Stop, Ava,she warned herself. While in private consultations with the counselor at the relocation center, she’d opened up about the abuse in her life. The counselor, who’d been sworn to privacy, assured Ava that her secret was safe with her, but she’d also suggested Ava find a counselor once she got to her new location; it took time to untrain one’s brain. Someday maybe she would. But for now, Ava would take what she’d learned in her therapy sessions and apply it as she went. The counselor had made a statement, one Ava felt deep in her heart. She said it was a good thing that she was being forced to take on a new name, because what she had done—taken the chance to leave like that, and opening up to accept counsel and help—those things had made her a new woman. One with a fresh new start.
After a quick stop at the front desk, Andie and Trenton led Ava to a suite on the top floor. “This one has a kitchenette,” Andie told her as she waved the card in front of the door. “There’s a big buffet downstairs for breakfast each day. A small gym if you like to work out. Pretty soon we’re going to have a spa too, but that’s still in the works.”
“A mighty fine spa, thanks to this incredible woman right here.” Trenton added. “She’s the one leading the addition.”
“That’s me.” Andie smiled and blushed.
“That’s great,” Ava said. “I look forward to seeing it.”
Trenton extended his arm, the straps of Ava’s purse tight within his grasp.
“Thank you,” she said as she took it. “You guys have a nice night.”
“You too,” they said, one after the next.
“Oh,” Andie added. “Meet us in the lobby just before noon. Maverick and Memphis will be here too. You guys can follow us to Trenton’s ranch.”
“Sounds good.”
Once the door was closed, a massive sigh escaped her. The tightness in her limbs fell away as she strode into the room with her things. There, in the stillness, Ava unpacked the items she’d picked up before catching the flight. The last-minute shopping spree had kept her from going back to the apartment and coming face-to-face with Wren.
Lovingly, she tucked the swimsuit and underclothes into the top dresser drawer. She moved to the outfits next, looping the shirts on hangers and resting her folded jeans on the upper shelf. The items—inanimate as they might be—felt like friends to her. They represented the beginning of a life set free. A choice she’d made to save herself when the opportunity arose.
And now, they were all she had to her name. Thank heavens she’d picked up a pair of canvas shoes too, she mused with a grin as she placed her pumps on the closet floor. She stepped out of those next, resting them beside the pumps, and slid the mirrored door closed.
Sure, Ava had left behind her journal, her well-worn devotional books, and her favorite and rather expensive bra, but those were the only things she’d miss. She could buy another pricy bra one day, grab the devotional books again too, and start a new journal with happier things to share.
The idea caused the spot of hope to spark up once more.
She’d seen movies where the characters received a fresh start. Famous lines accompanied the scenes, causing Ava to imagine what it would be like to hear the encouraging words for herself once she’d traded her life for a better one.
A wide grin came to her lips as she spun in place, enjoying the comforts of warm light, soft colors, and the knowledge that she’d actually made it to her new place, safe and sound. Wren hadn’t discovered her. The mafia hadn’t hunted them down. She was finally at The Homestead Inn.
With that thought settling over her heart, Ava uttered the words she’d longed to hear. “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”
