Aphrodite

CHAPTER 13

Kat found me an hour later sitting on the floor, leaning against the footof my bed. Shock had settled in, and I felt as if I was buried under a sea ofwater. Too cold to react, numb and staring but not seeing.Logan owned the farm. I'd been living here for two years thinking ...But the puzzle fit; it made sense—Matt bringing me here instead of thehouse in the city where the three of us had lived.It had been their parents' house before they died in a drinking anddriving accident—their father was the driver and the drunk. He smashedinto a cement bridge going ninety miles an hour.Matt put the house on the market, a house I never thought he'd sell. Notonly that, he also put his bar up for sale. It took several months, but thehouse and bar sold, and Matt bought instead a condo downtown and thefarm, at least I thought he had. With the sale of his old bar, he purchased anew one and named it Avalanche.Had Logan told them to move? Or had it been Deck? Why did theylisten? How did they occupy the farm so quickly? And how did Logan buyit when he was with me?Kat stood in the doorway. There were tears in her eyes. Kat never cried,not since we met when we were ten. "Can I come in?" And she never askedto come into my bedroom. She bounced in whenever it suited her.I nodded, and she walked over and sat beside me, leaning against thebed, legs out, ankles crossed. She bowed her head and her short blonde hairswayed forward to cover her brilliant sea-blue eyes. She was a classicbeauty; smooth and flawless skin, thin brows, and sharp features.

"Sculpt's gone." Of course if the farm belonged to Logan, Kat hadknown, and yet she'd never said a word. "When you disappeared that night... God, Eme, it was like Armageddon." I could see her hands shaking. Katwas always steady and sure of herself, full of life, no regrets. Not now. Nowshe looked worried. "When you didn't come back from the bathroom thatnight, I got Matt. And then he called the police who weren't much helpconsidering you're over eighteen, had been gone fifteen minutes, and wewere at a bar. Matt lost it. He went right up on stage in the middle of theband jamming and shut it down. Everything. Closed the bar. When Sculptfound out ... he lost it. When his phone rang, his face ... as he listened ... itwent so pale.I was terrified. Fuck, it scared the shit out of all of us. Sculpt talked toKite, and then he threw his guitar over the edge of the stage, broke it in half.He was ... Jesus, he was angry ... and scared, Emily. It was just a hint of it,but I swear he was scared. I didn't think a man like him ... I'd never thoughtI'd see something so raw and exposed in him." I pulled my knees up to mychest and lay my cheek on them. Tears began to leak from my eyes as Ifought the feelings I was having at picturing Logan like that."He knew Emily. He knew what happened to you. We weren't to tell thepolice anything otherwise your life ... He said if we did we'd never see youagain. So we didn't. He promised to bring you back. And then there was amad rush to get hold of Georgie. She was the only one who had Deck'semergency number. Sculpt left that night. I hadn't seen him ... until today.""Why'd Matt sell the bar, Kat? And the house? It was your parents'house. Why are you ... Why are we living on a farm that belongs toSculpt?"

Kat reached over and took my hand. "I'd do anything for you ... youknow that, right? Matt would too. You're our family, Emily." She squeezedmy hand. "Kite told us about Sculpt's dad. The sex trafficking."Tears fell faster as I thought of the girls I'd left behind, the girl with Kaiwho was so destroyed I didn't think she'd ever come back from the abuseshe'd suffered. I'd tried to forget them when ... when maybe they weren't tobe forgotten."Kite told us that if Sculpt ... no, when Sculpt got you out, you couldn'tgo home. That you needed to start a new life somewhere else in case ... incase the plan failed, and Sculpt's father tried to come back for you." Sheshuffled closer so our shoulders touched. "Everything Matt and I own isnow under my grandmother's name, so Raul couldn't link it to you. Or atleast not as easily.""And the farm?"

"Sculpt bought it under a numbered company he has with Kite. I don'tknow when that was set up or why, but Sculpt emptied out his account theday he left, gave everything to Kite and told him to buy a farm in thecompany's name that had room for horses and immediate occupancy. Hegave up the tour money. All of it, to buy the farm."Oh, God. Logan. No. His dream. For ... for my dream.Kat paused, and I raised my head to look at her. There were tearsstreaming down her face, her black mascara leaking lines onto her cheeks."I wanted to tell you. But when Matt brought you back, you were so angryand hurt, and then you were ... you were a zombie, Emily. Matt and I triedto talk to you, but it was like talking to a stone wall. You wanted to forget.So, after a while we let you."I lived in a dark hole for months, and it wasn't the therapy that broughtme back, it was the horses. Kat made me come to the barn and help heroffload six horses from the trailer. Horses that were so skinny their headssunk in and their spines stuck out. Their coats so dull that you couldn't eventell what their real colors were. But the worst ... the worst was the look intheir eyes. I knew that look so well. I'd seen it in Kai's girl. Their eyes weredead. Glassed-over and dead. Their spirit ... It was gone—broken.

