Read Online Forgiveness Creek: The Creek Series by Abbie St. Claire - Free Book Online Page B

across my back.
    I shuddered at the thought of his mouth on my old scars.
    “Tell me about these.”
    I cringed. Revealing my secrets would be like baring my soul for the world to see, never again able to reel it back into hiding.
    The room was silent, only the sound of the nearby train permeated our space.
    “I can’t.” I sat up in bed and flipped the covers away to grab clothes, but he gripped my arm and pulled me into a hug, my back to his front.
    “Please don’t hide your pain from me.”
    “You have no idea.” My body began to tremble. I wasn’t sure if it was from fever or from anxiety. Either way, I thought perhaps I needed the covers to hide my shame. Once my secret was out, I was certain he would consider me damaged and move on.
    “I can’t do this. You won’t understand.”
    I threw my leg over the side of the bed and started to get up. The words he uttered stopped me cold in my flesh and forever changed me.
    “If you can’t trust me with your heart and soul, you shouldn’t trust me with your body.”
    He’s right.
    As I turned to face him, I drew in a deep breath and began to spew my story before I lost my nerve.
    “It was my last day of senior year, and I’d just got home from school. Daddy was waiting for me in the garage. He said he needed help in the barn, but when I followed him down there, he started yelling and calling me names. He’d been in my room, read my journal, and found out I’d slept with Stephan and I was on birth control pills.”
    “He hit you?”
    “Oh, God, he more than hit me. He tied me to a hook in the barn and whipped me until my back was bloody.” I was just short of hyperventilating.
    Dane pulled me to face him and wrapped me tightly in his arms. “Where was your mother?”
    “Gone to get fabric. When he untied me, I didn’t have the energy to get up from the dirt. Stephan found me a couple of hours later still lying on the ground, and it was all I could do to keep him from beating my father to death. I begged him not to say anything because it would’ve killed my mother to know.”
    “So how did you go to graduation?”
    “It wasn’t until that weekend. I faked being sick for several days until I healed enough to get around. We never spoke of it again. Once my father died, my secret went with him to the grave.”
    “But you’ve managed to hide your scars from your mother?”
    “Yes. With her room downstairs and mine up, I always managed to be dressed. She had her first heart attack when I was in high school. Knowing about this would’ve killed her.”
    “I would never hurt you, but I believe actions speak louder than words, and you’ll know whether you trust me or not.”
    I fell asleep, comfortable that he knew my darkest secret and hadn’t run away. He was right, actions spoke louder than words, but giving of trust was completely another story.

    When I woke up, he brought up the Asia trip again and the issue of me not having a passport. He used my laptop to print out the forms and checklist for a passport. The to-do items were a mile long, and I would get them done the next day. Because it would have to be expedited, the passport office required proof of pending travel documents, so Dane put a ticket on hold and printed the itinerary. Some of the items like birth certificate and stuff I had from my admission requirements for school. Dr. P would email me my shot records and the rest was a matter of filling out forms.
    Dane was going to a great deal of trouble if he wasn’t serious about me going with him. We were getting very close, and I was beginning to have strong feelings for him, but the concern was creeping in. What if it was just a rebound affair? What if he was just a player and didn’t do relationships because of his constant travel?
    And why was a great guy like Dane single? Were there other girls? Was I just the flavor of the month for him?

The following week went by quickly. Dane and I spent every possible minute together.
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