"Nicholas drop it!" Abbey shouted as she sprang forward to rip the bloody snow globe from his little hands. Nicholas gave a howl of fear at his mother's vehemence and the fierceness in which she had pulled his "toy" away from him.

Responding to Abbey's initial call to him and his son's shrieking cries, Jed came running half-naked from the bathroom certain that some horrible fate had befallen his youngest child. Abbey was standing frozen staring at the globe in her hand as if she were completely unaware of the crying baby at her feet.

"Abbey" Jed said sharply. He moved forward and picked Nicholas up trying to soothe him. "Ssh…it's OK sport. Mama didn't mean to scare you." He turned to Abbey. "You scared him."

Abbey's eyes slowly turned to focus on Jed. He was holding their son against his bare chest. Big tears streamed down Nicky's face and he was slowly hiccupping as he calmed in his father's arms.

"I…I thought it was blood" she tried to explain.

"You thought what was blood?"

Abbey handed him the snow globe of Boston. It was splattered with blood red nail polish.

"Where did that come from?" he asked.

"I don't know. It wasn't here earlier. It's from HIM Jed. I know it. Boston. It's Boston."

She reached a hand out to rub Nicky's shoulder and he regarded her with wary blue eyes and snuggled closer to his father. Abbey's heart hurt at that look.

"I'm sorry Nicky. Mama's sorry." She reached her arms out to take him and pulled him in close to her chest. "I'm so sorry baby" she murmured into his hair.

While Abbey made up with Nicholas Jed began to search the place for more clues. It didn't take him long to find the note Nicky had found and balled up. He flattened it out and began to read. This one was longer than the others had been.

"Dearest Abigail,

I have left you a token of our past. Do you remember Boston with the same fondness that I do? It still fills me with desire to remember the way the blood trickled from your lip and down your thighs. The next time we are together the blood will be entirely up to you. If you behave we can take things slow, but if you become defiant again things will be just as rough as before. Either way, easy or rough, it doesn't matter to me. Just remember yours isn't the only blood I can spill. I know you stayed with HIM because of your children but they should have been out of the way by now. You should NOT have given HIM more children Abigail. It is the one thing I may not be able to forgive you for. You will have to be punished for that my love. I will let you know when I have decided what the punishment will be.

Until then, sweet dreams Abigail
MH”

"Bastard!" Jed exploded throwing the note down on the table. The silence of it's fall was not enough for the violence raging in Jed's veins and he drew his hand back to fling the glass globe against the wall.

"Don't!" Abbey cried grabbing his arm. "It's evidence Jed. Maybe it has his fingerprints on it or something."

Jed put his arm down and gave her a sheepish look. "Sorry. Oh God Abbey I just want to hit something and hit it HARD. I want to smash his goddamn face in."

"I know" Abbey placed a hand over his wrist. She could feel his pulse racing with his hatred and fury. Jed was angry over the words in the letter, but what had Abbey reeling with nausea again, was the fact that somehow Hughes had gotten that globe and note right past the agents and into the sanctity of their bedroom. "I'm going to get the kids out of here, you better call in the agents."

* * * *

Later, the next evening, Abbey walked down the hall to her bedroom. It hadn't exactly been a taxing day but the fact that her sleep was being interrupted by nightmares on a nightly basis contributed to her general feeling of fatigue. So far she had been able to keep the nightmares from Jed. She had awakened many nights sweaty and trembling, her knees drawn to her chest and her face streaked with tears. But, so far, her fear had been silent and Jed slept on. She wanted him to hold her safely in his arms but he wasn't just Jed her husband anymore. He was the President of the United States and she couldn't continually interrupt the little sleep that he got just to comfort her. So, she suffered in silence, holding in the sobs that threatened to burst free.

Last night had been a particularly bad night. The shock of seeing her son holding something Marcus Hughes had sent her had caused a fear that she had never felt before. A blind animalistic fear to protect all whom belonged to her. "Just remember yours isn't the only blood I can spill". Who's blood did he mean? "I will let you know when I decide what the punishment will be". Just how was he going to punish her? It was obvious that he hated her husband to an extreme. Just thinking of those pictures of Jed making love to her with a big red X over his face caused shivers to run down her spine. But he had also made a comment about the babies and how she shouldn't have given birth to anymore of Jed's babies. Would he want to hurt her babies? That thought caused a wave of panic so strong she had to stop and lean against the wall. When it was just her that he was after she had been scared, but she had been able to handle it. Now, the thought that he might want to hurt her husband or her kids was almost more than she could bear.

