Saved by the Devil (Devils Arms Book 3)

burger sounded good but so did the two egg breakfast platter.
“What can I get you, sugar,” a sickly-sweet voice asked her.
Glancing up, she found a woman in her late forties with her hair piled on top of her head in a haphazard bun looking down at her. She was wearing a blue and white uniform that read ‘Rosey’s’. The woman’s eyes clouded when she took in the bruises and her smile turned into a slight frown. Phoebe jerked her eyes away from the woman and stared at the menu. She wanted to sink down into the seat and never come up. It was so damned annoying that everyone could still see the proof of her shame. Why had she stayed with Johnny for so long?
“Just a coke, I need more time to decide,” Phoebe said curtly.
Her waitress huffed a little, but she just muttered sure and went away. Phoebe wished that her life had been different for the thousandth time as she decided that a burger was too heavy. Eggs, bacon, and toast were a better choice, although the coke wasn’t a great idea because of the caffeine. The book had said caffeine was bad for expectant mothers, but she had a serious addiction to the stuff. It was almost as bad as some people’s addiction to coffee was. She would attempt to only drink one a day.
Her waitress came back with the coke and after setting it down in front of her, she took Phoebe’s order before disappearing again. Phoebe leaned forward, allowing her hair to hang in her face as took a sip of her drink. She didn’t want anyone to see the bruises on her neck because the questions were always the same. Just yesterday a very bold woman had snarled at her to leave the bastard. Then she’d proceeded to complain rather loudly to her friend how women today were stupid because they stayed with men who beat them while insisting that they loved them obsessively. Phoebe hadn’t wanted to share with the woman the news that she wasn’t with Johnny anymore. It was none of the woman’s damned business.
Most people didn’t have the strength of mind to leave their abusers and it had been a hard lesson. When she evaluated what she was going through by staying with her abusive husband, she’d wondered why she’d stayed as long as she had. At first, she hadn’t understood why she was still with Johnny. It had taken much soul searching to discover the reasons why. The biggest one had been fear of the unknown.
The second had been where she’d go or who she’d have to help her. He’d somehow managed to remove all the people who might have offered her support from her life over the past few years. He’d convinced her before things got bad that he was the only person she needed. Several of the counselors had worked with her to overcome the fear that she wouldn’t be able to take care of herself without Johnny. The last fear was that he’d find out or track her down and things would be worse. Even with the thousands of miles she’d put between them she was scared to death that Johnny would find her and force her to come back. Or worse, kill her.
Johnny had been persuasive—charming even—when he manipulated her for the first two years. After he’d hit her the first time, she’d told him she was leaving. He’d lied and said he would get help. She had believed him at first. She’d let him trick her. He’d taught her to depend on him and she’d given him another chance—several chances. Was it dumb of her to have believed him? Sure, but it was a case of the devil you know versus the one she’d have to face without him. Not that she would ever go back to Johnny willingly.
It annoyed her that women and men who’d never been in her situation thought they knew all about it. All about what she’d suffered and dealt with on a daily basis. How they thought they knew how weak and insignificant she was for letting him convince her to stay. It was laughable. They had no idea and shouldn’t judge her.
She looked up to see the server coming back towards her with her food. As the woman set the orange juice and the two slices of toast with eggs that she’d ordered in front of her, she felt her stomach rumble. She picked up the slice of toast, applying a liberal amount of apple jam before taking a bite. Pleased when her stomach didn’t revolt, she sprinkled pepper on her eggs and scooped some up. Gosh, those were good. She didn’t know if it was that they were cooked really well or that she’d just been that hungry.
Lifting the glass of orange juice, she took a sip while checking the sidewalk outside. She couldn’t admit to herself that she was being paranoid. She couldn’t seem to stop herself from constantly watching for Johnny. Phoebe knew that fear wasn’t something you could reason with, it just was. It didn’t matter that the likelihood of him finding her was slim—she was still afraid.
Turning from the window, she gazed around the diner again seeing the handsome guy she’d seen when she’d walked in watching her. He was absently handing a napkin to his daughter while he watched Phoebe intently. Phoebe shifted nervously in her seat, her hands clutching the ends of her sweater, pulling them down over her arms. She didn’t like him watching her; it was really starting to freak her out.
She was grateful when his daughter said something that distracted him and he stopped staring at her. She found herself gazing out the window again. There was a hotel across the street, and she found herself wondering again if she should just get a room and sleep.
“You need anything, sugar?” the server asked, smiling