Insatiable (3 page)

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 why her own mother was always so quick to forgive her son-in law rather than stand by and defend her daughter, her own flesh and blood.

Aurora saw that Mari was daydreaming and let her have her moment before continuing. "Yes, we get several donations, and one of the donors is a local department store, believe me, there is plenty to choose from. The people of this town have been quite generous, 
Aurora's Place
 is very lucky. Now let's get you home," she said and gave her a gentle hug.

While she waited for Mari to get dressed, Aurora made a call to her friend Nick down at the police station.

"He get out yet?"

"He's out," Nick told her. "Got bailed out early this morning."

Aurora, let out a sigh. "Okay, did the order get signed?"

"Yes ma'am. How's Mari?"

"She'll be fine once I get her back to my place. Listen, would you mind checking up on us tonight? I've got a feeling that my two new 
friends
 are going to need the extra reassurance."

"Aurora, you know I'd do anything for you. Of course I'll check up on you and your friends," he said. "Now when are you going to accept my dinner invitation?" He smirked. "You’re a beautiful woman Aurora and you would make me the happiest man in the world if you would go out with me."

Aurora couldn’t help but laugh. Nick had been asking her out for as long as she could remember. And for as long as she could remember she had turned him down.

It wasn’t because she thought him unattractive, it certainly wasn’t that, he was gorgeous. It was because she didn’t want a relationship, ever since her husband killed himself she hadn't felt like jump starting her love life. At the moment, the only thing that she wanted to jump start was getting her new 
friends
 back on track. They were her priority, not falling in love. There was no time for that and even if there was, she didn’t want Nick in that way.

Aurora shook her head. "Now Nick, you know where I stand on this. We can be friends, but nothing more you got that? Besides, what's an eligible bachelor like you want with someone like me?"

"Are you kidding?" Nick replied. "You are the hottest ticket around Aurora, everybody knows it but you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she chuckled. "Get back to work, thanks again Nick," she said and hung up the phone.

By the time Aurora finished talking to Nick, Mari was dressed and sitting on the bed waiting for her.

"Let's blow this joint," Aurora teased and helped her new friend to the car.

On the way home, Aurora told Mari about another woman who was to be staying with them. "Her name is Rosie and she'll be meeting us at the house. I think you will find that you and she have a lot in common as do most of the 
friends
 who come to stay here." She smiled. "That's one of the things we like to pride ourselves on, commonality. Not the everyday monotonous kind, but the kind that tells us that we are not alone, that someone right here and now is going through the exact same thing, and they aren't afraid to share it.

"How about you?" Mari asked. "Have you gone through the same thing?"

Aurora nodded her head. "My story is a bit different than what you've gone through, and you'll hear it, but not until you and Rosie are settled and we have our first group session."

Mari clicked her teeth. Just the mention of the word
session
got her nerves on edge. She wasn’t sure if she'd be comfortable sharing her most intimate thoughts and feelings with complete strangers.

Aurora sensed her apprehension. "Don’t worry," she said. "By session I just mean a small gathering at night. It'll just be me, you, Rosie, and a local therapist who is kind enough to donate her time. It will help us to get to know one another and all we're going to do is talk. You can talk about anything, anything at all. And don’t worry, I won't make you don the black nightie and proclaim your love to the dark lord, at least not on your first night," she teased.

"No?" Mari teased back. "Because I was so looking forward to that," she said. "I mean I took a beating and everything just so that I could sacrifice myself to the dark lord. The least you could do is hold the initiation tonight," she joked and for the first time in a long time Mari Carr laughed, she laughed so hard that she had to hold onto her sides. She knew then that with the help of Aurora, she was going to be alright.

"That bitch isn’t picking up the phone." Landon sat behind his desk at work and punched in the number to Rosie's cell one more time. Still no answer. He then texted her.

'Where the fuck are you?'

When he got no response from her he thought to himself, 
Last night was nothing compared to what's coming tonight.

Rosie knew the rules, she was to pick up after the first ring and under no circumstances was she to make him wait. She was allowed 60 seconds to return a text, and it seemed that today she had disobeyed both rules. She wasn’t answering the house phone, and she wasn’t returning his text messages. Had he not been booked solid with meetings all day he would have raced home and given her a beating like no other.

Bitch is fucking lucky
, he swore to himself and put on his game face for the upcoming meeting.

Ronnie walked into an empty house. Mari was gone, but he was sure that he knew where. She'd gone to where she always goes, her mothers. But when he called her mother she said she wasn’t there, and she sounded genuinely concerned when she asked him where Mari could have gone. "I don’t know," he told her. "But she didn’t go far I can guarantee you that," he said and abruptly hung up the phone. Ronnie hopped in his truck, he planned on driving by every place he thought Mari could be.

"There's nowhere you can go that I won't find you," he murmured and stepped on the gas.

The restraining order poked out of his back pocket. "Fuck this piece of paper," he said and threw it out the window.

A sense of relief fell over Rosie when she got the call from Aurora. She told her that she was on her way home and gave her an address to punch into her GPS. She was surprised when she realized that the shelter was closer than she thought. As she made the short trip to Huntington Cove, she began to wonder how it was that she had never come across the place before.

But the heavily wooded area she was approaching soon made the reason abundantly clear. 
Aurora's Place
 was secluded, and it seemed to be completely hidden from the rest of the world. Once she made the turn onto the dirt road she couldn’t help but notice the thick forest on either side of it. There were no identifiable landmarks, just a plain mailbox that stood on the main road. She guessed that all of that was done purposefully.

