Love on the Run

by Lorana Hoopes

  “How long have you guys owned it?” Ginny asked as she shook the dice and let them fly across the table. Her eyes widened as she saw four sixes land on the first roll.

  “Your luck is looking good tonight,” Graham said with a smile. “We’ve had the restaurant up and running about a year, I guess. We take turns managing it, and we’ve had to bring in a third shift manager for when Jordan and I can’t be there.”

  “That’s amazing. It must be so nice to feel accomplished with something like that.” She rolled the lone die once and then again, sighing when it ended up a one. “Guess my luck isn’t that good yet.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  The tone in Graham’s voice told her it would be a serious question and one she probably didn’t want to answer, but she found she wouldn’t mind telling him the answer to anything he asked. “Sure, go ahead.”

  “You seem so strong. How did you end up letting a man run your life for so long?” He rolled his dice and marked a full house, not bothering to try and roll again.

  Ginny had known this question would come sooner or later. It was the same one she asked herself as well. “I wish I had a good answer for you, but I really don’t. When my mom died, my father turned to drinking and he became verbally abusive. I lived with that for five years until I was old enough to move out. I didn’t think it had affected me, but that stuff sticks with you.” She shook her head and let the dice fly. Twos. Great.

  “I took a job waitressing because I thought I’d be amazing, but I had no work ethic. After getting fired, I lost my house and ended up on the streets. That’s when you know you’ve hit rock bottom.” She picked up the two dice that weren’t twos and threw them again. One more dice landed with a two face up. One more roll. She picked up the last die but paused before throwing it.

  “Carl found me on the streets. He was so nice when I first met him. He took me in and provided for me. It had been so long since anyone had done that that I suppose I let myself get lured in. But then he began to change slowly. He stopped taking me places and no longer brought home gifts. If I tried to leave, he would tell me how dangerous it was on the streets and how horrible I was being by rejecting his kindness. It wasn’t like I had family or friends out there for me, so it just got easier to stay inside.”

  Graham sighed and ran a hand across his jaw. “I’m sorry. This lockdown must be hard for you then.”

  Ginny offered a small smile and shook her head. “It’s different. You’re so much nicer than Carl ever was, and I know this really is for my safety.” She tossed the last die and watched as it teetered on an edge before landing with a two face up. “Yahtzee! Maybe my luck is changing after all.”

  “I know mine is.”

  Graham’s voice was so soft that Ginny wasn’t sure she hadn’t imagined it, but when she glanced up, his eyes were locked on hers, and she could feel the intensity.

  “Graham, I’m so broken…” Ginny let the words hang in the air, unsure of how to finish them.

  “We’re all broken, Ginny, but you don’t have to stay that way.” His hand covered hers. “God can heal those wounds.”

  Ginny looked down at his hand on top of hers. How long had it been since a man had touched her in that way? With kindness, gentleness, and empathy. “I don’t know if I believe in God.”

  “I can help you with that.”

  She bit her lip as she considered his words. Was God what made him different? What made him able to see the positive through so much pain? “Maybe I’ll let you, but right now, it’s your final roll. Let’s see if you can beat me.”

  8

  Graham

  Graham’s eyes popped open, but he wasn’t sure why. The light was still mostly dark outside his window, but he could see the first breaks of dawn peeking through. Was it just from sleeping in an unfamiliar bed or was there something more? He held his breath and listened, but the cabin was silent. Still, the feeling did not abate that something was out of place.

  Kicking back the covers, Graham swung his legs out of bed and crouched down to retrieve the gun from under the bed. He had placed it there last night after they finished their Yahtzee game. The cabin had been quiet with no signs of Carl or any of his goons, but Graham wasn’t going to take any chances.

  With the gun at his side, Graham opened his door and stepped into the hall. The door to the other bedroom was open, and his heart skipped a beat in his chest. Had Carl gotten in without Graham hearing? He was normally a heavy sleeper, but he hadn’t felt that he had slept as well last night.

  He glanced in Ginny’s room, but the bed was empty. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he crept toward the kitchen. Maybe Ginny had just woken early and was having breakfast, but the kitchen was also empty. With no idea where she was, he decided to risk calling out for her. “Ginny?” Silence.

  Had she gone outside? Surely, she wouldn’t have gone outside alone. The dread deepened in his stomach as he headed for the back door. After slipping on his shoes, he opened the door with as little sound as possible. He had no idea if Carl had taken her or if he might still be here.

  The car was still out front and appeared to be in working order. That softened the dread slightly. He rounded the cabin, keeping his eyes peeled for anything out of place and his ears for any sound. As he reached the back of the cabin, he paused. A lone figure stood in the break of the tree line where a slight path led to the small lake situated behind the cabin.

  “Ginny?” He said her name softly to avoid scaring her.

  She turned and smiled at him. One arm held the other as if she were cold. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “What are you doing out here, Ginny? It’s not safe.”

  “I know,” she shook her head and her hand traveled up to her shoulder, “but it’s been so long since I’ve seen a sunrise. When I woke and realized the sun wasn’t up yet, I had to try and see it.”