She opened the door to the bedroom, almost afraid at what she might find. It certainly wasn't what she expected. Jed was seated on the couch with a huge German Shepherd at his side. Ron sat in a chair across from him. The dog gave a low growl as Abbey entered the room.

"Easy Max" Jed said. The dog immediately stopped growling and began to wag his tail and lick Jed's hand.

"What is that dog doing here?" Abbey asked suspiciously.

"He's ours" Jed grinned.

"I thought we talked about this at Christmas" Abbey said with exasperation. "AND I thought we agreed on a collie puppy or something, NOT a full grown guard dog."

"Well, right now we need a guard dog. Or at least you do. I don't like the idea of all this time you've been spending at Harmony Point alone."

"I'm hardly alone Jed. " She said sarcastically.

"You know what I mean. I want you to take Max with you for protection, especially if you are out riding or something."

"I don't know Jed. I don't like the idea of a guard dog around Nicholas and Aislinn. It's too dangerous."

"That's why Ron is here. Do your stuff Ron." Jed looked at the other man to convince his wife of the dog's necessity.

"I don't think you need the dog Mrs. Bartlet, but the President will feel much better if you take him with you. I can assure you that he has been trained very well to voice command and will not harm anyone unless told to do so. I chose a dog for you that is less aggressive, but still protective."

"Come meet him Abbey" Jed urged. He knew that once his soft hearted wife patted the dog she would be a goner. It was a well-known fact in the Bartlet house that Abbey was a sucker for any animal once she had held or touched it. That was how the girls ended up bringing in so many stray cats and abandoned dogs. Living on a farm had made it easy to accept the outcasts. But this dog wasn't an outcast. He had a purpose and that purpose was to keep Abbey and the kids safe.

Abbey approached the dog slowly offering her hand out for a sniff.

"What did you say his name is? Max?" she asked.

"Yes"

"Well, that's original" she rolled her eyes. Every other male dog in America is named Max."

"They aren't all Champion Maximilian von Hapsburg" Jed introduced the dog as if he were a visiting ambassador.

"Ah, I didn't realize you weren't just an ordinary Max" Abbey smiled as she knelt before the dog and began to scratch behind his ears. Max gave a moan of pure pleasure and rested his chin on Abbey's shoulder. That was all it took for the big dog to worm his way into Abbey's heart.

"So, we can keep him?" Jed sounded like a kid eagerly waiting to see if he could keep his pet.

"I suppose" Abbey sighed. She didn't like that she was a sucker for these ploys of her husband and children but she had long ago given up fighting it.

"But don't think this means that collie puppy is out for Christmas next year" Jed warned.

* * * *

CJ frowned as she looked at the directions she had taped to her dashboard and wondered for the hundredth time just what the Bartlet's had against city life. Finding their new Harmony Point home was proving to be just as fun as it had been the first time she had ventured into rural New Hampshire to find "The Bartlet Farm" as it was called and had been called for over 200 years.

She wondered, yet again, what was so important that the First Lady wanted to have lunch with her way out here instead of in the residence. At first she had thought it was because Abbey wanted to showcase their new home for her, but after hearing that the President had blocked off time to have a personal, private meeting with the males of his senior staff, she had begun to think differently. She had a feeling that Abbey called this meeting to discuss with her whatever the President was discussing with the men of his staff. It had to be something sensitive enough that she wanted to be the one to tell her and to do it in complete privacy. That did not bode well. The last time the Bartlet's had to reveal a secret it had almost toppled his Presidency and might still be cause for them to be beaten in their re-election bid. She could only hope that this was not a secret of that magnitude.

"Hope this is it" she murmured to herself as she made the turn onto a tree lined drive. She knew she had the right place when she was stopped by secret service for her ID not 100 yards up the road and still the house was not visible. As she rounded a corner the forest opened to a magnificent vista of snow covered fields and the partially ice covered Chesapeake Bay. She sighed at the splendor of the view. Now she knew what the Bartlet's had against city life. This place was just as impressive in it's own way as the Bartlet farm in New Hampshire, or their summer home on the craggy coast of Maine.

Her feet crunched over the snow as she approached the large colonial farmhouse and made her way up the stairs. Her knock brought loud barking and growling causing CJ to step back. When had the Bartlet's gotten a dog?

