Free Another Chance by Sandra Cuppett

nice.”  Mac and
Mary were probably the closest she came to having family now.  Them and
Sheriff John.  After David died and she chose to come back here to live,
her in-laws didn’t seem interested in keeping in touch.  It certainly
hadn’t helped when she legally changed her name back to Lanier.  She
couldn’t help thinking that they blamed her for David’s death.
    She said her
goodbye to Mac and hung the phone up.
    She didn’t
really blame David’s family.  She felt responsible herself.  She had
seen a psychiatrist for about nine months after she moved back to
Florida.  He had helped her understand that she had done nothing to
encourage Lambert’s stalking of her and Lambert alone was responsible for
David’s death.  Still, there were times she felt so guilty for leaving him
when she ran for help.  Dr. Bagley had labeled it Survivor’s Guilt. 
He said that ninety percent of people who suffered a tragic loss under similar
circumstances had episodes of Survivors Guilt.  She should just reject it
and find something else to occupy her mind and her time.
    She had
followed his advice and amazingly, it had helped pull her out of the depression
she had fallen in to.  It had also given her a reason to start her
training barn and that had given her a means to begin to enjoy life
again.  Mac had recommended her as a trainer to a couple of people he knew
and she had been busy ever since.
    She fed
Bhrandii his supper and fixed herself a salad to eat while she watched her
favorite television show.  Twice she saw lights flash against her front
window and knew by now, it was one of Sheriff John’s deputies checking things
out from the highway.  She also knew that the phone would ring in a few
minutes and it would be John, personally, calling to make sure she was inside
and locked up for the night.  That was the closest he could come to
getting her to agree to police protection.  He had insisted that she
promise to use the words hot weather when he called as long as things
were normal, but the first time she didn’t say the two words, he would dispatch
cars out to her house.
    Now when he
called, she picked up the phone and as soon as she knew it was him, she said,
“Hot weather.”  They both chuckled and after telling him about her horse
coming from Idaho, they said goodnight.

Chapter
Ten
     
    Ruby was so
excited.  She was just sure that Frankie’s bad mood would improve once
they actually left on their honeymoon.  He’d almost slapped her last night
when she finally confessed to him that she had reservations about selling the
house and moving to New York.  It was something he’d been encouraging her
to think about for several weeks.  She had grown up in Tupelo and just
couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, but he had been pressuring her to get
the house on the market before they left on their trip.  She still didn’t
understand why it couldn’t wait until they returned.
    Frankie was
becoming more and more anxious to get on Jordan’s trail.  He knew he would
never be content until she was dead.  His interest in her had changed
drastically during the trial and had grown worse throughout the five years he’d
been in prison.  When he’d broken into her house that night, he’d been so
in love with her that he couldn’t allow her to spend another night with that
man she’d married.  He knew in his heart that once he could get her away
from David Larson, she would see how wrong she’d been to marry him and her gratitude
to Frankie for rescuing her would become love.
    He’d almost
been surprised when she had struggled with him after he broke in.  Then
Larson had attacked him.  Of course, Frankie had been prepared for him,
but he was surprised with the fierceness of the man.  After all, he was
just a school teacher.  Then, as Frankie was getting the upper hand, he’d
seen Jordan running and screaming almost at the neighbor’s back door.  Old
man Swartz had opened the door with a