Loves Second Chance

Chapter Two

TWO YEARS LATER

Emily's finger traced the swelling of her lip, causing her to wince as it ran across the deep cut in the center. Her eyes were locked on her own face staring back at her. She couldn't seem to get over how the dark bruise around her eye made it look even more green…

She looked down at her naked body in the full length mirror but didn't feel like it was really her she was looking at. Emily Thompson had always been too headstrong of a girl to ever allow a man to cover her in his bruised fingerprints…

But she was not Emily Thompson, the girl, any longer. She was now, Emily Barron, the woman and Emily Barron the woman was weak and covered in her husbands handy work.

The abuse had started before the honeymoon had ended. For two years every step that Emily had seemed to take had seemed to be the wrong one and John had been quick to teach her the right way to step.

Emily looked at the bruises on her arms, her legs, her breasts…. Life with John had not turned out the way she had expected. She had thought that he was a good man who would love and take care of her. Instead she had married the devil. She lived in a fancy house and had fancy clothes but she was a prisoner. Never allowed outside of these walls unless John was by her side. After all if she went out alone then he would not know if a man looked at her and would not be able to punish her for it once they arrived back home.

Emily thought back to their wedding day two years before. She had loved John but that love was gone. It had vanished with the first slap. But she had had no choice but to stay. She had no money of her own. No family to run to.  She had lived away from home for three years before marrying John and had lost contact with all her friends. Now she could not even remember what most of them looked like. John had not allowed her any contact with anyone in two years.

Emily snapped out of the daze her thoughts had her in when Wyatt cried out from his crib. Emily pulled her clothes on quickly and walked over to the crib. She smiled as she picked up the fussy three month old and held him against her chest. The one good thing that John had ever given her looked up at her with those trusting blue eyes and suddenly she knew that today was the day she had to leave.

Wyatt deserved better than this life. He deserved a mother who was strong and would protect him and keep him safe. It was time for her to be Emily Thompson again.  Emily Thompson the girl who had lived every second to the fullest and had never let anyone tell her that what she believed or wanted was wrong.

Emily Thompson knew how to shoot guns, was a pretty good deer hunter and could change the oil in her own car… Emily Barron was weak and lost and could not make a single decision without lowering her head and asking her husband for permission. It was time for Emily Thompson to put Emily Barron to rest.

Emily carried Wyatt over to his baby swing. She strapped him in and he cooed happily. She walked over to her closet and pulled out her suitcase. She quickly filled it with as many clothes as it would hold. She walked to Wyatt's room with another suitcase and filled it with all his little onesies and jumpers. She stuffed in a pack of diapers and some wipes.

She walked to the kitchen and packed Wyatt's diaper bag for the trip and then walked back upstairs to get him. She bundled them both up in their warmest coats and gloves to fight the February cold. She walked over to the antique blue ceramic vase sitting on the fireplace mantle and pulled out the money she'd been saving.

She had been sneaking a few dollars here and there and hoped that what she had managed to save behind John's back would be enough to get her home to Kentucky. She stuck the money into her purse, picked up both suitcases and her baby boy and walked out the door.