"Max, easy. Sit" She heard Abbey say as she opened the door. "Hi CJ” she grinned

Didn't Abbey Bartlet ever have an off day CJ wondered with a sigh. Even dressed casual for hanging out in private she looked "put together".

Abbey was wearing jeans, a navy blue cable knit fisherman's sweater, and loafers. Without her high heels and her sleek professional clothing she looked younger, less sophisticated, and more approachable. She also looked much smaller. CJ felt like a giant as she stood in front of the petite, curvaceous First Lady. "Come on in."

CJ eyed the big dog that was sitting at Abbey's command but staring at her intently, as if he would pounce if she made the wrong move.

"He isn't going to bite me, is he?" CJ asked.

"Of course not. He's just a big baby." Abbey put her hand on Max's head and the dog's big tongue came out to lap it.

"If you say so," CJ said nervously. She entered the house still warily watching the Shepherd, but once she was in and obviously not a threat she saw the dog relax and his tail began to wag.

"I thought we'd have lunch in the living room in front of the fireplace since it's so bitterly chilly outside."

CJ followed Abbey through the elegant house, over hard wood floors that gleamed with polish and old Persian carpets. She knew the home had come fully furnished, but that Abbey had been spending time here decorating and changing a few things to put her own stamp on it. It was amazing, but in the span of a few weeks she had really turned it into a "Bartlet home" filled with her own innate grace and elegant, yet inviting, taste. They entered the living room where a fire was burning warmly and a candle yielded the subtle scent of vanilla. CJ glanced around the room at the floral arrangements and pictures of the Bartlets and all their children and relatives that graced every table. She envied Abbey that history.

She picked up a photo of the First Couple. It was a casual photo, both in jeans and sweaters, but one that bespoke of the love and joy they took in one another. The President was giving Abbey a big bear hug from behind and his chin rested on top of her head. Abbey's graceful hands displayed the gorgeous diamond engagement ring she wore as they covered the Presidents more masculine ones that were knotted at her waist. There was nothing posed or artificial about it. Both were smiling with pure joy.

"That's one of my favorite pictures" Abbey said coming up beside her.

"You look very happy".

"It was the morning after Jed won his first election to the State legislature and I had just found out I was pregnant with Ellie."

"I'm not going to like what you're going to tell me today am I?"

"Don't worry, this has nothing to do with the Presidency. It's personal, which is why I wanted to be the one to tell you. Would you like to eat lunch before or after?"

"I have a feeling from the look on your face that I won't have much appetite after so why don't we eat first."

* * * *

Despite eating lunch first, neither woman had had much of an appetite, and within the hour they had brought their glasses of wine over to the sitting area. Abbey sat curled up on the edge of the couch with a pillow drawn to her waist, as if knowing she would need its comfort. CJ sat across from her on an overstuffed chair.

"Well, I guess it's time I tell you why I had you come out here."

"Yes ma'am".

"No CJ, there is no ma'am today. Today I am talking to you about Abbey and Jed, not the President and the First Lady."

"OK" CJ agreed.

"I'm sure by now you've heard about the photo's taken of us."

"No ma…Abbey". CJ's heart began to race. Photo's taken of them, that was never good. Why hadn't she been told?

Well Leo I'm impressed Abbey thought. She was certain the photos had been grist for the rumor mill, just as her act of carnality on the Abigail Anne had been.

"There were photo's taken of Jed and I in the loft of our barn over the Thanksgiving holiday. Somebody was in the loft with us."

"Why would the paparazzi want to take pictures of you in your barn?"

"Because we were making love."

Abbey watched CJ's mouth fall open and her face pale. She knew the Press Secretary was suffering near apoplexy at the thought that these photos would soon be available for public consumption.

”Wh…Why aren't they on every magazine in the country, and why haven't I heard about them? I haven't heard anything from the press about this."

"That's because it wasn't the press. The press doesn't know anything about this. It was Marcus Hughes who took those pictures and he didn't release them to the press. He sent them to my father."

"Marcus Hughes is the man who raped you" CJ breathed. "This is unbelievable. How did he get in the barn? And why did he sent the pictures to your father?"

"We don't know how he got in the barn. He sent them to my father with the statement “Did you know your daughter is a whore?” on one of the more graphic pictures. "

"I don't understand. Why would he call you a whore? Having sex with your husband doesn't make you a whore."

