SCARRED - Part 4 (The SCARRED Series - Book 4) by Kylie Walker Page A

was so peaceful here. There was no traffic noise and it was even lacking the noise of the ocean. She loved living on the beach, but sometimes the amount of people it drew and the noise of the birds and water crashing against the rocks could be distracting. Here, there was nothing but nature and it felt like she could truly be alone with her thoughts.
    At the end of the dirt trail she came to an empty shallow ditch and looked across at the meadow on the other side. The grass was thick and lush there and way off in the distance she could see a couple of tan horses with dark brown manes grazing in the dense tussocks. There was one lone oak tree that stood in the center of it, possibly to provide shady respite for the horses in late afternoon. She carefully made her way down the small incline into the ditch and up the other side. She was drawn to the tree and the cool shade that it could offer.
    She lowered herself into a thick carpet of grass and with her back to the tree she sat and breathed in the fragrant air and like an old movie playing in her head, her thoughts ran back over the course of the past few months. As she watched it all play out, she couldn’t help but wonder how different things would be if Derek had never found her. Would she still be dancing on that pole every night, living in the fear of Jesse showing up until she allowed it to consume her every thought and dictate her every move? It was very likely.
    Since Derek found her, everything had changed. She’d learned to trust...something she’d never really had. She learned that not all men were bad. The men that were her examples in life, Jesse and her “father” should have been the ones to protect her and make her feel safe. Just those few seconds in Trevor’s’ arms convinced her that was what a real father was supposed to feel like.
    The time she’d been with Derek had shown her what a real relationship was supposed to be about and how a real man was supposed to treat a woman. Derek was loving and kind and supportive and she had reason to believe, judging from his relationship with his in-laws that he wasn’t going to change. This was who he was and she knew that she was lucky to have him in her life.
    She learned so much over the past year. She knew now, thanks to Max that when anxiety and fear grab you by the throat and begin to squeeze...Don’t panic, use it to become stronger. The past made her stronger. She can see the scars now as reminders of what she can survive. She knows now in her heart that she’s not going to let any of it take her down. She’s a good person and for the first time in her life she has good people in her corner. She’d been telling herself for almost two years that she deserves to be happy and she deserves a life not fraught with hatefulness and fear. She was finally coming around to believing it. Fear was only going to hold her back and stop her from reaching her goals. Besides, fear was what Jesse wanted from her. He fed off of it, and she refused to feed the monster any longer.
    She looked around her at the wide open spaces and in her head she called out to Jesse, “Bring it on, I’m ready for you.”
    *******
    W hen Chloe got back to the house an hour later she could see the relief in both Derek and her parent’s eyes. None of them would say it out loud, but she could see that they had all worried she would take off...that this would all be too much pressure.
    “The grounds are beautiful,” she told them. “I sat and watched the horses for a while.”
    “Do you ride?” Trevor asked her.
    “No, I’ve never been on a horse,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind trying it someday.”
    “Anytime you’re ready,” Derek said, “I’ll take you for a ride. You can ride with me, or you can ride Rocket.”
    “Rocket?”
    “He’s our gentle horse,” Samantha said. “He’s the best horse to learn on because he’s so calm.”
    “That sounds like fun,” she said, “I might take you up on it.”
    She sat down