Stripped (26 page)

“She’s doing well. Healing nicely. I’d slow it down
if I could, so she could stay with me longer.”

“Reed told me she’s staying with you. How are you
feeling about that?”

“It’s great.”

“No dizziness, palpitations or nausea?” she quipped.

“No anxiety at all. I love having her there.”

“That’s a good sign.”

“Yeah. With other women, familiarity was a big
turn-off. When the novelty was gone, so was I. But I like it with Abby. We walk
to the coffee shop by my apartment every night before I go to work so I can get
coffee and she can get chai tea. I look forward to that walk with her. I love
figuring out exactly what drives her crazy in bed, watching the news together …
just everything.”

“Chris Reneau, I think you’re in love,” Charlotte
said, raising her brows with surprise.

“I am. And trust me, no one’s more surprised by it
than I am.”

Abby turned her face to the side, glancing at every
angle in the bathroom mirror. The makeup had hidden what was left of the
bruises on her face remarkably well.

After nearly three weeks at Chris’ apartment, she
needed to get home. She missed Audrey and Sara terribly, despite talking to
them nightly on the phone. It was hard lying to them about where she was, even
though she knew it was for the best.

She had rested a couple hours the night before, and
she felt fresh and energized when Chris came in from work.

“Hey,” he said, throwing his keys on a side table.
“You look great.”

“Thanks. I’m going home this morning.”

He looked crestfallen.

“You’ve taken such amazing care of me,” she said,
her voice threatening to break. “Thank you.”

“You’ve been taking good care of me, too.”

She looked at him, puzzled.

“I haven’t done much of anything,” she said.

“Every morning when I get home, you ask me how my night
was and you’re actually interested. You make coffee when we wake up. You’ve
been cooking and picking up my dry cleaning. I feel taken care of.”

“I’m glad,” she said, touched by his words. “And I
like doing all those things.”

“What if we got a place together?” he asked.

Abby stared at him, stunned.

“What if we got a place together?” she repeated.
“What do you mean?”

“Being with you all the time, like in Malibu and for
the past couple weeks … it’s what I want, Abby. I’m down about you leaving. I
love that you’re here when I get home in the morning, and we get to fall asleep
together, and I like seeing you curled up on my couch reading. I want us to
move in together.”

“Chris. That’s … I mean, it’s not even possible for
me.”

“It is, though. We can get rid of your place and
mine, and find a new one.”

“I have my family. I can’t just leave them.”

“I know you do, otherwise I’d just ask you to move
in here. We need a place for you and me and Audrey and Sara.”

“My Mom and Justin live with me too, Chris.”

“I want to buy a place for us, and you can use
whatever you get from selling your house to help Justin get an apartment. He’ll
be able to focus on school better if he lives there. You won’t need his help
with the girls anymore, because you’ll have me. And as for your Mom … she needs
to be on her own, Abby. She’s not good for you and the girls.”

Abby was floored that he had even considered this.
And apparently he’d thought a lot about it.

“It’s irrelevant anyway, because I can’t just move
in with a man. I’m the only good example Audrey and Sara have. Audrey’s turning
13 next month. She’ll be old enough to move in with a boyfriend before I know
it, and I won’t be able to object if I’m doing the same thing.”

“Abby, this is completely different. I’m 32 and
you’re 25. We’ve both finished college.”

“It’s incredibly sweet of you to ask, really, but --”

“Living with us would be a more wholesome
environment than Audrey and Sara have now,” he said earnestly.

“I do my best.”

“You do great, but you can’t control your mother.
She’s toxic. Audrey and Sara live with a drug addict.”

She knew he wasn’t being critical of her, but she
bristled at his words because it felt like he was.

“Look, Chris, I don’t have kids, but I might as
well. You think it would be great to move in together, but you have no idea
what life is like with kids. We couldn’t fuck on the kitchen table like we did
yesterday. You can’t watch Sports Center when they’re already watching the
Disney Channel. You’ve never even lived with a woman, and moving in with a
woman and kids would seriously cramp your style.”

“It wouldn’t. I understand that it’s a package deal
with you and the girls, and I want it. I like them, Abby, they’re good kids.
Justin could live with us, too, if he wanted to. I just won’t accept your Mom.”

“It doesn’t matter, because I can’t do it. We’re
just getting into a normal relationship, we need to see where it goes.”

“Are you saying you never want to move in with me?”

He sounded forlorn, and she hated being the cause.

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. It’ll never be a
good example for the girls. And I’ll never be able to leave my Mom with no way
to take care of herself.”

“She could if she had to. Why do you condone the way
she treats you, Abby? I hate that.”

“She’s imperfect, but she’s still my Mom.”

“Bullshit. She’s mean and verbally abusive. You
deserve better.”

“Chris,” Abby said, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “This
time with you has been amazing. I’ve loved every second. But I have to get back
to reality now.”

As she stared at the electronics cords strung across
the floor, Abby’s expression grew skeptical.

“Maybe someone from the cable company had to come do
something,” she said to Audrey.

“They took our Playstation!” Audrey cried. “And all
our games!”

“I know. It’s weird. The doors were locked, and
nothing else is missing. Could we have been robbed? Just to be safe, let’s get
upstairs. I want Chris to come over and check things out.”

“Do you think there’s someone in here?” Audrey
asked, her eyes widening.

“I don’t know, Aud. Let’s just go upstairs, okay?”

