“That’s not what this is?” Mary said skeptically – looking between the two women carefully, rubbing her forehead.
She was so exhausted and not thinking straight, but the idea of having a friend, someone who was decent, was sort of appealing. She didn’t feel like she could talk to anyone here, because it was such a small town and gossip ran rampant.
No, she didn’t need Joe coming back to assert his dominance once again.
“He’s in Afghanistan,” Glory said openly. “Ghost might come for a visit because he’s a friend of ours… but no one is setting you up on a date. I’ll give you his name and email address, if you want it.”
“Are you okay, Mary?” Karen said quietly, watching her.
“I haven’t slept much in the last few days…” she admitted. “Maybe I will take that coffee, after all.”
“I thought you had to go to work?”
“I was going to buy some mace or a taser, so I feel safe,” she told Karen, feeling embarrassed and mortified. “I’m scared and you know why.”
This was the only person in the world that knew what happened that evening, because she’d witnessed the cops rescuing her.
“I’ve got a taser in my purse,” Glory offered with no hesitation, yanking the zipper open and pulling out a hot pink rectangle with two metal prods at the end like it was nothing.
“I’ve got mace on my keychain you can have…” Karen volunteered, immediately grabbing her keys, sliding the silver ring several times until it came off and handing it over without another word.
Mary stared at the two of them in shock, feeling tears and exhaustion clawing at her painfully. Karen knew, but this other woman didn’t – yet was offering to loan her protection without a second thought or asking why?
Glory smiled sadly.
“We take care of our own, Mary,” Glory whispered knowingly. “We all have secrets, nightmares, and boogeymen that haunt our past… but I feel like you will fit right in. The present and future is what you choose to make of it. You say the word, and you’ll have a bigger group of friends and family at your back to help anytime you could ever need it.”
“Why?” Mary whispered as the taser was pressed in her hand without question. “You don’t even know me.”
“But I do and you are one of us, even if you don’t know it yet,” Karen smiled tearfully. “Give Ghost a chance to be a friend and you will never regret it – I promise.
“Coffee,” Mary agreed nervously. “That’s not a ‘yes’or a ‘no’… but I’ll hear you out.”
“That’s all we want,” Glory smiled – and removed her boot from the entryway.
The instant urge to shut the door and lock it was there, but they were offering up things she craved - in exchange for nothing but a few moments of her time. When was the last time she talked to another woman for a little while? When was the last time she actually spoke to anyone unless it was work related?
Mary had isolated herself, feeling that if she existed in a protective little ball then no one else would get hurt, blackmailed, beaten, or abused. Nodding, she set down the items near the doorway, grabbed her keys to the new deadbolt, and followed the duo next door.
As she walked in, Mary froze seeing Karen’s husband in the kitchen. The man looked at her politely, raising a hand to silently as if to say ‘hello’.
“Hey Jace,” Karen said openly, walking over to him and kissing him. “I’m making some coffee. Do you want a cup, too?”
“Nah, I’m good. Just finishing up on the chicken for dinner. You ladies go ahead…” he said easily.
“Thank you.”
Mary heard Karen talking to her husband and remembered seeing him in an Air Force uniform a few times as they were coming and going from the apartment.
“So, here’s what we were thinking… “Glory began, smiling happily and sitting down at the kitchen table, but Mary couldn’t pull her eyes off the man cooking in the kitchen.
If he was a pilot – then maybe, he knew this other guy? He didn’t seem to be involved in this whole plot, and looked almost lackadaisical in the fact that the three women were there to have a cup of coffee.
He didn’t have an agenda except for the dish he was sliding into the oven – and no reason to lie to her.
“Ghost is nice. I think if you say ‘hello’ -then you’ll really enjoy chatting with him. You could exchange letters, send each other trinkets or goodies, and if he comes to visit, then maybe you…”
As Karen set a cup of coffee before her and put the small container of flavored creamer on the table, Mary tuned out Glory and looked towards the man in the distance.