By Any Other Name

Chapter 1

"Oh no!" I cried, rushing for the oven. "Not again!"

Grabbing the dish towels, I ripped open the door to the stove and reached into the black smoke to pull out the covered pan.

"Don't be too bad. Don't be too bad," I chanted, panicking as I put the pan on top and reached for the lid.

This couldn't happen again!

I pulled off the lid and stared in dismay at the burned meat.

He'll kill me!

Quickly I tried scraping off the burned parts, but my efforts only revealed more and more blackened meat.

How could it be so bad? It hadn't cooked that long!

Throwing a frantic glance at the clock, I continued to attempt to salvage the food, praying he would be home late.

A second later, I heard the unmistakable sound of the front door opening and my stomach dropped in dread. With shaking hands, I tried to work quickly, but suddenly everything was so slick, my hands couldn't hold on to anything anymore.

All at once, he was there, glowering down at the blackness in the pan that seemed even worse than before.

I backed away as he turned his cold stare on me.

"I'm sorry!" I said. "I can fix it!"

He didn't say anything. He only moved toward me and removed his belt.

"I'm sorry!" I said again, holding up my hands. "Please don't!"

Belt in hand, he moved closer and I cowered in the corner. His arm pulled back, ready to strike and-

The sound of the train whistle jarred me awake. Confused and momentarily frantic, I glanced around before remembering where I was.

I was on a train far away from him. Putting a hand to my chest, I worked to calm my ragged breathing, feeling a surge of relief.

Focusing my attention out the window at the racing scenery, I smiled, once again incredibly grateful for my good fortune. The glowing array of blues, pinks, and purples brushed across the sky and the lush rolling hills were beautiful, but the amazing part was that I was free to enjoy it after so long.

Frowning, I realized that it hadn't actually been that long. It only seemed that way.

Was it really only a year ago that I was so blissfully happy? Little more than a year since the wedding, when I thought my life was absolutely perfect?

It seemed absurd that the same man I loved and trusted so deeply then was the one I ran from now. How could he be the same person? Did he change so drastically, or was he simply a superb actor?

Perhaps I'd just been blind. I was so in love that I didn't notice the signs. There must have been signs...

When I was little, my mother told me that the devil didn't look wicked the way people might think. That he was a fallen angel, beautiful and alluring. I always struggled to believe her though. I knew that the devil was responsible for all the bad things in the world, so I was sure he must be a hideous beast and that if I ever saw him, I would know just by the way he looked. But it wasn't so hard to imagine the truth of her words anymore. Now I knew that evil didn't always look that way. After all, Charles had a beautiful face.

That beautiful, guileless face and those those disarming sky blue eyes were the reason people believed him to be so good and trustworthy. It had always seemed entirely effortless the way he was able to charm nearly everyone.

Everyone but my father. Papa was the only one who didn't take to him right away. In fact, he'd never really liked Charles.

How I wish I'd heeded his warning. Although, I suppose he hadn't actually warned me away from Charles, but his obvious reservation should have been enough.

Papa liked everyone. It wasn't unusual for him to spend extra time socializing with customers, asking about their families and their lives, and really taking the time to listen to what they had to say. But with Charles, he couldn't finish with business quickly enough to get him to leave.

Would Papa have forbidden me from marrying him, had he lived that long? Would I have listened?

Frustrated, I tried to shake all thoughts of Charles from my mind. He'd controlled so much about me for so long, I didn't want him in my head now that I was truly free.

I vowed to do my best to keep him from invading my mind after this. Lord willing, I'd never set eyes on him again, and maybe one day I would be lucky enough to forget I ever knew him.

Mine would be a quiet life now. Boring, some might think, and I couldn't disagree with them. The life of a maid was rarely exciting. But just now, a quiet and boring life seemed like paradise to me.

My personal paradise was going to be in a place called Marshall, Texas. I didn't know much about it, but I'd never heard the name before, and I guessed that Charles hadn't either. And that was good enough for me.