Abby by C Mari (easy novels to read .TXT) 📕

"Most men in love are." Sal answers with his voice full of years of wisdom.

"Two guys, Sal. I think I'm driving myself crazy with jealousy. She won't let me protect her. All the years we've been friends means nothing to her because of this fight." I complain. My mind is all jumbled with confusion and anger.

"You know Abby better than I and I know that Abby nevers thinks she needs help. I think this case is getting to your head. Take a day, go hiking, clear your mind. You'll be yourself again. That's how I get by." Sal advises as he walks over to the table covered with a white cloth. I hadn't realized it when I walked in because it's always there. Now, taking a good look at it, I realize who has to be under the white cloth; Luke.

Sal moves toward the covered body of Abby's deceased boyfriend. He waits for me to regain my composure. When I have my thoughts back where they are supposed to be, I nod to Sal to tell him to continue. After a second, Sal throws back the white cover to reveal the pale body of Luke Bulkski.

He looks peaceful with his eyes closed. I step closer to see him  as Sal goes into business as usual. All I can see about him is his dark brown hair and young face. He looks young, too young to die, like Abby.

"As I expected, he was stabbed with glass. There were a few small shards I was able to find inside his wound, but nothing that would be of any help." Sal explains.

"Maybe Pete will find the piece he used as his weapon. Whoever attacked them, he has to be sloppy to not bring a weapon." I respond while not taking my gaze from Luke's face.

"Impulsive." Sal corrects me. I turn to him, my expression showing confusion. "Judging by the force of the wound,  I would say he was angry. Maybe he didn't plan on hurting anyone so he didn't need a weapon. Maybe things just got messy."

It takes a minute for Sal's words to wrap around my mind. My look changes from confusion to surprise, and maybe a mix of angry. Two guys were at Abby's home and now one of them is dead. And she just got into another guy's car in front of me earlier today. Could this game of hers have gotten too messy? Perhaps while she was stringing Luke along, one of her other boyfriends couldn't handle it and things got out of control; like when she was stringing me along.

I shake the thoughts out of my head ferociously. No, that is not the Abby I know. That's not who Abby is. All of the facts are just so messed up. "Are you sure it was a man?" I ask, trying to defend Abby.

"Yes, I'm sure." Sal  answers definitivly. 

None of this felt right. "The only thing I am sure of right now is none of this is Abby's fault." I tell both Sal and Luke. I drop my gaze back to Luke's face. You know that too, don't you? I silently ask the young man. I don't know if it would make him at ease or not, but I also tell him that I will protect Abby.

"Thank you, Luke Bulkski." I say as I wave goodbye to him and Sal to head back to my office. For some reason, my mind feels much more clear now.

***

I'm not sure how long Josiah has been driving and I don't care. At somepoint we have ended up in the state park, driving around aimlessly. Part of me wishes he would never stop driving. I need as long as I can to gain confidence. All the confidence I had before yesterday had been built up by my friends. I didn't deserve to even have that confidence anymore, not that having it was an issue.

Josiah probably noticed that a while back. That's why he's still driving. He's giving me as long as he can to calm myself down. And now we're lost in this beautiful town. I'm able to smile a little bit. Sometimes getting lost is a great feeling.

I have enough strength to look up at Josiah. He takes the clue that the drive can now be over and pulls off  into the nearest parking  spot. I get out of the car to walk around; Josiah follows me, a little bit surprised that  we're walking around in January. The  shade from the trees makes it colder, but I don't mind. Because it's so cold there is nobody around, which I prefer.

Josiah follows me silently.  When I sit at the picnic table, he sits next to me. I take a deep breath in, trying to keep myself strong.

"Abby," He says. My resolve breaks. I'm in tears again before he can say anything else. Josiah wraps his strong, warm arms around me to comfort me.

I try to tell him about Luke, about what I was told about last night, but nothing can come from my mouth except Luke's name. I keep saying it over and over.

As I keep saying Luke's name, Josiah keeps saying my name until I stop to take a breath.

