Brushing her teeth, washing her face, applying the best lotion her meager part-time job at the town’s ice cream shop could buy…
Once the list was complete, and she’d changed into her shorts-and-tank sleep set, Cera returned to her bedroom and crawled into bed. With a relaxed sigh, she checked to make sure the alarm on her cell phone was properly set before plugging it into its charger and turning off the bedside lamp.
She reached over the fluffy divide to offer her sister a small squeeze of the arm. “’Night, Bug.”
“Night, Cera.” A brief pause and then, “Thanks for letting me sleep in here.”
Cera smiled. “I’d say ‘any time’, but I’m not sure I’d want you in hereeverynight.”
“That’s okay. Every once in a while is still fun.”
“Yeah, it is. Now go to sleep before Mom hears us and kicks you back to your own room.”
Callie giggled but then covered her mouth with her hand. “Okay. Love you, Sis.”
“Love you, too, Bug.”
Both girls closed their eyes and welcomed the restful moment. Minutes passed, and soon, her sister’s slow, even breaths filled the otherwise quiet room.
Cera smiled, thinking how so much had changed in just a few short months. They were safe. Her mom was happy. She finally found a guy they all liked…
Guess Mom was right. We really are going to be okay.
After the year they’d had, it was a truth that had been hard to accept. But things were good, now. Really good.
And they’re only going to get better.
With a smile still lifting the corners of her lips, Cera fell asleep, blissfully unaware of how horribly wrong her mother had truly been. Two hours later, it all became perfectly clear.
The sound of wood being forcefully splintered yanked her from a deep, restful sleep. A loud gasp filled the small room’s still air as she shot straight up into a seated position.
Cera’s chest rose and fell rapidly, her heart pounding forcefully against her ribs. Disoriented from the abrupt awakening, she sat perfectly still and listened closely. Her tired mind worked hard to determine the cause of the noise.
When she didn’t immediately hear anything more, Cera thought maybe it had simply been a dream she could no longer remember. But then she heard the footsteps.
Heavy.
Booted.
Angry.
And that’s when she knew.
Oh, god! He’s here!
To her bones, Cera knew he’d somehow found them.
Could almostfeelevil infecting the oxygen in the air. Those footfalls weren’t Richard’s, and they most certainly didn’t belong to her petite mother. And Cera didn’t have to see the intruder to know his name.
James Nathanial Stiegler.
Her mom’s crazy ex-husband and Callie’s biological father. A man who, at one time, Cera had hoped would become her new stepfather. But that was before.
Before his roofing business started to decline. Before he declared bankruptcy. Before the drinking.
When those things happened, the James they all knew and loved vanished. Replaced by a perpetually angry, bitter man.
One who spewed such nasty things to her mom, Cera grew to loath the meresightof him. A man who’d spent the last two years stalking her mother while simultaneously terrorizing their family.