Free Not Alone by Amber Nation Page B

to be the best of the best. The cream of the crop.
    The way he talked about it, it seemed he genuinely loved his job which brought me to my next question. “Why did you get out of the Army?”
    “I was part of a mission, where I can’t say, but my team was ambushed and I got injured. I was shot and it messed up my shoulder pretty bad, and ended up being flown to Germany for surgery. With the damage to my arm, I was unable to maintain my position within Special Forces. I had no desire to do anything else, so I decided to take the Honorable Discharge and get out. I’ve been overseas and out of the country more times than I can count. It was time to take a safer job and I don’t know, possibly settle down and start a family.” His cheeks turned a little pink. Grady was actually blushing. And just as quickly, it was gone. “That’s enough talk about me, what about you? Tell me about Emmalynne.”
    “I’m not very interesting. I’m a twenty-eight year old single mother who bakes and owns a bookstore.” I wasn’t very comfortable talking about myself, so I tried to make it short, sweet, and to the point. But Grady didn’t see things my way.
    “Emmalynne, don’t sell yourself short. You seem like an amazing mother who would do anything for her son. You bake the best desserts I have personally ever tasted. And your store is something you should be extremely proud of. You forget I’ve been in your store; you seem to be really doing good for yourself. But what I have noticed is you don’t think very highly of yourself, and that doesn’t fly with me.”
    I looked down at the table, feeling like a child who had been scolded. “Em, look at me please.” I looked up and his face softened. “You are a beautiful woman, in fact the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. You seem to really care about the people around you. I’ve heard Toby and Tessa talk and they think the world of you.”
    Oh dear, this was getting to be a bit heavy. “I’m not beautiful, I’m fat and plain. Please don’t, I’m not looking for sympathy or pity. I know what I am and what I’m not, I mean look at me!” I tried explaining.
    “I am looking at you Emmalynne and I am seeing anything but plain. You have curves where women should have curves. My opinion, I would rather have a nice juicy steak than a bone, and you are a very nice juicy steak.” Waving a hand at me he said, “I know that wasn’t the best example since you aren’t really a piece of meat, but what I’m saying is your gorgeous sweetheart, and I want you. But I also want to know why you think so little of yourself?”
    Moment of truth. “Ok, so Bryce and I were high school sweethearts. Happily in love, I thought that nothing could ever come between us. I ended up getting pregnant with Tucker at the age of nineteen, and during that time we got married. Things were still going great until when Tucker was about two, things started changing. I hadn’t lost all of my baby weight from having Tucker, and, if anything I gained more weight.” I fiddled with the edge of my napkin, not having the courage to look at Grady. I continued on, “Bryce started verbally assaulting me, saying he was ashamed to be seen with me and that I had become a fat ass and a fucking cow . He made me quit working and every morning he would leave me a list of things to do, like I wasn’t capable of cleaning my house or taking care of my son. The night of the accident Bryce started yelling at me because I wasn’t driving the speed he wanted. It didn’t matter that it was raining cats and dogs at the time, so he ended up grabbing the wheel and we ran into a semi. He wasn’t wearing his seatbelt and he ended up flying through the windshield, killed on impact. I on the other hand ended up with broken ribs, a gash on my forehead from the steering wheel, and a shattered kneecap. I’ve had to go through several surgeries, and still I walk with a limp. Some days are better than others, but I will always