Insatiable Read Free Page B

surprised when someone answered. Aurora told her that she was not at home, but that she would be in a few hours. Genuine concern flooded her voice when Aurora asked her if she had someplace safe to go until then. When Rosie told her that she would go to the local coffee house and wait, Aurora told her that she would get home as soon as she could.
    "When you call me back, I'll give you the address. But please don’t divulge that information to anyone else. I try to keep the location confidential, just until we're sure that  Aurora's Place  is where you'll want to stay and if it is, I promise you that you won't regret it."
    Rosie smiled, it hurt to smile, but she smiled anyway.
    "I'll speak to you soon Rosie and stay safe."
    Rosie wasn’t expecting such kindness from a complete stranger.
    She ordered herself a large coffee and made her way over to a small table at the coffee house. As she took a sip she wondered what her boyfriend was going to do when he realized that she'd left him.  He'll go out hunting for me,  she thought to herself.  He'll hunt me just like he hunts his animals. But I'm not an animal, and he can no longer treat me like one . She hoped that Aurora's Place would give her shelter and a place to hide .  Just long enough for him to give up, put away his weapons, and walk out of the woods alone.
    When Mari woke up it was almost nine o'clock in the morning, a nurse told her that there was someone waiting to speak to her, and for a moment she thought it was her husband.  He's locked up, it can't be him.  Her entire body ached, and her eye was swollen. Her bottom lip was puffed-up, and it hurt to even breathe. "Looks like he really did a number on you," Aurora peeked into the room.
    "Hi Mari. My name is Aurora Collins, and I'm here to help you stay safe and get your life back."
    The words flowed from her mouth like it was just that easy. Mari smirked,  it even hurt to do that.  "And how do you plan on doing that?"
    Aurora moved closer to her bedside and a warm smile spread across her face. "Oh if I had a dollar for every time a  friend  has asked me that," she said. "Please," she said softly. "Let me explain."
    When Aurora was finished telling Mari about the shelter and how she could help, Mari was more than willing to go.
    "But what about my husband? When he gets out he's going to come looking for me."
    Panic began to set in at the realization that her husband Ronnie wasn’t going to be kept in jail forever. And even though he'd said that he didn’t want her to come back to the house she discerned that the second he was released he'd go looking for her. She knew her husband better than anyone else, and she knew that he wouldn’t let her go.
    Aurora patted her gently on the hand. "Don't worry, a judge has already signed an order of protection. Your husband won't know where you are," she said.
    "Are you sure?"
    "Absolutely Mari, I know it's hard to trust right now but trust me when I tell you that your husband will not come near you. Our location is kept secret for a reason, only the police and our board of directors are made privy to that information." Aurora reassured her.
    "Now let's get you dressed, I've brought you a change of clothes and once we get you home you'll be able to go through some things and pick out what you want."
    "Go through some things?" Mari was confused, this was the biggest and first step she'd taken in leaving her husband. Usually she'd stay away for a day, two at the most and he always found her. "You make it so easy," he'd scold her, and she did, anytime he'd beat her she found herself at her mother's doorstep.
    Her mother had always let her stay with her. "But not too long." Her mom would warn. "I've got a life too you know? And besides, cut Ronnie some slack, he's been away so long and neither you nor I can imagine the horrible things that he's seen and done. So give him some time sweetheart, he'll come around." Mari loved her mom, but she never understood