Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“Does that mean if they do get a job, Joshua leaves the country?” Molly asked uneasily.
Sonia hadn’t thought about that. She didn’t like the idea of Joshua leaving, especially if his job put him in danger, but on the other hand, it might be the perfect solution. If he left, she wouldn’t have to tell him about the Bogomolov crime family and how she might just be married to one of them.
“I hadn’t thought of that,” she said, pushing open the door to the guest bathroom. “Plumbing works, so toilet and shower are fine, but again, it isn’t very nice.” It wasn’t. The tile was cracked and broken. The walls were peeling, faded paper and paint.
“It will work.”
“I guess it’s better than camping,” Sonia conceded. “Come on, let’s get something to drink. I don’t have your strawberry lemonade – which, by the way, kicked ass – but I’ve got plain lemonade.”
“Sounds perfect,” Molly said. “We can sit out on your upstairs balcony so the alligators can’t eat us and listen to the sounds of the swamp. I could use a little relaxation.” She followed her to the kitchen.
Sonia loved her kitchen. She didn’t have to be embarrassed by it. Everything was perfect. “I’m in charge of remodeling Joshua’s kitchen. Well, his entire house and the houses on the property,” she said. She pulled open her refrigerator, unable to keep the smile from her face. “It’s my dream job. Seriously, Molly, the perfect job someone like me dreams of for a lifetime and never gets because I don’t have the right credentials. That old plantation home is so beautiful and unique. The builder did things no one else building in this area during that time period did. All the tiny little details, the exquisite moldings and carvings, the floors, I could go on and on.”
She poured them both a tall glass of lemonade, with plenty of ice. “I love what I do, and I never thought I’d get such a chance.”
“The bonus is, the owner just happens to be gorgeous.”
“That isn’t a bonus.” Sonia led the way up the stairs. “I haven’t made up my mind what to do with him.”
“You seem to do just fine with him,” Molly teased.
Sonia forced the blush back down. “That part is easy. It’s all the rest of it that’s difficult. Remember the may-or-may-not-be-married thing? The Russian mob would come in force if they knew I was still alive. Joshua isn’t the type of man to back down, and no one takes on the Russian mob. They’re violent. They kill entire families. If you look at what they normally do, my mother and I were very lucky.”
Molly gave a little sniff of disdain. “Lucky? Those men were assholes. The worst kind of human being, pretending to love you, to be family and then turning on you. Even if you were married to one of them, he doesn’t deserve you, and I’m pretty certain the fact that he tried to kill you cancels out the marriage.”
She stopped in the middle of the studio and looked around her at the paintings. “These are beautiful, Sonia.” She moved closer to study the canvas Sonia hadn’t quite finished. “You make everything come to life. I could fall in love with the swamp just looking at this painting.”
“Thank you, Molly, that’s an amazing compliment.”
“It’s true, though. I can’t believe you’ve got such a talent. Bastien is right, these paintings belong in a gallery.”
“Russian mob looking for me, remember?” Sonia repeated and opened the French doors to the outside verandah. “Come sit down. I at least have decent chairs out here.” She waved Molly toward the most comfortable seating she had.
This was her favorite spot. The studio had a beautiful view of the swamp and river. Cranes waded through the thick duckweed floating in the water. The knobby knees of the cypress trees rose around the larger trees just at the shoreline or in the shallower waters. The colors were vivid, shades of green, explosions of pink, purple and yellow where flowers fought for space in the heavier bushes and brush. Leaves took on a silvery glint or yellow and gold so that colors seemed to vie for space.
Birds circled overhead and flitted from branch to branch. Squirrels ran along the twisted limbs and chattered to one another. Alligators bellowed. Boars grunted. Always the vibrations of the cicada filled the air. Frogs called back and forth. Fish jumped from the water and landed with a splash. The occasional snake plopped from a tree branch into the river. Sonia couldn’t imagine a more beautiful place. She knew it wasn’t for everyone, and she was grateful it wasn’t, otherwise it would be gone, overrun by people.
“Have you noticed the way the tree branches lead straight to your balconies? That big thick one twists down to your lower verandah and this huge, gnarly one nearly touches this balcony. The branches are so big that anyone or anything could walk right on them,” Molly observed.