“I mean,” I say, “I didn’t think of that.”

“Of course you didn’t,” he says, and my head snaps back.

“What does that mean?” I say.

“It means that you could have been there. It means that the person could have come inside the house and beat and raped you while Dylan watched,” he says, his voice trembling. “I don’t want you to go back there. I don’t want you in that place.”

“Justin,” I say. Walking to him, I step in the middle of his legs and he wraps his hands around my legs. “I would never put myself in that position.”

“They came into your house. Do you think they knocked before coming in?” he says, and my hands come up to hold his face in my hands.

“I can’t just pick up and leave,” I tell him as much as I would love to.

“You can get another place,” he says, and I smile at him. I smile for the first time today. “A place where Andrew doesn’t know where you’re at.” He blinks. “A place where you can have peace of mind and not worry about someone coming to hurt you or get information from you because of Andrew.”

“I just …” I start and then decide to bare my soul to him. “I would love nothing more. If I ever get a chance to move, I would do it in a heartbeat. I would leave this crappy fucking town behind me and never look back.”

“Will you let me help you?” he asks. “I mean, not leave this crappy fucking town because I really want you here with me.” He blinks away the tears. “Let me help you find someplace that is safe for you and for Dylan.”

“Justin, I can’t let you do that,” I say. “I can’t let you just …”

“Let me be the one who protects you for once.” His hands rub the backs of my legs. “Let me be the one who holds your hand for once.”

“You really are that perfect person,” I say, leaning down to kiss his lips.

“Not even close,” he whispers, “but with you, I want to be as perfect as I can be.”

“Where is everybody?” We hear Dylan yell. “Mom,” he calls my name. “Justin.”

“In here, buddy,” Justin says, and the door opens, and he stands there looking at us.

“Is the food almost ready?” he asks, and I look at him. “We made food.”

“What?” I ask, looking at him and then Justin.

“Justin said after a long day at work, it’s good to come home to a home-cooked meal so you know we missed you.”

“Is that so?” I ask, and he just nods.

“Why don’t you go take a bath?” Justin says. “And I can get dinner ready.”

“What?” I step back.

“We can talk about all this after,” he says, and then Dylan’s eyes go big.