Abby sat on the front steps with Audrey and Sara as
they waited for Chris to arrive. The hole left in the entertainment center
unnerved her. The thought that someone had stolen from their home made it feel
less like the safe haven it had always been.

Chris’ Land Rover sped onto their street, and he
jumped out as he threw it into park.

“Hey, guys,” he said. “What’s going on?”

“Someone stole our Playstation,” Sara said
miserably.

“Did the house get broken into?” he asked Abby.

“It must have. I’d feel better if you looked around
in there. Were you at the gym? Did I interrupt your workout?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Are your Mom and
Justin home?”

“No, he’s at school and she was gone when we got
here,” Abby said.

“You guys stay out here, I’ll be right back.”

Abby made small talk with the girls as they waited,
hoping Chris wouldn’t encounter anyone in the house. She wondered if she should
have called the police instead. He had been gone nearly 20 minutes when he came
back out the front door.

“Is everything okay?’ she asked anxiously.

“Yeah, everything’s good. I checked everywhere. You
guys can go back in.”

He reached for Abby’s arm as she moved to follow
Audrey and Sara.

“Hey,” he said softly. “Was anything else missing?
Your jewelry?”

“The only thing I have that’s worth anything is the
ring you bought me, and I never take it off. Did we get robbed, Chris? Did you
find something?”

“No, there was no sign of forced entry. And they
would have taken stuff that’s still in there.”

“Someone must have just wanted electronics, because
that’s all that’s gone,” Abby said.

“Anything else come up missing lately? Money?”

Abby blanched as she remembered the $300.

“Yes,” she whispered. Chris shook his head, looking
disgusted.

“I know you don’t want to believe this, Abby, but
it’s your Mom.”

Though she stared at the newscaster on the
television screen, Abby’s mind was elsewhere. It was after midnight, but she
couldn’t sleep. Audrey and Sara had both been scared at bedtime, worried that
someone would come back into the house while they slept.

Chris had told her to take them to his apartment
when he went to work, where they might feel safer. But she had declined,
knowing that she needed to stay home. The conversation she was waiting on had
been a long time coming.

Eager for a distraction, she grabbed her phone,
typing out a message to Chris.

I miss you and wish you were here.
Thanks for being here earlier. – xo

He didn’t write back immediately, so she knew he
must be busy. She wished she could doze off, but her mind was racing too
quickly. It wasn’t just anger she was feeling, but bitterness. Betrayal. And
fear. The fear of her mother that had been with her since childhood. Kathy had
never been violent because she didn’t have to be. She’d always cut Abby so
deeply with her remarks that Abby ended up cowering as though she had been
struck.

Sometimes she’d wished her mother would have hit her
instead. The sting of a bruise would heal eventually, but the biting words
Kathy spewed ran through Abby’s mind long after they’d been spoken.

As she heard keys rattling near the front door, she
sat up quickly, suddenly feeling like a young child again. She steeled herself
for what was to come.

“Mom,” she said flatly as Kathy pushed the door
closed behind her.

“Hi,” Kathy muttered. She walked across the living
room toward the bedroom, and Abby jumped up from the chair.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” she demanded.

“About what?”

“You know what. You took the girls’ Playstation.
Where is it?”

“I did not,” Kathy said dismissively, turning to leave
the room.

“I know you did! And I know you stole money from me,
too.”

“I’m going to bed.”

“I’m calling movers tomorrow to come get your things
in a week. You need to make other living arrangements before then.”

Abby’s midsection trembled as her mother turned to
glare at her.

“You ungrateful bitch!” she said, seething. “I have
no other place to go, and I’m sick. You want to throw your own mother on the
street?”’

Abby jumped from her chair, fury driving away all
her anxiety.

“What have you ever given me to be grateful for?”
she yelled. “You’re a terrible mother!”

“You’re just a spoiled brat. Always have been.”

“A spoiled brat?” Abby stared at her mother,
incredulous. “You can’t be serious! You’re a cold, mean, deadbeat drug addict,
and still all I’ve ever wanted was your love. I’ve done everything I can think
of to get it. I’m supporting this entire household. You’ve brought smoking,
drugs and even a child molester into my home against my wishes. But this time
…” Abby’s voice quavered with emotion as she pointed at her mother. “This time,
you’ve gone too far. Stealing from Audrey and Sara? They’re terrified that some
intruder is going to come here tonight! I didn’t have the heart to tell them
not to worry about it because you were the one who stole the Playstation.”

“Fine, yes, it was me! I needed some money, and you
weren’t here,” Kathy said. “I’ll buy them another one.”

“No,” Abby shook her head sadly. “This is it. You
have a week.”

“Fine, I’ll go! You’re such a selfish bitch that it
won’t bother you to have all the money you could ever want while your own
mother scrapes by on government assistance.”

“It won’t bother me,” Abby said dispassionately. “I
didn’t bust my ass for that money so you could spend it on drugs. You need
help.”

“Tell the movers they’ll be taking Audrey and Sara’s
things, too,” Kathy said, watching for Abby’s reaction.

“I already thought of that, Mom,” she said. “I’m
calling an attorney tomorrow to have custody paperwork drawn up. I want you to
give me custody of the girls.”

Kathy’s face curled into a sneer and Abby held up a
hand to keep her from responding.

“I’ll give you $1,000 to leave them when you go and
another $5,000 after the paperwork is signed.”

“You think I’ll just give them to you for a little
money?” Kathy scoffed. “It’ll cost you a lot more than that, Abby.”