Total pages in book: 198
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
I was so lucky to have my aunt and uncle. They had taken me in and treated me like I was theirs. Better, honestly. They had protected me and loved me.
And as if she had read my mind while we’d talked, she had griped, “Leo”—one of my cousins—“came over yesterday and helped me give that thief a one-star review for his new album. We set up your uncle an account and did the same. There were a lot of them too. Heh, heh.”
I loved them both so much.
“I talked to Yuki a week ago, and she said it deserved for someone to give it a big shit emoji instead of any stars,” I had told her.
In the background, my uncle, who wasn’t a big talker but was a big listener, had called out, “I bet he and his momma are freaking out now that their golden goose is gone.”
I’d smirked.
Because I might know everything that happened had been for the best, but it didn’t mean I was a good person who wanted the best for her ex.
He was going to pay for what he and his mom had done. Eventually. I knew it. He knew it. It was just a matter of time before everyone else did. Kaden could find someone else to write his music for him . . . but he was going to spend an arm and a leg when, before, I’d done it out of love. For free.
Well, not really, but it could have been.
But whoever helped him wouldn’t let him take all the credit for their hard work. Not like I had.
My aunt had sighed and seemed to hesitate before saying, “Ora, I heard through Betty—do you remember Betty? The lady that does my hair? Well, she said she saw a picture of him with that Tammy Lynn at an event recently.”
Something had ticked at the back of my throat at the mental image of the man I’d been in a relationship with for nearly half my life with someone else.
Now he could have pictures of himself taken with someone. Huh. That was convenient.
It wasn’t jealousy I felt. But . . . it was something.
The faint taste of bitterness had stayed with me during the rest of our conversation while my aunt had circled back around to talking about bear spray and blizzards and having to revert to cannibalism because people weren’t prepared in the mountains for a snowstorm.
I figured I could explain to her later just how “mild” of a winter Pagosa Springs got versus most other places, so she wouldn’t worry so much.
In the meantime, I had spent the morning deciding what I needed to do and in what order everything would be the most efficient. I needed to get cash for the rental, and even though I was financially fine for now with my blood money, it wasn’t like I had anything else to do. I also had a friend to visit.
Besides that, I needed more groceries because I’d eaten my last slices of turkey breast and cheese for breakfast and had nothing to eat for lunch or dinner. And since I was going to be here for a while and needed to make this place home, I might as well start chipping away at things that needed to be done ASAP.
Down the stairs and outside, I had to stop beside my car door. I’d driven in so late, I had missed the view of the surroundings, so I wasn’t ready for the landscape ahead of me. The pictures of the garage apartment had focused mainly on the inside; there had only been one of the building.
Back when we’d lived here, we had been closer into town, in the midst of the huge pine trees that made up so much of the national forest in and around the town. But I could remember that on the outskirts, it had been more desertlike. And that was the exact kind of scenery here. The bright greens and dense forests were predominant here in Pagosa, but the craggy beauty that came with being so close to New Mexico and the desertlike area was an exception. Scattered cedar trees and brush filled the hills around the house.
It was incredible in its own way.
I stood there for a long time, then finally looked around. The SUV was still parked there. That was it though, vehicle-wise.
But just as quickly as I glanced in that direction, I looked away. The last thing I needed was to risk the maybe Mr. Rhodes seeing me looking at his house, period, and thinking I was doing something he didn’t like. I didn’t need to get kicked out. I’d walk to my car with my eyes closed for the next month if I had to.
I was here for a reason, and I didn’t have time to waste since I wasn’t sure how long I’d really be staying.