Page 88 of Liberating Lily

He still felt terrible about this morning and how he’d pushed her. From now on, he was going to handle her very, very carefully.

19

Lily jumped as the front door opened.

Was that Harvey? Wasn’t it too early? But the man who stepped inside wasn’t Harvey.

Fear flooded her, but the guy just gave her a small nod.

“Miss, is everything okay?”

“Yes,” she said as she stood and stared at him.

She hoped he didn’t try to come any closer. Oddly, Lily seemed to have developed some sort of fear of strangers, or maybe that wasn’t odd at all.

After all, she’d been drugged and out of it for the last ten months. Who knew what she had seen and done that she couldn’t really remember.

That part was absolutely terrifying. Not knowing what had been done to her.

Don’t think about it, Lily.

If she thought too closely about it, then she was certain she’d never get up in the morning. She’d never be able to function. The unknown was freaking terrifying.

And she hated that she always felt so scared of everything. It was no way to live. On the verge of a panic attack with each breath. Worried that something might send her over.

It couldn’t be good for her.

Mentally or physically.

The only time she didn’t feel like this was when Harvey was around. When he was close, her heart rate would lower, and she’d feel more in control.

Safer.

It was scary how much she’d come to need him in such a short amount of time. It felt like he had become integral to her life.

She wished she hadn’t ruined things this morning. And she hoped she could kind of turn back time.

“Everything’s fine. Um, who are you?” she asked.

He bowed his head slightly. “I’m Trey. I’m guarding the house while Harvey is out.”

“Oh.” Relief filled her.

“He didn’t tell you I was out there?” he asked curiously.

“He said there was someone out there. Sorry, I just didn’t know your name. I’m Lily.” She knew the normal thing to do would be to walk forward and offer her hand, but she just couldn’t make herself move from where she was positioned behind the sofa.

She was wearing a long-sleeved woolly cardigan today, even though it was quite a warm day outside. She just couldn’t seem to warm up lately, and she pulled the sleeves down over her hands before crossing her arms over her chest. She knew she probably looked really nervous. But she couldn’t seem to help it.

“Yeah, well, just thought I’d check in and make sure you didn’t need anything.”

“Thank you. That’s really nice. I’m good. Do you know when Harvey will be back?”

Trey shook his head. “Haven’t heard from him. Guess we’ll see him when we see him, huh?”

And he turned away and shut the door. She guessed it was good that somebody was out there watching the house, even though she now felt even more on edge. She didn’t know Trey, and she didn’t feel safe around him.

Hopefully, Harvey would come home soon.