  Graham’s heart broke at the expression on Ginny’s face. What torture must Carl have put her through if she hadn’t even been allowed to see the sunrise? He placed the arm not holding the gun around her shoulders and pulled her to him. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

  Honestly, he couldn’t remember the last time he had watched a sunrise, but looking at it through Ginny’s eyes, he could see the beauty in the reds, oranges, and yellows as they streaked across the sky.

  “It sure is.”

  They stood that way for five or ten minutes just watching the sun rise into the sky and reflect across the placid lake. Though relatively concealed where they stood, Graham still felt exposed, and he finally suggested they go back into the cabin.

  With a soft sigh, Ginny allowed him to lead her back. As they reached the side of the cabin where the car was, something caught Graham’s eye, and he averted his gaze for just a moment. It was a moment too long as he heard a branch break and felt the cool metal of a barrel against his back before he could turn around.

  “Drop it.” The voice was low, gravelly, and demanding.

  Ginny turned at the sound, and Graham knew when her eyes grew wide and the color drained from her face that Carl had found them. “I’m sorry,” he mouthed to her as he dropped the gun to the ground.

  “Don’t hurt him, Carl.” Ginny’s voice was small and filled with fear.

  “First of all, you don’t get to tell me what to do.” Though Graham couldn’t see Carl’s face, he could almost hear the snarl in his voice. “Second, I don’t plan to hurt him. I only came to get what was mine.”

  “She isn’t property,” Graham said softly.

  The gun poked deeper into his back. “You don’t get to tell me what she is. I rescued her, so I get to claim her.”

  “You might have rescued her from the streets, but then you enslaved her in your house.” Why was his mouth still going? He was not normally the one who spouted bravery in the face of a gun. That was Jordan’s job. He was the one who watched crime shows on his TV and shook his head when the characters did something stupid. Like he
was doing now.

  “I’m about done with your talking. Ginny, get over here.”

  “No.”

  The word was so soft that Graham wouldn’t have believed she had uttered it if he hadn’t seen her mouth move.

  “What did you say to me?” The gun slid along Graham’s back, and he wondered if he could disarm Carl. Jordan had made him learn some self-defense tactics, but did he remember any of them?

  “I said no.” This time Ginny’s voice was more forceful, though Graham could see her shaking. She crossed her arms to try and still the tremors. “You’ve bossed me around long enough. I don’t need you telling me what to do anymore, and I don’t want it.”

  “I paid for you, girl, with every meal and every piece of clothing I purchased for you.”

  “Clothes I don’t even like. You always made me feel like I belonged on the street instead of that you cared about me.” She shook her head. “I’m not going back. Not now that I’ve gotten a taste of freedom.”

  “Why you little…”

  Carl finished the sentence with a guttural growl, but as he did, the gun lifted from Graham’s back. He didn’t know how, but he just knew the man was raising it to point it at Ginny instead. Adrenaline took over, and he kicked Carl’s knee as hard as he could. The man yowled in pain, and a shot exploded from the gun.

  A long, continuous ringing took over Graham’s hearing, but he didn’t let that slow him down. He grabbed Carl’s wrist and twisted the way Jordan had shown him until Carl not only dropped the gun but dropped to his knees. Graham pulled both arms behind his back and secured them with his knees.

  “Ginny, grab something to bind him with,” he hollered behind him.

  When he heard no response, he glanced around to see Ginny holding his gun and pointing it at Carl.

  “Ginny, no, you’re not like him. Let Jordan take care of him.” Though the ringing was fading, his words still sounded muffled in his head.

  Ginny shook her head, and when she spoke, her words sounded far away. “If I let him go, he’ll just keep coming after me. I’ll never be free.”

  Graham shook his head and tried to clear the residual ringing. He needed a clear head to help Ginny understand. “I know you’re scared, Ginny, but if you do this, your life will be over too. You’ll be no better than him. Please, let Jordan handle this.”

  The blessed sounds of wheels crunching on gravel carried to Graham’s ears, and relief flooded him when Jordan and his partner, Al, stepped out of their car.

  As Al hurried his direction to secure Carl, Jordan approached Ginny. “He’s right, Ginny. We’ll make sure he goes away for a very long time.”

  “You promise?”

  “I do.” Jordan placed his hand over Ginny’s and took the gun from her.

  Al snapped handcuffs on Carl’s wrists and hauled him to his feet. “You have the right to remain silent.”

  She continued, but Graham was no longer listening. As soon as Jordan stepped back from Ginny, Graham wrapped her in his arms. “You okay?”

  Her body shook in his arms, but she nodded. “Yeah, I think I’m okay. Thank you. Thank you both.”

  9

  Ginny

  Ginny smiled as Graham passed her on his way to the kitchen. It had been a few weeks since the incident with Carl, and Graham had been by her side every day. He’d checked in with her at Cara’s Bed and Breakfast and even gone apartment hunting with her when she finally had enough saved to pay the first and last month’s rent. He was so different from Carl, from any man she had dated for that matter, and her heart warmed every time she looked at him.

