“Little Gloria Parker beaned that asshole with a fry pan.” That’s what they’re saying around town. They’re still talking about it, but no one’s calling me poor anymore. There’s no pity there. And you know what? As long as I’m not pitying myself, then no one else has any room to do it either. Lesson learned. So many lessons learned.

I know I should be curled into a ball sobbing somewhere having flashbacks, but I have never felt stronger. Or more sure of myself. I did it. I saved myself. I am my own hero.

And I was from the minute I walked away from him. I just didn’t know it.

But I do now.

I know Aldo wishes it could have been him. He hasn’t said it. But he’s got his own baggage when it comes to Glenn. He’s got this real-life action hero thing going. So having to take a step back and let someone he cares about take care of themselves is hard for him. But he’s doing it.

He didn’t get the closure I did that night. But he’s so proud of me, and that feels incredible.

I think I might love him.

I haven’t told him yet. I want to hang on to it a little longer, figure out if it’s the truth. But I know whatever I’m feeling for him is real.

I’m doing this. I’m living. I’m normal. And I’m going to take advantage of every second I get.

Thank you. For listening. For guiding. For everything.

56

Gloria woke in a rush, her heart beating against her ribs. But it wasn’t because of her nightmares anymore. Those had stopped the minute Glenn Diller had been hauled away in the back seat of a cop car, feeling the effects of the concussion she’d dealt him.

These nightmares were Aldo’s.

She’d had her suspicions. Post-traumatic stress. Panic attacks. He covered them well. But he couldn’t hide it from her in his sleep.

Aldo was wrapped around her, tensed as if to strike, his body trembling. She thought he’d sleep better in his own bed, had insisted they move their sleepovers to his house for the weekend. But the nightmares still found him.

Gloria rolled over and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close. In his sleep, Aldo buried his face in her tank-top-covered breasts.

They hadn’t spent a night apart since the incident with Glenn. They also still hadn’t had sex.

Two weeks had passed since the trauma that had unlocked Gloria from her prison. But it had had the opposite effect on Aldo.