Free Surviving Him by Dawn Keane Page B

refuge. It won’t be forever, I promise.”
    “Dana, baby, this is killing me just as it is you and the girls. Mum and Dad both think you guys should stay, but they totally understand why you can’t.”
    His eyes burn intensely into mine, as if searching for a way around things, but we’ve been through all this countless times before. We both know there isn’t a solution.
    “This is not forever I promise I know I have said that before. It’s crap, I know. And I’m sorry,” I reassure him, though it does little to strengthen my own resolve.
    I pull my phone out of my handbag and scroll through my contacts trying not to show Logan, Kayleigh and Amy my true feelings about leaving.
     
    I call my Mum and tell her that we are just leaving Jedburgh.
    “We will be back in Manchester in a few hours, Mum,” I tell her, trying not to let the miserable ache in my chest seep into my voice.
    “Ok, Dana, my lovely. Give my love to Kayleigh, Amy and Logan, and have a safe journey home.”
    “Will do. Bye, Mum. See you soon. We love you.”
    I kill the call. Next, I text Katy and Rose, telling them we had an amazing time, and are all still alive, in one piece and just setting off home. I promise to talk to them when I get back.
    Katy replies quickly.
Can’t wait to see you, gorgeous. Don’t leave out any details xx
    Her reply makes me smile. By details, she no doubt means she wants to know how things went with Logan. Katy knows that my sex life with him was knock-my-socks-off awesome, and she always wants to hear about the smoking hot bits. She has never in her life had an orgasm during sex, so I suppose she kind of lives vicariously through my stories, though they are too few and far between. I feel bad for her as this was a big part of mine and Logan’s relationship. Apparently lots of women go through their whole lives without ever having one orgasm, ever. That seems tragic to me.
    I receive a text from Rose.
Cannot wait to see you. Text me when you arrive. x x x
    The car journey back home is just awful, hardly any of us speak to one another; the atmosphere is full of sorrow and utter sadness. All I can hear is the sound of the car droning along the motorway and the sound of the traffic zooming all around us.
    “I can’t stand the silence. Come on, cheer up! This is not gonna be forever.”
    I switch on the radio to drown out the awful lull. ‘Missing you’ by P. Diddy pulses through the car.
     
    “We have all had an amazing time. We’ve had some fabulous weather and that’s a bonus for Scotland. We will all be together again soon. Thanks for coming to get us, Logan.”
    “Anytime. I will come and pick you up as soon as you need me.”
    He smiles that beautiful, white-toothy smile that is one hundred per cent Logan, that always makes my core heat and my knickers threaten to combust.
    “How about a holiday in Spain or somewhere? What do you think ladies?”
    “Oh my god, Logan! Are you serious?”
    “Sure am, beautiful. The English school summer holidays start soon so there’s nothing to stop us, if you’re up for it.”
    Before I can properly respond to that delightful idea, my phone starts to ring. I look down to see that it’s from an unidentified caller. Someone has been calling several times over the last few weeks, but never leaves a voice message or sends a text.
    “That unknown number is calling me again. I wonder who it is. Well, I won’t be answering them. It could be anyone,” I say, but I know in my heart it is Ian.
    “Maybe it’s the person behind the phantom text messages you keep getting, babe. Just ignore it, they will soon get bored.”
    “The last one just said RIP. I thought it might have been Ian but the number is different.”
    This shit gets to me so much, but I don’t want anyone else to know how much.
    “If it carries on, go back to the police and don’t leave until they help you.”
    “They are useless. They never help until something really bad happens.”
    “If anything