To the average person, the turn off looked just like another dirt road that perhaps housed an old horse farm or overgrown field. But when she reached the large house she got the overwhelming feeling that she was home. The land alone looked to be well over six acres and the weathered clapboard siding added an authentic country look.

The grounds were kept up, and the landscaping looked spectacular. An above ground pool sat privately off to the side and what looked like a renovated barn stood next to it, the lace curtains in the windows told her that it was someone's home.

She wondered if the renovated barn was where the owner, Aurora stayed. The surroundings were more than she'd hoped for. 
This place looks more like a retreat than a shelter
; she smiled to herself and made her way to the front door.

"Hi, you must be Rosie." Aurora opened the front door and extended her hand.

Rosie was about to shake hands with Aurora but recoiled in pain. "Sorry," she said and exposed her open palms.

Aurora winced when she saw the blisters. "It's okay, no need to apologize," she said and gave the woman a calming hug.

"Come in, come in. We've been expecting you." Aurora led Rosie into the living room. High beamed ceilings made of redwood adorned the entire room. And soft white lights were strung around the expansive square footage of the room. There was no corner that had been left unattended and Rosie couldn’t help, but feel as if she's stepped into a log cabin retreat.

"It's gorgeous isn’t it?" Mari added.

"It certainly is," Rosie oohh'd and ahh'd.

"Thanks, my friend Renee and I put a lot of work into this place. We wanted it to feel like a safe retreat.

"I think you've accomplished just that," they both said.

After the introductions were made, Aurora showed them the rest of the house. Wide planked oak flooring could be found in every room and the kitchen was full of country style cabinets, granite counter tops and modern appliances. In the dining room sat a long wooden table with a Tiffany lamp that hung low from the ceiling right above it. "This is where we'll have your meals," Aurora explained.

"I'd like for us all to eat as a family. You two will be living together in this house so I want you to treat it as if it were your home. I stay in the apartment out by the pool, but if at any time you'd feel better with me staying here in the house, just let me know, and I'll stay in one of the spare rooms. Now the house has five bedrooms, they aren't big but they aren't small either." She winked.

Once I'm done giving you ladies the tour, we'll sit down and discuss whether or not you want to stay here." Both Rosie and Mari raised a hand. Aurora couldn’t help but laugh. "Your husbands and lovers are not here, so feel free to open your mouth and say whatever it is that you want to say. There is no one here who wants to silence you," she said to them. Rosie and Mari exchanged glances. "I'd like to stay," said Rosie.

"Me too," said Mari.

Aurora clasped her hands together. "Alright then, I was hoping that the two of you would want to stay. I'm very glad."

"What are the rules?" Rosie thought she'd better ask now.

Aurora took both their hands in hers. "I don’t run this place because I like to make up rules or regulations. The only rules that I have are you must be comfortable, be open about your feelings, pitch in, well that's a given. She smiled. "No one is here to make you feel uncomfortable, and no one is here to make you feel unworthy.

I consider you both 
friends,
 and 
friends
 do for one another. You can come and go as you please but there are precautions that you have to follow if you do. These precautions are for your safety and for the safety of this place. This is your home now, it’s your secret oasis, and we must protect it. Now I'm not sure if the two of you are aware of this, but I'm not the most popular person when it comes to some of the men in this town, especially the local sheriff. For some reason or another, the man has got it out for me but I try not to pay him any attention.

Some of the men don’t like the fact that there is someone willing to help the woman they've beaten and battered."

So there will be times when we are out in public that names may be called or things might get thrown at me. But rest assured that I have protection, and I know how to use it."

Rosie began to get worried. "Do these men come out here?"

Aurora shook her head. "Absolutely not. As I said before we keep this place and its location private. If any of the men where to find us, there would be hell to pay. I have about one or two friends in the local police department, and that's all I need. One phone call and not only do the men get arrested for violating their restraining orders, but there are hefty fines involved as well. That's why I said if you leave there are certain precautions that need to be taken."

"Such as?"

"Well for one, my police officer friend volunteers his time here once a week and he is going to show you what to look for in case you think you're being followed, he'll also tell you what to do should that ever happen. He's very good at what he does, and no one has ever followed any of my 
friends
 back here. And if any had? They were given the slip almost immediately.

And second… and again, this is a long way off. But the urge to find male companionship is very likely to come over you two gorgeous ladies, and if and when it does, I ask that you let me do a simple background check into them. Just to be sure that we can trust them coming to the house for perhaps say a date night. But again, that is a long way off because I want the two of you to take time for yourselves, and get to know, and love yourselves again before you let another man love you. Even if it is just for a night," Aurora grinned and continued on the tour.

While the two women settled into their rooms, Aurora placed a take-out order and took the women on the short ride to pick up the Chinese food.

"That’s another thing ladies, never order in. I can't risk a delivery person giving out our location. If you want to order out that’s fine, just make sure you never get it delivered," Aurora explained.

"Will do, but I love to cook, and I was thinking that if it's alright with the two of you, I could maybe plan a menu for the week? It'll keep my mind occupied, and I really find it therapeutic."

Looks of complete and utter delight came over Mari and Aurora's faces. "Say no more Rosie, you are our official chef," Aurora joked.

"You make me a list tonight and I'll head out to the market in the morning."

"Sounds like a plan." Rosie smiled at the two of them. It was nice to feel needed in a non-servitude sort of way. Right here in front of her she had two new friends who were going to show her that there was life beyond the misery of abuse.

When she settled into one of the room's that night, Aurora smiled when she thought about Mari and Rosie asking her to stay inside. They both told her that they'd feel more comfortable with her in the house. They all giggled when Mari said that they sound like a bunch of teenage girls asking a parent to stay because they were too scared to stay on their own.