Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Three years later
“GIRL, DID YOU see what Beyoncé was wearing at the VMAs last night? She was so wrong for that. Don’t she know leggings don’t look good on a female after she’s had a baby?” Anj asked in her usual cheeky way.
I rolled my eyes and kept typing the email to my mother.
Mom,
I hope all is well in Paris. I loved the cashmere scarf you sent. Please send Rich my love. Your relentless begging and now bribery still won’t work. I love my job here, and no, I don’t plan to ever finish college. It just wasn’t for me. Can you please let it go? Pops pays me well and I have my own cabin by the lake. Life is great. For your other question, no, I am not gay… I just haven’t found the right guy, nor am I even looking at the moment. I’m focusing on my career at the bank. I hope to see you both at Thanksgiving.
Kisses and hugs,
Lia
After I hit send, I looked over at Anj. She was a beautiful black girl, but she was as feisty as they come. She always had the “hot brotha” she wanted to set me up with, never thwarted by my constant refusals. Each week, she’d have a new prospect for me. I would politely remind her every time that I didn’t date at all. Today, she was on a roll.
“Lia! I almost forgot to tell you. Brother Hagan was introducing some new folks to the congregation yesterday and he brought up a fine specimen of a man that had my lady parts quivering,” she said.
“Ugh! TMI, Anj! You’re a married woman and were at church for crying out loud,” I grumbled to her.
“I can still look,” she replied sweetly with a wink.
Her adorable, uncontrollable laughter had me cracking a smile of my own.
Anj was married to Deion, the stereotypical hot fireman, and they had the cutest little kids: Tatum, six, and Neveah, four. Anj was short for Anjel, which she refused to go by “because my momma don’t know how to spell.”
When I heard a door open, I looked up to see Pops. This elicited a huge grin from me, which was mirrored on his face. Pops was Ben Johnson, owner of Jonestown Bank & Trust where Anj and I worked.
“Lia,” his voice boomed. “Looks like we got the new builder that was featured in Austin Homes magazine.”
I jumped up and ran over to give him a big hug. “Congrats, Pops! I know how hard you were wooing him.”
Pops was an older gentleman with white hair, and he was the epitome of a grandfatherly figure even though he and his wife Betty hadn’t been able to have children. He was the reason I had this job.
When horrors that I wanted to forget had happened three years ago, I’d driven until I’d come to the small town of Jonestown, Texas. After spending the night in an old motel, I intended on applying to be a teller at the local bank there in town, hoping that my partial finance degree could be put to use. When the old man walked into the lobby, he hired me on the spot to be his assistant.
Later, he told me that something in my teary eyes, quivering chin—which I’d still managed to hold high—and the most ridiculous gold, sparkly, high-heeled shoes he’d ever seen had prompted a need in him to look after me. The huge bruise on the side of my face and cuts all over my arms had probably added to his protective manner as well. He’d insisted that I call him ‘Pops’ right from the beginning. I’d been his sidekick ever since.
Thinking about my love for shoes, I looked down at my newest find, which I’d ordered from Steve Madden. Sigh. Shoes were my life.
“Mr. Reeves will be here tomorrow to sign some preliminary documentation and bring over his financials,” Pops informed me, tearing me from admiring my shoes. “I’ll also need you to go check the progress on the spec homes out in Wildwood Creek Estates this afternoon so we can fund their draw requests.”
“No problem. Hey, Pops? It’s Wednesday and we’ll be super slow this afternoon anyway. Do you think I could go home afterwards?” I begged with a sweet smile, knowing he couldn’t resist even if he tried.
He let out a groan of defeat, causing Anj to snicker to herself in the corner. “Anj, back to work,” he boomed in an attempt to sound authoritative, sending her and me into a fit of hysterics.
I chuckled all the way to my desk and started to gather my things when I noticed that Pops had set a sack on my desk. “What’s this?” I questioned, peeking inside.
He grinned mischievously at me. “Betty sent more of those romance novels for you to read. She told me to tell you she expects a full report on the last ones she lent you.”