"To him it does. He sees himself as the man I am supposed to be with, therefore if I have sex with Jed it makes me a whore."

"That guy is nuts". CJ was obviously appalled.

"I believe the word Ron used is delusional. When the pictures were sent we didn't know who it was. Not long after I began to get some obscene phone calls on my private line at both my office and in the residence and Ron was able to link the photo's to a man who had been sending me notes for a year and a half. I only realized it was Hughes when I bumped into him on a rope line."

"He had the balls to shake your hand on a rope line?"

"Yeah, he's definitely got a lot of balls." Abbey stated wryly thinking how openly he was now stalking her.

"Did the service take him in?"

"No, I messed up. I froze and then panicked after he touched me and it was too late. Just the other day he sent me a snow globe of Boston as a memento of what happened there."

"Jesus Abbey. I don't know what to say."

"You never asked me about it."

"What?"

"When Jed and I sat with you all early in the campaign and explained that I had been raped and that it would probably come out in the course of the campaign, you never asked me what happened. You know the details of it."

"I guess I just didn't want to push. I figured if you wanted to tell me, you would."

"I want to tell you. I want you to understand why the thought of this bastard stalking me has me more afraid than I have ever been in my life."

Abbey took a long swallow of her wine and a deep breath before starting in on her emotional explanation.

"It was a Friday night and I was supposed to be home for supper, but I'd had an emergency. Amy Wells, a sixteen-year-old patient of mine who suffered from Cystic Fibrosis, needed emergency surgery to stop fluid leakage into her chest cavity. I had a terrible feeling she was not going to make it through the night. I had been fighting, along with her persona physician, for months to keep her alive, but I knew the fight was almost over and I wanted to be there if something happened. Sometimes when it was very late, or I had to stay in the city overnight, instead of catching a few winks in the doctor's lounge, I would walk over to my sister Jane's brownstone apartment and crash. That's what I decided to do. I called Jed and told him I was spending the night in the city and then I walked the few blocks to Jane's. I keep wondering if I hadn't been so involved in my thoughts about Amy if I would have heard his footsteps behind me and avoided what happened."

Abbey took another sip of wine and CJ could see that her hand was shaking now.

"Jane was on Nantucket painting at my parents summer place so I knew I would have the apartment to myself. I had just turned the key in the lock when I felt him grab me from behind. He was so strong and so violent, even in the beginning. He shoved me through the door and slammed it behind us. I tried fight. I tried to scream. I got one scream for help out before he slapped me so hard across the face it nearly knocked me out. While I was dazed he dragged me from the hall into the living room. It was there, in the light of the room, that I saw who he was. He was an orderly from the hospital. I didn't even know his name, just that I'd seen him a few times. At first I didn't know if he wanted to rob me or rape me. It wasn't long until I found out. He tore at my clothes and it seemed that the more I kicked and pushed and tried to fight him the more turned on he got. He kept saying things like “Oh yeah you hot little bitch, you like it rough do you?” He ripped off my bra and I remember being so mortified that he was seeing me that way. Nobody but Jed had ever seen me naked like that. His mouth was all over me, his breath reeked and I had to fight not to throw up. Then, he leaned down to suck on my breast and all I kept thinking was that he had no right, NO RIGHT to be doing this to me. I ripped my fingernails down the side of his face. He howled in pain and let me go. But, before I could run, he slapped me again, even harder. This time I felt my lip split. I could feel the warm blood dripping down my chin and I had to fight to stay conscious. When my eyes cleared I saw him pulling his pants down and that he was…ready.

Abbey felt the tears starting to stream down her cheeks and she drew in a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry" she apologized. "I swore I wasn't going to do this.”

"Jesus, don't apologize" CJ moved forward to sit on the couch beside her. She took Abbey's hand in hers. "You take as much time as you need." Abbey nodded and grabbed a tissue to blot at her eyes and continued on with her story.

