Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Before I could react, he turned and walked back into the darkness. Where he belonged.
Shifting my attention back to the window, I saw the light go out, and then a lamp softly illuminated the room. Was she afraid of the dark? Knowing she fought demons from her past tightened my chest, and I wanted to take it all from her. I couldn’t, and I knew that, but I was going to do everything in my power to change it for her. To help her forget, move on, realize she didn’t need to use me. She had me, and I was going to ruin her for every other man. She’d never want another. She’d belong to me.
I just had to plan my next steps carefully. Lucky for me, I had all night and a full flask of moonshine to do it. Lashing out at her about the men she’d been through probably needed to stop if I was gonna make her fall in love with me. The jealous fury that rolled through me whenever I thought about it always made me react poorly. I had to get that under control.
• Twenty-Five •
This was all too easy. Too … pleasant.
Briar
A fancy shopping bag was sitting outside my bedroom door this morning, containing panties, a bra, a sundress and even a pair of sandals. I took them out of the bag and was surprised to find the sizes were all correct. Even the bra. Then, I saw the designer labels and balked. I might not be able to afford clothing like this, but I’d dated men who supplied me with nice things.
After an internal struggle, I finally decided to put the things on. I didn’t want Maeme to think I was ungrateful. It was just these items seemed new even if they had no tags on them, and the underthings smelled freshly laundered. Whoever they belonged to might not appreciate my borrowing them.
Looking in the mirror, I ran my hands over the luxurious material of the dress. I had always loved nice things, but the cost that had come with them wasn’t worth it. The taint behind knowing I had those things because of a man who was buying me had taken any pleasure I might have had wearing them.
Stepping out into the hallway, I noticed the door to the room Dovie had slept in was open. Peeking in the door, I found her bed was made neatly, and there was a similar shopping bag folded up at the foot of the bed. I wondered what Maeme had found for Dovie to wear. Turning, I headed toward the stairs to go find her. She’d been comfortable enough to dress and leave the room alone this morning. That was a good sign. I’d worried over her being okay here until I finally fell asleep last night.
Once I was downstairs, I followed the sound of voices and found myself in a large, bright kitchen with Dovie smiling at something Maeme had said. There was a plate of pancakes in front of her, and the fork was in Dovie’s hand.
“How do I sign that?” Maeme asked her.
Dovie placed her fork down on the plate and signed, “Library.”
Maeme dried her hands on the red checked apron she was wearing, then repeated the sign. Dovie beamed at her and nodded. My chest squeezed at the sight. Other than me, Dovie hadn’t known any kindness. The world she’d lived in for eleven years was ugly. The past four years, she’d been locked away with only me as company.
The thought reminded me of what Storm had said last night. I could have done a better job. He was right. I’d failed her in so many ways.
“Good morning,” Maeme greeted me when she noticed me standing in the doorway. “Don’t you look pretty as a picture?” She waved at the stool beside Dovie. “Sit down. I’ll get you a plate fixed right up.”
“Thank you,” I told her. “For all of this. You’re already giving us somewhere to live. You don’t need to dress and feed us too. I don’t want to be a burden.”
Maeme scowled. “Burden? Shut that up right now. This house is too empty most days. You two have given me some much-needed company. And I cook every morning. It’s my love language. The boys stop by when they can, and I always have them a good hot meal ready.”
I ran a hand over the sundress I was wearing, then looked at the white linen shorts Dovie was wearing with a sleeveless blue top and Tory Burch flip-flops. She was in designer clothing too. Maybe not as expensive as mine, but for a teenager, that was stuff dreams were made of.
“The clothing,” I said with awe, “it’s beautiful.”
Maeme smiled, turning quickly from me to pick up a plate. “I’m glad you’re pleased with it. I hope everything fit okay.”