  She was fairly certain she was falling in love with him, but she hadn’t said the words yet. They had once held such meaning for her before her mother died. Then they had disappeared from her vocabulary until Carl, but he had distorted their meaning. She wanted to be sure that when she told Graham she loved him that it was the pure love and not the tainted kind.

  “You seem to be settling in well,” Cara said as Ginny led her to a table. There was a handsome man with her, but Ginny didn’t recognize him. Of course, only having been in the town a month, there were a lot of people she didn’t recognize.

  “I am. Graham and Jordan have been amazing bosses, and I can’t thank you enough for helping me out when I first got here.” Ginny noticed the man with Cara raise his eyebrow at her as he sat down, but Cara just smiled and shook her head.

  “It’s what I do, and I am always happy to help.” Though she had started the sentence while looking at Ginny, she finished it with a pointed stare at her companion. There was obviously something going on between the two, but Ginny didn’t know what nor did she want to be in the middle of it.

  “Well, thank you. Here are your menus and your server should be with you shortly.”

  After placing the menus down, she turned and headed back to the hostess podium. Graham stood there smiling at her. “Hey, can you meet me in the kitchen when you get off?”

  “Sure, but I still have ten minutes,” Ginny said. Though she and Graham were dating, she didn’t want special treatment. This was her first job in years, and she wanted to feel like she earned it.

  “It’s okay. What I have to show you won’t expire.” With a lopsided smile, he squeezed her hand and then walked away.

  Ginny sighed. She was normally a patient person, but now she was curious and the clock never moved faster when she wanted it to.

  When her time was up, she forced her feet to walk slowly to the kitchen though every part of her wanted to skip or run. She pushed open the door and paused when she saw both Graham and Jordan waiting for her. Was she in trouble? She couldn’t think of anything she had done wrong and Graham had seemed pleased when he spoke with her earlier, but why was Jordan here as well?

  “Ginny, Jordan’s got some good news for you,” Graham said.

  Ginny looked to Jordan who looked like his normal serious self. “I just got word today that Carl pleaded guilty to several of the crimes we arrested him for. He’s going away for a long time, Ginny. You’re finally free.”

  Ginny blinked, unable to process everything Jordan had said. Carl was going to jail? She was free?

  Graham crossed to her and placed his hands on her arms. “Ginny, are you okay? That’s supposed to be good news.”

  “It’s great news. I just can’t believe it. Thank you. Thank you both.”

  Jordan nodded. “You’re welcome. Now, I do believe my brother has another surprise for you, so I’m going to take his place managing the restaurant and leave you two alone.”

  Ginny watched him leave and then turned back to Graham. “Another surprise? What could be better than the news you just gave me?”

  Graham’s eyes twinkled, but he just shrugged. “Guess you’ll have to follow me and see.” He removed his hands from her arms, taking her hand with one of his.

  Curious, Ginny let him lead her out of the restaurant and toward the small gazebo that sat in the park near the restaurant. A small table sat in the center of the gazebo, draped in a white lace tablecloth with two wrapped boxes on top.

  “What is this, Graham?”

  “Well, a little birdie told me it was your birthday. I wasn’t sure if you would want a big party though I can throw one if you’d like, but I wanted to give you a few gifts just in case.”

  Tears pricked Ginny’s eyes at his thoughtfulness. “I’m so surprised you even asked. I haven’t had a birthday party in years, so thank you for not throwing something big. That might have been too much for me, but maybe we can do something small in the next few days. You and Tia and Cara and Jordan. Maybe a few others.”

  “That sounds like a plan.” He picked up a small, rectangular box from the table and held it out to her. “Open this one first. I’m hoping you’ll get some use out of it this weekend.” His lips mashed together, but Ginny did not miss the twitching at the corners.

  Gingerly, she peeled the paper back and opened the box. The words Holy Bible stared up at her in gold lettering from t
he soft black of the leather cover. Her heart tightened at the weight of the words in her hands. Though it had taken some discussions with Graham, she had finally decided to let Jesus into her heart, and she had found the same peace he had. Her eyes traveled to the bottom corner where more gold lettering caught her eye. Ginny Darling. Her name. She couldn’t remember the last time she had owned a book, much less one with her name on it.

  “Thank you.” Her throat constricted with emotion and one tiny tear trickled down her cheek but not from sadness.

  “Hey, none of that.” He reached out and wiped the tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

  “Don’t worry,” she said with a soft smile, “it’s a happy tear.”

  His own lips pulled into a smile. “Good, because there’s one more gift.” He picked up the smaller box and held it out to her.

  Ginny repeated the process with the smaller box and opened it to find a small golden cross with a heart across the center. This time she couldn’t stop the tears from spilling out of her eyes. Carl had never given her jewelry and certainly never anything so beautiful. “This is….”

  “It’s a cross so you always remember how much Jesus loves you.” He took the necklace from her and fastened it around her neck.

  Ginny shivered at the soft touch of his fingers. “And the heart?”

  “That’s so you’ll remember how much I love you, Ginny Darling.” His hand caressed her cheek, and his eyes peered directly into her soul.

  Her breath caught in her throat, and before she could think about it, before she could talk herself out of it, the words, “I love you too,” spilled from her lips.