, trying to keep my tone as gentle as possible. I didn’t want to scare her away. Hell, I was scaring myself, because ever since I saw her curl up into that ball I wanted to be the one to protect her from all her nightmares.

What is wrong with me? I haven’t felt like this since Scarlett. What is it about this woman that has my protective instincts coming out? I know with being a police officer I have the natural instinct to want to protect people, but with her it’s different. Why is she different?

It seemed as if she finally snapped out of whatever personal hell she was in because she jumped up and knocked me on my ass with the force that would make some of the guys at work jealous.

As I sat on my ass looking up at her, I couldn’t help but to start laughing. I’m not sure what made me do it, but the look on her face was priceless.

When I fell, she just stared at me with a deer in headlights look as if she didn’t know what to think about it. Finally, after I stood back up, she seemed to realize that we were standing out in the middle of the country road. “Oh, my goodness, I’m so sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me. I’m just a little jumpy, today.”

Her voice—I already knew I was in trouble as soon as I heard her voice. I swear I heard the angels sing when I heard her speak for the first time. It was my turn to just stare at her. She couldn’t look me in the eyes, but that could be because I was a lot taller than her. I got the feeling she was like a skittish animal. One wrong move and she would be gone. “Don’t worry about it doll. It was my fault. I wasn’t expecting you to stand up as fast and as forceful as you did. I’ll tell ya what…you would give some of the guys at the station a run for their money with how fast you move.” I chuckled to myself until I glanced at her.

She stood frozen like she’d seen a ghost. “Oh, you’re a firefighter? That’s nice, but I must get going now. I’m meeting up with my best friend down the road a little bit. Bye.” She gazed at the ground, then spun on her heels to walk away.

I couldn’t let her leave without at least getting her name. “Hey wait; I need your name sweetheart. At least give me that since you plowed me into the ground.” I meant it as a joke, but I could tell by the expression on her face she thought I was serious.

She looked torn like she didn’t know whether or not to give me her name. She finally gave me a small smile and said, “You’ll figure it out.” She continued walking away.

I watched her until she turned the corner and went out of sight.

Chapter Three

Hailee

T
he next couple of weeks were strange. It seemed as if everywhere I went, I saw the man I’d met on that country road. I walked to the store, and saw him buying groceries too. I don’t think he saw me, but it was like he was a magnet and I was the metal attracted to him. Another day, I borrowed Amy’s car and had to stop at the gas station to fill it back up for her. I glanced up from the pump, and there he was…at the pump next to me.

This time, I know he saw me because he gazed right at me and shot me a wink. For some reason each time I saw him, I got the feeling that it was safe talk to him. I was determined that the next time I saw him, I would talk to him. The past couple of days I haven’t seen him, so I decided to finally accept Amy’s offer to take me out for a girl’s night.

“Amy, I swear to God, this guy is gorgeous,” I said as I continued to sip my Angry Orchard on tap. I’m not a big drinker, but this stuff tasted amazing. Although, I learned my lesson one night out with Amy how those little buggers would sneak up on you if you drank too many …I was never doing that again.

“Hello, earth to Hailee!” Amy kept snapping her fingers in front of my face.

I shook my head to clear the memory of my previous encounter with the hottie on the side of the road from a couple weeks ago. His eyes were the most captivating color. A cross between a honey and an amber color. They held my attention from the moment we made eye contact. “I’m sorry Ames, what did you say?”

“I asked what is this gorgeous man’s name who almost plowed you down, I wonder if I know him?” She was always looking for men to set me up with. She was the type of friend that once she thought you needed something, whether you needed it or not, she would stop at nothing to make sure you got it.

I loved this girl. She was my first friend when I moved to Tennessee. “Oh, I didn’t get his name, but let me tell you this guy had me imagining things I had no business thinking about. And his voice, my God, his voice was like a warm blanket on a winter’s night. So soft and cozy, but warm and inviting at the same time. I bet I sound stupid right now.” I felt my cheeks start to warm under the intense stare from my best friend.

She was staring at me like she was trying to read my mind or something. All of a sudden, she laughed at me. “Wow, did you really just say that Hailee? Holy shit, you are either really inexperienced or you are just the biggest sweetheart there is out there.” She couldn’t even talk to me with a straight face.

I didn’t want her to keep pressing for information. The man on the side of the road scared the daylights out of me. I knew with everything I’ve seen from him so far, I knew that he had the potential to be my saving grace, or he could completely destroy me. I decided right then and there, that I would not have anything to do with him. Despite my earlier thoughts about talking to him, I couldn’t take the chance of being destroyed again. I paused and remembered how he’d looked at me like he wanted to chase all my demons away. Unfortunately, my demons were too big to scare away. They would forever be in the background and always in the shadows, just waiting for me to let my guard down, so they could attack and bring me back to hell with them.

I must’ve zoned out again, because next thing I know, Amy is pushing my arm and I go flying off my stool. I’m about to hit the ground when two strong arms reach out and grab to keep me from face planting. I glanced up to tell the person thank you when I meet a pair of wheat field colored eyes, the very ones that have haunted me for the past few weeks. Swallowing hard, my mouth felt bone dry as I tried to come up with words to say to him.

His eyes twinkled with amusement almost as if he knew he had this effect on me.

I felt my eyes start to water and my cheeks heat under his stare. I didn’t want him to think less of me, and that’s exactly what he thought right now. “I’m so sorry for running into you like that. It was my friend’s fault, she pushed me, and I just didn’t have the reaction time, I guess…to catch myself,” I mumbled under my breath.

He still seemed to be laughing at me.

I ducked my head and started to walk away. I had to get away before the tears I was holding back decided to fall. I made it half way to the door when his voice stopped me in my tracks.

“Now, hang on sweetheart. Please come back and have a drink with me, so I can get to know you a little better. I promise no more laughing at you. You’re just so damn cute, I couldn’t help it.”

I turned around and stared at him.

He was dressed in a similar outfit from the day I first laid eyes on him….wearing tight jeans, boots, and a black shirt that hugged his chest like it was made for him.

My mouth started watering just thinking about peeling him out of his clothes.

I should really stop thinking like this. Just chill out and have a drink with him. It’s not like he’s asking me to sleep with him…even though I want to. NO stop it Hailee, you don’t want to sleep with this beautiful man.

I glanced over at Amy to make sure she was okay with this.

She kept nodding her head frantically at me.

I assumed it was okay with her. “Sure, I’ll have a drink with you, but just one. By the way, the name is Hailee. And you are…?”