Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Again, how had she known about me? I’d been so excited about the idea of somewhere else I could live that I’d not asked her.
“And how did you find out about me looking for a place?”
If eyes could twinkle, then the woman’s eyes just did. I blinked and stared at her, wondering if I’d imagined it.
“Those of us in real estate in this town talk. Word got around.”
Oh no. What if it was Mrs. Bellhaven? What if she told my mom? I had to warn her about my mother, but then she might think I was a bad kid. She wouldn’t lease it to me if she thought my mom didn’t approve.
I opened my mouth to attempt to explain when my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket to silence it when I saw my mom’s name on the screen. Crap! Not what I needed. I hit Decline and looked back up at Maeme when it started to ring again.
Dang it, Mom!
I forced a smile at Maeme, wishing she’d leave me alone for five minutes.
“Sounds like someone needs you,” she said, glancing down at my phone.
The fact that she’d more than likely saw the words Birth Giver on my screen made me cringe. I pressed Accept quickly, hoping she’d not had time to read it or that her eyesight wasn’t good. Both of which I highly doubted.
“Hello?” I replied.
“WHERE ARE YOU?!” she shouted into the phone, and I winced. There was no way Maeme hadn’t heard her.
“I had some errands to run,” I explained.
She was going to ruin this for me. Dread pooled in my stomach. I was going to be living with my mother for the rest of my life. I’d never get free.
“Stop whatever you are doing and come get me! I am stranded at the service station off I-20!” she said frantically.
She was often dramatic, but this was over the top.
“Okay. I’ll come get you, but where is your car?” I asked.
“It’s gone! I went inside to use the restroom and get a Diet Coke. Then, when I came back, it was just gone!” she cried.
I gaped. “Someone stole your car? Did you leave the keys in it?”
“NO! I did not leave the keys in it. I locked it up. I don’t know how they got into it. But it is gone, and your father isn’t answering his phone. The police are supposed to be on the way, but they’re taking forever. Just come here, so when I am done with them, I can leave,” she wailed hysterically.
“Yes, of course,” I told her. “I’m on my way.”
“Hurry!” she shouted, then ended the call.
I glanced back to see Maeme typing away on her iPad.
She looked up and smiled. “Seems everything is set and in order. You can move in when you’re ready. Just give me a call when it’s a good time to sign the lease,” she said, then started for her Mercedes.
“Thank you,” I said again, still struggling with all that had happened in the last thirty minutes.
She turned to look back at me. “I know it doesn’t make sense to you, but I’m the one who should be thanking you,” she replied, then winked before continuing on to her car.
She was right. That didn’t make sense to me at all. But right now, I had to deal with my mother, who was not going to want to talk about giving me my money with her being in a frenzy over her car. Working around that was going to be an issue.
I’d go to Dad alone if I had to. He was more likely to understand and agree with me.
My mom’s car had been left in the church parking lot with all four tires slashed. No other damage was done. Whoever had broken into it hadn’t left a scratch or broken a window. Dad thought she’d left it unlocked and hadn’t meant to. The cops believed since it had been returned to the church, whoever had taken it knew whose it was and did it as retaliation for something. My dad had fired the construction crew he’d hired for the addition to the church when they continued to be late or not show up. Church members were disgruntled that it was taking so long with little progress.
Both my dad and the police had concluded it was the construction crew, but they had no proof or witnesses. Not even the security camera at the service station had it. One minute, Mom’s car had been there, and the next, it was gone. The police said the recording had been spliced.
As crazy as all that seemed in a town like Madison, where things rarely happened, my dad had handed over all of my money that my mom wouldn’t return to me and told me not to tell my mother where it had come from.