Save Her, Abigail Osborne [ebook reader for surface pro txt] 📗

Thomas. He got enough of that from the rest of the world; this was supposed to be his safe space and it was her job to ensure it remained that way. Flora breathed a sigh of relief at the end of the day when she waved goodbye to Charlotte and shut the door on the world.

The silence was tangible. It quieted her mind and she allowed herself to sink into the office chair and think of nothing. It did not last long.

She felt devastated when she contemplated the fact that if she really did leave with Sophie, if she could not find another way, she would have to give up her centre. How would she even do that? Flora shook her head and locked the door and tried to lock in the faces of the children she would be letting down if she never came back.

Her stomach was tossing and turning, just as unsettled as her mind. Would she ever feel normal again? It was painful being around Sam at the moment. It felt like she was living a lie. There were all these feelings bubbling inside her and she could not share anything with him. What was she supposed to do? Risk telling Sam about Sophie and hope that he took their side? What if Sam talked to Greg about it and Greg took it out on Sophie? They had discussed this at length before she left yesterday and Flora would never forget the fear in her friend’s eyes. Eventually, Sophie had admitted she was worried that Greg would end up killing her. That there was a chance he could go too far and accidentally kill her. Flora would have laughed in any other situation but having seen the evidence of Greg’s rage imprinted across Sophie’s body, was it really that farfetched to think he could take it too far?

Thankfully, fate blessed her and for the next two days – despite his promise to not leave again, she had convinced him to go away for a couple of days as nothing had happened in so long – Sam would be in Cardiff helping one of his start-ups launch their vegan food range. So far, she had kept the conversations on the phone light, making him promise not to give in and come home a vegan. There was enough stress in her life and never being able to eat a cheeseburger again would only make things worse.

Sophie was coming over tonight, taking advantage of Sam’s absence and Flora hoped they would talk more. She had played so many scenarios in her head. But even if they could get Sophie away from Greg, Sam would have to choose between Flora and his family. She wanted nothing more to do with them. Greg was a nasty piece of work and Cecelia was even worse. According to Sophie, both Cecelia and Alistair knew Greg’s dirty little secret. How could she cope knowing that Sam was still seeing people that had hurt her best friend? She understood he was related to these people, but surely his principles would make it hard for him to want to be around them?

The whole situation made her head and heart hurt when she thought about it too much. When she took stock of the last month, she couldn’t believe that in such a short space of time, her mother-in-law had been hospitalised, she’d been half-drowned in the pool, her credit cards vanished and then reappeared, Linda had hounded her, she’d been terrorised by worms and the pièce de résistance – she had discovered that her best friend was being abused by her husband.

She had not even thought about her new house. The new start for her and Sam was dissolving right before her eyes. Sophie was adamant they needed to make a fresh start somewhere else. But Flora wanted to make sure they had explored every possible scenario. It would break her heart to have to sell her parents’ home. She had already poured her hopes and dreams into it. Plus, Flora could not even envisage a future where she did not work at the centre. Did it make her a bad person not to want to give that up without a fight, when her friend was going through hell?

She shook her head and let out a sigh, rubbing at her throbbing temples. How had her life come to this? She had always told herself that because she had lost her parents and been raised by a psychotic aunt, she had had all of her bad luck in the early years of her life. But it seems life was not done screwing with her. She got up and began to pack her things ready to leave.

Crash.

The sound of breaking glass had her running back into the classroom. The rain was dancing into the classroom from a jagged hole in the large window. Flora raced over and peered through the gap in the glass. Through the rain droplets lashing at her face, she could see a woman with short black hair and a child with dark skin, a boy, pelting down the street as if trying to outrun an avalanche. The woman almost pulled the child’s arm out of his socket as she dragged him around the corner and vanished.

Linda.

Before she had thought about what she was doing, Flora had spun around and raced to the door. With her heart beating a drum in her ears, she crossed the busy road and ran as fast as she could after Linda. She hadn’t run like this since she did the 100-metre sprint at her school sports day. The wind whipped her hair across her face and she knew she would be soaked to the skin in no time. She made it around the corner where Linda had disappeared and could see they were halfway down the street, still running but Ethan was slowing them down. She could just make out his voice on the wind. Ignoring the stitch in her