"He told me that I was seeing a real cock now and that he was going to show me what it was like to be fucked by a real man. I panicked then. I knew it was going to happen and that I didn't have the strength to stop it but I tried to crawl away. He literally pounced on me slamming his knee into the small of my back to stop me. He yanked my hips up and lifted my slip over my waist so he could tear my panties off. He touched me inside very roughly and I began to cry. I knew it was over and I was beaten. All I could think about was Jed. Was he going to blame me? Would he think I didn't fight hard enough? Would he ever be able to look at me again? Would I be able to look at him again without feeling this shame? Would he ever want to make love to me again? Still, Hughes wanted more. He wanted me to beg him for it. He kept saying it over and over “Beg me for it you stuck up little bitch”. I knew I wasn't going to win the war but at least I could win this battle. I refused to cave in and beg him. It made him furious and he grabbed my hair in his hand pulling my head back until I thought my neck would break but there was no way I was going to do as he asked. It made him crazy that I was defying him and he used every ounce of that anger to slam himself into me. I felt myself tear and I screamed at the pain his penetration had caused. I guess I screamed Jed's name because he said ”you think your precious Jed is EVER going to want you again after this? Go ahead and scream for him, he's not going to save you” Then I closed my eyes and bit my lip until it bled even more because he LIKED it when I screamed and I wasn't going to give him any more enjoyment than he was already getting. The only thing that I'm thankful for is that he took me from behind so I never had to see his gloating face while he did it. It hurt so badly. I knew I was torn and bleeding and I thought it would go on forever. I tried to close my mind off to what was going on. I told myself that he was having my body, but he wasn't having ME. That was when I heard his voice.

Abbey had been looking at the pillow in her lap while she spoke and now as she paused she noticed that tears were streaming down CJ's cheeks as much as they were her own.

"Who's voice?” CJ asked swiping her fingers on her cheeks to wipe away the tears.

"Jed's. He had come down to surprise me and saw the signs of the scuffle in the hall and called out to me. I cried out his name and he entered the living room just as Hughes finished. I think it was the fact that he was in the middle of an orgasm that kept him from seeing Jed right away. But I saw him and I've never felt such a combination of emotions. First there was relief that he was here to stop this bastard, and then came the waves of degradation, shame and mortification that my husband was watching another man coming inside me.”

CJ squeezed Abbey's hand for comfort and encouragement.

”I've never seen such a look on Jed's face in my life. It wasn't a passionate show of fury. It was as if his rage was so strong and overwhelming that it became deadly inside him. His face looked dead and cold, but that rage came bursting forth as he literally flung Hughes off of me and into the wall. They began to fight but, while he was a little bigger, Hughes was no match for Jed's fury. At first I was relieved that Jed was taking care of him. I wanted to see him beaten for what he did to me, but then I realized he wasn't stopping, that he was completely out of control and it scared me. I knew Jed wasn't going to stop until Hughes was dead and then I would lose my husband to prison. I screamed at him to stop but he didn't even pause, I don't think he even heard me. It was a police officer responding to the call of an upstairs neighbour who heard me scream for help that pulled him off. By then Hughes was unconscious and Jed had broken his nose and his jaw."

CJ leaned back, still digesting what she had just been told. She had seen her boss angry even furious plenty of times, but never had she suspected that there could be this kind of violence unleashed in him. Then again, she had never seen his family threatened either.

"What happened then?"

"We had to go to the hospital for a rape kit and…"

"Why did you have to have a rape kit? They caught the guy in the act".

"We still needed evidence to prosecute. I didn't want to take any chance that he might get away with this."

"How did the Pres…Jed take it?"

"He did OK. He was very strong for me. He kept telling me it didn't matter, no matter what had happened to me it didn't matter to him. He loved me and he would always love me. He didn't break down until the doctor said they'd had to do internal and external stitching and that I had required six external stitches to repair the damage done to me. That was the only time I saw him cry."

"Oh Abbey" CJ shook her head. "I don't know what to say. I can't imagine how hard that must have been on both of you."

"It was, but thankfully I didn't get any diseases from him. They tested right away for STD's and AIDS, but what really frightened me was that I might get pregnant. I wasn't using any birth control because Jed and I were trying for another baby. We had decided after Zoey, to try for a boy one more time. In fact we'd had sex just that morning before I left for the hospital. Can you imagine the nightmare that would have been? I could never have had that monsters baby."

"But you didn't get pregnant?" CJ felt guilty that her first thought was that somehow Abbey was trying to tell her that it was going to come out that she'd had an abortion.

"No, thank God. But for a while I thought I was. My period was late and I started getting nauseous and vomiting. I think Jed took that harder than anything. An abortion went against everything he believed in, but he knew as well as I did that I couldn't go through with a pregnancy if it was Hughes baby. Thankfully we never had to find out what we would have done. I started my period. It was just the stress of what had happened that made me late and it turned out that the nausea was a side affect to the sleeping pills my doctor had prescribed for me so get through the night without nightmares."

