Healing the Scars

Healing the Scars A Small Town Opposites Attract Novel Olivia Reign Copyright 2023 by Olivia Reign - All rights reserved. In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved. Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher. Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Epilogue Bonus Chapter Also by Olivia Reign Healing the Storm - Sneak Peek Freebie Romance Chapter One Ava Five Mile Creek, Texas If he breaks through that door, I am a dead woman. Crouching under my bedroom table, my precious four-month-old baby in hand, I flinched when the bangs on the door kept coming. There was a storm outside, but still, Rex kept banging. The fact that my car was not there, the door was not opened, and every window was shuttered did not stop my ex-fiancé. “Please, God,” I whispered, “let him stop.” Liam’s wide, innocent eyes blinked at me, and I smiled at my baby. He was the reason why I woke up at three a.m. to work in the bakery and go off to the bookstore at two p.m. Thankfully, by scrimping and saving, I managed to keep him at daycare during the days, and I took him to my friend Nora—my only friend—during the weekends when I took on house cleaning work. “Ava!” Rex shouted. “Open this damn door!” I clenched my eyes tight, and for the hundredth time, I wondered what I had ever seen in Rex to let him romance me and fool me into thinking he loved me. If only I had seen the controlling, demanding, hateful man behind the façade he had flapped in my face. Liam started to fuss, and fear crept up my belly. “Shh, baby,” I whispered. “Be quiet for Mommy, please.” If he cried, Rex would hear that, and he would rip the door off the hinges for sure to hurt me again. I could hardly see out of my right eye anyway after his last temper tantrum, and the throbbing in my jaw below my right ear was enough for me to be hidden and silent with the blinds drawn, hidden from the rest of the world and fearing how I was going to get out of this. “Ava!” Rex shouted again. “Open the damn door! I won’t ask you again. If you don’t, I am coming back with a sledgehammer.” Cold fear chilled my gut right through, and I prayed for anything that would turn Rex away. I heard him huff, mumble words that I could barely hear, and then, mercifully, I heard his tires squeal, and he peeled out of the driveway like a bat out of hell. Relief washed right through me as I waited two minutes and then crawled out onto numb feet. I gently rested the baby in his crib, went to the bathroom, dropped to my knees, and hurled. I needed to leave but how… Dimly, I heard shouts, and I smelled smoke, but I didn’t pay attention. I hadn’t eaten for hours, and I only wanted to crawl back under the covers, wishing for a different life. A different me, a smarter me. The smell of smoke grew stronger, and my head snapped up—just as a warning siren blasted through the air, and this time, instead of fear, I felt hope—a way out. With a peek out the window, I saw the four-story house five plots ahead of mine on fire. Then—the shingles on the house near mine burst into flame. People were running out of the houses, and a stark realization occurred to me. If I stayed here, it’d all be over. Either the fire would get me, or Rex would. Then something opened in my head, like a beam of light through an unending darkness. The fear I’d had before changed; I decided once and for all—I needed to leave. No one came here; no one was inclined to drop in unannounced (not even Nora); no one would find me beaten black and blue. I ran back to my room, grabbed a bag and shoved clothes in it, tugged up a floorboard and snatched a hidden purse of money I’d been saving. I got the baby bag, his clothes, formula, as many diapers as possible, and our papers, then I looked around. There was nothing here I needed or wanted. I plugged in two space heaters, a fan, and a radio and got the dishwasher running. Years ago, when I had plugged five appliances in, the faulty wiring had sparked a fire—I needed it to do the same now, only this time, I was not going to fix it. I needed out. The sky was a curtain of black smoke. Firetrucks were crowding the road, sirens were wailing, people were screaming, and another part of the neighboring house was on fire. “Mandatory evacuations. Take your family, pets, important documents, and all the water you can carry. Mandatory evacuations on this street. Leave now!” With my coat on, I grabbed Liam, hiked my handbag and other things in my arms, and dashed out the backdoor just as the kitchen outlet started sparking a fire. Fire raced over the space heater’s cord, and the thing imploded. Flames raced along the dingy carpet, and I hid behind an elm tree as fire licked inside the room. Holding my baby tight, I watched as a window shattered, flinging glass out as the backflash took. Then—the gas lines blasted blue fire, licking up the