That was the day I began to fight to put myself back together. Thehorses and I rebuilt our trust and refilled the light in our eyes. The horsesstarted to gallop in the fields, and I began to laugh. It was also when Idecided that I'd stop living and hiding under Matt and Kat and earn enoughto buy my own place and build a cliental helping others with their horses."Kite asked us never to tell you Sculpt and him owned the farm. He saidyou'd leave and you needed to stay." Yeah, I probably would have. "I'msorry. I don't know if we were wrong to not tell you, but when those horsescame ... Emily, you came alive, and Matt and I knew it was the right thing.You belonged here. And damn it, I did too. Never thought I'd like shovelingshit, but the horses are amazing, and ever since I started painting them, thedemand for my work has tripled. Who would've thought we'd both beliving our dreams doing what we love."I smiled. In the short time they'd been here, Kat was learning to ride andwas often out fixing fences and repairing the tractor. She was also sellingher art work in three galleries in the city.

I hadn't been the only one who suffered. Matt and Kat had too. I'd putthem through months of not speaking, the unwillingness to continue therapyeven though I probably needed it. They stood by me and were there for me,never once telling me to stop hiding, to stop hating Logan, to stop feelingsorry for myself. No, they'd just accepted who I'd become and embraced it."Was it Sculpt's idea to bring in the abused horses?" Of course it had tohave been. I'd told him my dream of having my own horse farm andhelping abused horses, and now I was living it. I felt sick to my stomach athow much I'd loathed him, and he'd ... he'd given me my dream and takenaway his. I made good money helping people with their horses. He'd givenme that."I'm guessing, but I don't know for sure. None of us heard from Sculptfor months after you came back. Not even Kite. Deck went back down toMexico, and this time he was gone a while. Don't know what happened, butwhen Deck came back Sculpt wasn't with him." Kat laid her hand on top ofmine. "I'm sorry, Emily. God, I wish I could take away what happened toboth of you.""Do you know what happened there?" I could feel my chest tighteningand the panic begin to creep into my veins at the thought of telling Kat.She shook her head. "No. Not really. I just know when Matt broughtyou home you were so broken and hurt. I could see the anger behind yourpain. I love you. Matt and I would do anything for you." Her voice quieted."Sculpt ... I know you hate him, but now that you know the truth maybe—""Kat. God, he ... he did everything to get me out, but I can't. I justcan't."

She lowered her head and nodded."I can't forget. I get it. He did it to protect me. He got me out. And Iguess ... He was a victim too. But the memories when I see him ... They'retoo much of who he became.""If you ever want to ... Shit, Emily, I know you don't want to go back toa therapist, but if you need to talk, I'm a good listener."I smiled. "Kat, you're a horrible listener—you're way too impatient."She laughed. "True.""Kat, you and Matt mean the world to me. You're my family. After whathappened ... you gave me time to heal. Yeah, I hate finding out Sculpt ownsthe farm. It makes me feel ..." Guilty, maybe. He'd given up his tour moneyso that I'd have a place to live and be safe from his father. "Kat, you andMatt gave up everything for me.""God, I hate to say this but, so did Sculpt."My breath hitched. I looked at her, and my insides twisted as if she'djust punched me in the stomach. She was right. He had. But she had no ideathat Logan watched me being dragged away to be tortured. The worst waswhen Raul held the gun to my head and I heard his feet shift, and then ... heleft me there.In my head I knew the truth of why he had to do it that way, but Icouldn't let him in again. The trust. The laughter. All that had been goodbetween us, it was tainted.A second chance ... there wasn't one for us.

Kat stood and placed her hands on her hips staring down at me. "I needa drink. You need a drink. Lots of drinks. And I'm sure Georgie needs lotsof drinks, so we're going to Avalanche tonight."I really didn't feel like dancing or socializing, but staying herewondering if Logan was coming back was the last thing I wanted to do. Ineeded to numb out the plague that was running through my head.Kat went into action as she pulled open the closet doors and startedtossing clothes out onto the bed. "Go put your makeup on. I'm picking youout something to wear. We're looking extra hot tonight."What I wanted was a bottle of wine and to plop down in front of the TV.I walked into the bathroom and stared at myself for a long time in themirror, unable to see who was looking back at me—the girl broken and lostto a man she fell in love with or a woman who learned to survive with abroken heart. Maybe I was a little of both.