Submerged

Back in 2007, a serial child abductor had terrorized Edmonton. Reporters had dubbed him “The Fog” because he struck on foggy nights. She’d cried when she heard about the children’s bodies found in the woods.

The Fog was gone now, yet when she thought of the open garage door, she shivered. Forget about it, silly.

At night, it was difficult not to think of her life with Wesley. She’d at least felt safe in her home.

Really, Rebecca? Safe?

One of the most difficult things she had to get used to after Wesley moved out was being alone. It wasn’t easy. She’d depended on him to at least be there. Most nights.

Sipping the wine, she flipped through the channels and paused on an episode of Law & Order. A wife was being grilled after the suspicious death of her husband. Rebecca wondered if the husband had driven the wife to do it. Had he abused his wife the way Wesley abused me?

Abuse. A nasty subject. Even in today’s world it was one of those hidden secrets that no one wanted to talk about it. Before meeting Wesley, she had always thought women who didn’t speak up were merely weak. Now she knew better. It wasn’t weakness that kept them from telling; it was fear. Especially if there were children involved.

She’d stayed with Wesley for the kids’ sake—in the beginning. It was her father who had opened her eyes to the life she’d created. The make-believe one.

“You’re too smart to make stupid choices,” he said, not long after he returned home after his heart surgery.

“What stupid choices?” she asked.

“Staying.”

She didn’t ask him what he meant by that.

“You never liked him, did you, Dad?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I could see it in his eyes.”

“See what?”

Her father turned away. “The same look I used to have in mine. An anger so consuming that it destroys everything in its path.”

His admission had stunned her. She’d never known the side of him he was describing. Her father had always been funny and proud. He’d seemed happy most of the time, though she knew he and her mother had argued at times. What couple didn’t?

“But you never hit Mom,” she said.

“No… but I came close a few times.”

“And that’s why you divorced?”

Her father patted her hand. “That was one reason we got a divorce. Honey, it’s not easy going through life with a strong woman like your mom. She’s got her own ideas of what she wants to do with her life. I had mine.”

“And they weren’t the same,” she guessed.

He nodded. “I was busy following my path, and your mother was following hers. I guess, after a while, we started to veer away instead of cross. Some people’s paths are on a collision course for disaster.”

Two months later, her father had suffered a fatal heart attack. But she’d never forgotten those words. A collision course for disaster.

Well, that certainly summed up her marriage.

Tonight as she sipped her wine, Rebecca thought about her own life path. She had no idea where it would lead, and that scared her. She’d detoured so far from Wesley now that she hoped their paths would remain far apart. She feared if they crossed paths again, it would result in a collision that would submerge her once more in a life of fear. She couldn’t go there again. Not when she was finally learning how to breathe on her own.

Somewhere in the house something clanged.

Setting down the wine glass, she walked around, listening as the house settled for the evening. She heard a soft scratching sound behind the door to the garage. Damn mice!

She opened the door and flicked on the light. Nothing moved. No scurrying of little feet. She’d have to remember to get some mouse traps in the morning. She dreaded finding their lifeless bodies, but it couldn’t be helped. If she didn’t eliminate them, they’d leave droppings and rip open garbage bags. Not to mention they’d propagate like Gremlins.

She closed the door and locked it. Then she went back to the recliner and her wine. She finished another glass and found one of her favorite movies on Movie Central. Sleeping with the Enemy. It was about a woman, played by Julia Roberts, who ingeniously escapes her husband’s abuse and starts a new life with a new name.

Rebecca could relate. She often wished she could start a new life.

I guess in a way I have.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she wasn’t that different from Julia’s character in the movie. She was starting over, and that meant anything was possible. Even another love.

She ran a finger over the rim of the wine glass. What would it feel like to be touched by another man? To be kissed with tenderness? To make love? It had been so long, she was afraid she’d forgotten how to go about it.

She let out a laugh and muffled it with her hand. She could imagine Kelly telling her, “It’s like riding a bicycle. You never forget how.”