"Well I guess you did everything right. You got him convicted."

"Yeah after he tried to paint me as his mistress."

"What?"

"He tried to say that he and I were having an affair and I cried rape when Jed caught us. He said that I had other lovers and the damage done to me could have been from them."

"You've got to be kidding"

"Nope"

"Well at least the jury didn't believe him."

"They had too much evidence against him to believe him. There were only two semen samples found in me, Jed's and his. Then there were all my colleagues from the hospital who testified that I barely knew the guy and the lady upstairs who heard my cry for help. There was also the police officer that had arrived on the scene and the pictures of the damage done to me that they were shown. In the end he got 5-7 years."

"And he's waited this long to get back in touch?"

"Oh no. After his time was up he was on parole. Part of his parole was that he was not allowed within 500 feet of me or my property or the hospital where I worked. One afternoon Jed's father caught him leaning against the pasture fence watching me ride. He'd done his homework, he knew Jed wasn't home. He just hadn't counted on my father in law arriving for a visit and catching him. John pinned him to the fence with his car and held him there until the police arrived. He was given another 3-5 years for parole violation. If it had been Jed in that car I can almost guarantee you that Marcus Hughes would not be alive today."

"He hates him that much?"

"Yes, he hates him that much. CJ, does the name Elliott Rhoush mean anything to you?"

"That's the guy the President ran against and beat for his seat in Congress".

"Yes, he is also the man who represented Marcus Hughes as his defence attorney. He's the man who tried to portray me as this sexy woman, who knew she was sexy and flaunted that. He's the man who tried to break me on the witness stand. Jed had no desire to leave the state legislature and run for congress until he heard Rhoush was running. No prominent Democrat wanted to take him on. Jed took him on all right. He wasn't content just to defeat him. He had to kick his ass and make him look like a fool. Since then he has made damn sure Rhoush has not won any election he has campaigned for. Elliot Rhoush and Marcus Hughes are the two men alive that my husband hates."

"We always wondered why he despised that Rhoush guy so much. He's not usually so vindictive."

"No he's not, until you fuck with his family. Then, watch out, all bets are off."

"Can I ask you a question? I mean if it's none of my business just tell me."

"CJ, I think I just made it your business" Abbey gave a soft, sad smile. "Ask away."

"You were worried about how the Pr…Jed would take what happened to you and how you would feel. We watch you now and you guys are as intimate sometimes as newlyweds. It obviously didn't effect your level of affection and sexuality. Was it always that way?"

"Oh it took a little while. It was harder for me that way than it was for Jed. I could see him looking at the bruises and bite marks on me and, where he felt anger toward Hughes, I saw disgust. I felt dirty and shamed and I couldn't understand it when Jed said he didn't see me that way. I was afraid that when Jed made love to me again I wouldn't be able to respond the way I always had. For a while I had the excuse of the damage. It took me about a month to heal. When I did heal I wanted Jed to make love to me and wipe away the filth and memory of that scum, and he did. He was so sweet and gentle and he talked the whole time so I would know that it was he touching me.

Abbey smiled softly at the memory.

"Thankfully I was able to respond the way I always had. I still had nightmares, but not during Jed's lovemaking".

Abbey left out the fact that it had taken over a year before she was able to let Jed make love to her from behind. It had never been their favorite position, but they used in on occasion for variance. There were some things that needed to be kept between husband and wife and this was one of them. She glanced out the window and saw that the sun was beginning to set.

"Damn, I didn't realize it was so late. I think we better head back to the White House."

"Was this what the President was telling Toby, Sam and Josh this afternoon?"

"In a nutshell. Not about the attack, just that he's back and threatening me again. You're the only one who got the blow by blow description. Thank you for listening to me today. It helps to have someone else other than Jed to talk to about this. It's hard to talk to him sometimes because he's still filled with guilt and anger."

"Guilt?"

"That he didn't leave the farm sooner. He keeps telling himself that if he had left 15 minutes earlier and met me at the brownstone I wouldn't have been raped. Intellectually he understands that isn't how life works. You can't know what's going to happen in the future. But his heart still hurts over this."

"I'm sure it does. And Abbey, anytime you need to talk about this, or just need a shoulder to cry on, my door is always open."

"Thanks CJ" Abbey gave her a hug. "I may take you up on that.

TBC...