It had been months since Sarah had felt nervous about going out with Charlie. They’d spent a lot of time together, going to dinner and to the movies. They’d spent many an evening at his place, watching TV, playing board games and cooking meals together. She had no reason at all to be nervous about spending time with the man who had become her closest friend.

He’d never put any pressure on her. He’d never even tried to kiss her. When she shied away from a simple hug, he didn’t ask questions. In short, he’d been a perfect gentleman, even though she knew he wanted more from her than what she’d been capable of giving.

Tonight she would tell him about Mark. She’d tell him about her violent marriage and the upcoming trial. She’d tell him why she couldn’t bear his touch even though she knew with bone-deep certainty that he’d never harm her the way her husband had. She would tell him everything because he deserved to know and because she was tired of running from the past.

For the first time in her adult life, Sarah looked forward to each new day. She got up with a sense of purpose and enjoyed her work at the hotel her parents had run for decades before they retired and moved to Florida. She loved being with Owen, Laura and baby Holden, whom she doted on the way any first-time grandmother would.

And then there was Charlie, who’d worked his way under her skin one evening at a time over months of evenings together. If you’d asked her last October when she’d fled from her husband after another vicious beating if she’d ever again have feelings for a man, she would’ve said no. Emphatically. Now she found herself deeply into something with Charlie she couldn’t easily explain. Although they’d never even kissed, she felt a stronger bond with him than she ever had with the monster she’d married.

That was why she planned to tell him everything tonight. If it was too much for him to handle, she’d understand. He’d been through his own struggles, spending fourteen years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit, earning his freedom after a protracted battle waged by his stepdaughter, Stephanie.

The thought of him turning away from her after all they’d shared made her sad, but she wouldn’t blame him. Bringing someone who’d been through his own nightmare into hers wasn’t something she did lightly. But she’d been aware for some time now that they were marching in place, unable to move forward with a real relationship because of the demons that haunted her.

He deserved to know the truth, and she would give him that. What he did with it would be entirely up to him.