Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92668 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92668 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Nerves churned in my tummy, but I forced my way up the long path to the front door. It was lined with perfectly manicured bushes, and the roses either side of the extravagant, wood door were all in bloom without a dead flower in sight.
Goals, honestly.
That was flower goals.
I, however, killed cacti. Unless I hired a gardener, I didn’t see me getting nice big rose bushes looking like that at the B&B.
Maybe I’d ask Steph for her gardener.
You know, after I’d accused her of murder.
Jesus fucking Christ. What was I doing?
Was I really going to do this? Was I going to knock on my friend’s door and ask her if she’d murdered her husband in a fit of rage? And what was I even going to do if she said yes?
Shit the bed.
I was far too impulsive for my own good.
At the very least, I should have brought Ash. Or told her what I was doing. Was it too late to tell her? Probably. What could she do now?
Besides, if I stood out here any longer in my dirt-covered clothes, some richy-rich person was probably going to call the police, and God only knew I’d had my fill of them recently.
I was about to knock when I caught sight of the doorbell, so I stopped myself and reached over to press the little button. A little singsong rang out, and I raised my eyebrows.
Crikey.
Even the doorbell was fancy.
The one at Grandpa’s house just went ‘ding-dong,’ and I wasn’t even sure it worked.
Nobody answered, so I tried pressing the button again, just in case. Maybe their bell didn’t work properly, either. It wouldn’t surprise me. It was the same make as the one on Grandpa’s house and I didn’t think that thing had made the ding-dong since we’d come back three weeks ago.
The door swung open, and I jumped. I’d accepted that nobody was there, so I was really surprised to see Shane standing there.
“Hey, Charlotte. I didn’t know you were stopping by,” Shane said with a smile.
“Um, I’d say I was in the neighbourhood, but that’s clearly a lie.” I shrugged. “I thought I’d stop and see how Steph is. She was pretty upset yesterday morning.”
“Yeah, her argument with Alan got to her a bit. She said you were there.” He paused for a second. “Did you want to come in? She’s not here, but she should be back within the hour.”
“Would she mind? I don’t want to intrude.”
“Nah, she won’t mind. She’s been happier being friends with you and Ann than she’s been in a long time.”
“Ash,” I said, stepping inside as he pulled the door open for me.
“Huh?”
“Ash, not Ann.”
He smiled. “Right. Sorry. I’m not great with names. Come on in.” He closed the door behind me, and there was something… unsettling… about it.
It was probably how fancy this house was. I was afraid to touch anything, including the actual floors, for fear of dirtying it. I was covered in God knows what from the garden work today, and I was definitely making a mess.
“Should I take my shoes off?” I asked, hovering in the hallway.
“Nah, it’s fine. Can I get you a drink while you wait for her? She’s grocery shopping so could be a while. She’s having too much fun not having a budget anymore.” Shane waved me down a long hallway and into the biggest kitchen I’d ever seen in my life.
“A cup of coffee, if you’ve got any.”
“We’ve got more tea and coffee than you can imagine.” He chucked and filled the kettle. “Take a seat.”
“Thanks.” I edged onto one of the stools at the island and put my bag on the one next to me. “I didn’t know you’d moved in here with Steph.”
“Moved in? Hm, no. Not really.” Shane flicked the button on the kettle to set it going, then turned around. “Just helping her get settled. She’s not been here for a while and she’s trying to find her bearings again.”
“Oh, of course. Sorry. I was just surprised to see you.”
“Don’t worry about it. There are a few things she wanted doing around the house that I’m helping her with when I’m done with work for the day.”
I looked around. “It doesn’t look like it needs anything doing to me. Trust me. I just came from a place one step away from a building site.”
“Not fixes. Cameras.”
I paused. “Cameras?”
“Yeah. What, you think that fucker left the control at the purse strings? He had cameras up all over this place. It’s how Steph found out he was cheating on her. She discovered one of the cameras and asked me to get her into the footage.”
That was awfully convenient.
“We’ve been going through the house in the hope we can locate them all so we can live in peace.”
We.
We.
We’ve got tea.
We’ve been going through the house.