Safe Haven

After Katie eats dinner with Alex and his kids, “she had the sense that he was about to ask her out” (110), but he doesn’t. The next morning, Katie arrives at the store early and Alex asks her out. Katie instead invites him to her cottage for dinner.

Katie spends the next day getting ready and preparing the meal, excited by the idea of seeing Alex again. When Alex arrives, he is struck by his reaction to seeing Katie, admitting to himself, “[H]e was falling hard for this woman” (118).

Light conversation between Alex and Katie quickly turns heavy when he reveals his thoughts on her past: “I’m guessing that you were married once […] and that maybe he’s trying to find you” (122). Katie is shocked by Alex’s statement and immediately believes that Jo told him her story. However, Alex quickly explains that he put it together through her behavior and his experience in the CID. Katie becomes upset, afraid other people have figured out her secrets as well. However, Alex reassures her and calms her.

They go inside and have dinner. As they talk, Katie realizes that Alex is someone she can trust. As they clean up, Alex kisses her and admits that he’s falling in love with her. Katie realizes she feels the same about him, and she does not want there to be secrets between them.

Katie opens up to Alex about her past. Three days before Katie left New England, her husband Kevin Tierney drove her to the beauty salon to have her hair done. Katie was nervous as she interacted with a new hairstylist, very aware of the time and constantly counting down how many minutes she had until Kevin returned. When the hairstylist was finally done, Katie paid the bill and had the woman draw up a receipt that included the tip because “Kevin would check it and ask for the change when she got back in the car” (136). Katie slipped out of the salon and quickly rushed to the Radio Shack next door. She purchased a prepaid cell phone, anxious because the clerk seemed to be moving too slowly. She removed the phone from the packaging and hid it in her pocket before quickly returning to the beauty salon. Kevin arrived seconds later, watching through the windows as Katie got the hairstylist’s card.

Kevin carried the groceries into the house and poured himself a glass of vodka before planting himself in front of the television. Katie hid the cell phone under the sink and then set about making dinner. Katie was very precise in her cooking because she knew if she didn’t cut the vegetables small enough, or if she allowed the steaks to get cold while the potatoes cooked, Kevin would be angry. Kevin came back for a second glass of vodka and paused to speak to Katie. He suddenly became violent, accusing Katie of wasting his day off with her errands even though she cleared the trip with him a week in advance. He hit her across the face and several times in the back. Kevin then took his drink and went back to the television.

Despite pain in her back, Katie went back to her chore, aware that if she cried, “that only made him angrier” (143). Dinner was almost ready when Kevin came back and apologized. He then became affectionate with Katie, taking her upstairs to have sex with her. Later that night, Katie lay beside Kevin while he snored and counted the seconds until she could finally leave.

Katie grows quiet after telling her story. Alex assures her she did the right thing by leaving. Katie worries that Alex will think differently of her now, but he insists that he admires her courage and loves her even more for it. Alex asks her if she ever called the police on Kevin, and she tells him it wouldn’t help because Kevin is a homicide detective with the Boston Police Department. Then she tells Alex, “He didn’t call me Katie […] He called me Erin” (150).