"Abby, we know." Josiah tells me. "We know about Luke. The police visited mom this morning."

"It was all because of me." I try to say through sobs and tears.

"Abby, listen to me." Josiah grabs my shoulder and turns me towards him, forcing me to look at him. "Abby, we all know Luke loved you very much. You know it too, right? We don't blame you for this."

"I blame myself." I answer him honestly.

Josiah pulls me to his chest and pets my hair to soothe me. "I'll say it a million times every day if I have to.  It is not your fault, Abby."

As I cry out into Josiah's chest, I feel tear drops drip onto my hand from above. I want to comfort him as well, but I don't even know how to begin. It's  all my fault.

"It's  not your fault."  Josiah says again. "It's not your fault but I'm going to kill the bastard that did it."

The moon is up as Josiah pulls his car into my driveway of the house that I used to share with Owen. Thoughts like this have been sneaking there way into my head since I saw him at the hospital. I shake my head to try to stop them, but it doesn't work.

When I notice Josiah turn off his car and open his door, I turn to panic. "Where do you think you're going?" I ask harshly.

He looks at me and replies in a calm manner. "I'm not letting you stay here alone."

"You aren't staying here with me!" I try to voice all of the worries going through my head but the only thing my voice could manage was a stammering.

"I'm going to stay the night here. And we're going back to the city police tomorrow." Josiah orders.

"This is my fault." I manage to say through my oncoming tears and sobs. "Let me pay for it,  not you. If you-"

"Damn it, Abby!" Joshiah gets out and slams the car door, making my oncoming tears turn into a full on waterfall.

I didn't mean to make him angry. Josiah walks around my front yard for a bit. He would usually go to a quiet place by himself for a bit to calm down, but he probably doesn't even want to let me out of his sight. My gaze shifts to my beautiful, white, two-story house with the front door kicked in. For a minute, I let myself forget all the pain I have inside and day dream about all the fun memories with Owen in that house. Also, I wonder where he is staying now. Just two months ago we were living together and Owen just left the house when he left me.

"Come on, Abby." Josiah says as he opens my car door. He holds is hand out for mine in a gentlemanly way. I hold my hand out and let him help me out of the car. "I at least have to fix your door."

We make our way to my front steps, just outside of my door. Suddenly, I'm afraid. I'm afraid of going into my own house. I don't even know why I'm afraid of my own house, maybe there are just too many reasons.

"You don't have to, Abby. We can stay in a hotel tonight." Josiah puts his hands on my shoulders for comfort. I didn't know I was showing sign of my fear.

"It's my house." I start to cry again. Josiah picks me up in a princess hold and takes me to my front yard and sits beside of me. "It's my house." I say again, this time a little more confident because I'm not at my front door.

"It's okay to be afraid. You aren't the only person in your world, Abby."

"I'm going to the sheriff's department tomorrow." I say as I gain more confidence.

Josiah stands up and shouts down at me. "What!? No, I'm not letting you walk into that psychopath!"

"We've seen how well the city police will help out." I counter act. "Besides, I think you're wrong about him."

"You've seen him one day." Josiah snarls at me. "With all I've seen, you won't change my mind. I'm not letting you crawl back to him."

"I'm not stupid, Josiah. I won't even talk to him." I half  heartedly promise.

 ***

The moon is out as I leave the sherrif's building for the night. I leave my cruiser where it is. I don't have a regular car. When I left the house that belonged to Abby and me, I left everything. For a few days after that, I slept at the station. Now, I rent a little house that's a few block down from the station and I walk to and from work.

The walk home feels longer than ever. I can't get Abby out of my mind. I doubt I'll even be able to sleep. If I can, I'll probably have a dream about her too. It's not like I'm not used to this. After two months of no communication I had finally been able to stop it somewhat.

Is she at home? Is she with Josiah? Is Josiah keeping her safe? Is Josiah able to keep her safe? Is he fixing her door?

I feel the urge to go check on her but I