Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 68004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Roger. We’ll be on our way.” The deputy opened the door. “We need to leave. Mrs. Bates, Ms. Easton.”
“Of course. Alanna, I’ll motion for the charges to be dropped, and you should have that contraption off your ankle by the afternoon.”
“Thank you,” she said to their backs as Deputy MacNeil ushered them out of the house.
Once they left, her lips trembled in worry for Fynn. “You should go. I’ll be fine here.”
“I’m not leaving you alone. The whole town is probably already there, helping out.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m sure Fynn is okay. Fynn is tough. He’s used to us tossing him around like a football when he was little.”
Matthew tugged her into his arms. “Hey, don’t worry. We should be happy. The case against you is going to be dropped.”
Alanna knew he was trying to relieve their worry by being positive.
“I’m going to get the marshmallows. We can go ahead and start the firepit, and you can start roasting the marshmallows while I get the steaks from your place.”
“I don’t want any. I’m afraid I’ll choke on them right now … until I know Fynn is all right.”
He grabbed her arms. “He’s okay. Ezra would have known if something bad was going to happen.”
“How would Ezra have known?”
Matthew’s face settled into a firm expression. “Let me get the marshmallows, start the firepit, and when I come back from getting the steaks, we’re going to have a talk.”
She nodded, her stomach sinking. Was he going to come up with some excuse for them not to get married now that she was practically free of the charges against her? Would he want her to return to Ohio?
The different possibilities were still running through her mind when he returned with the marshmallows. Silently, she walked alongside him to the firepit, her mind in turmoil with worry about Fynn and Matthew wanting to backpedal on their relationship.
She jumped when he placed a chair several inches away from the firepit. She hadn’t noticed him getting the chairs from the outdoor shed.
Taking her by the shoulders, he sat her down. Numbly, she stared up at him.
“I won’t be five minutes. Remember, there’s a bucket by the cooling barrel, if you need it. Do not—I repeat: do not—dare roast one marshmallow until I’m back.”
She couldn’t help but smile at his foreboding expression.
“I promise.”
“You better not,” he warned with a finger pointed at her.
She stuck her tongue out at him, and Matthew bent over, catching her mouth in a kiss before she could pull it back. Grinning, he pulled away.
“That’s better.” He grinned, giving her a sexy wink, which relieved most of her fear.
She was unable to take her eyes off his sexy stride as he walked away toward her trailer. Looking around on the ground for a stick to use to roast the marshmallows with, she saw a couple, but that would have involved her getting up, which she had promised Matthew she wouldn’t do.
She brought her eyes back to the firepit when her cell phone buzzed, showing she had a text message. She opened the phone and went to her text messages, and her blood turned cold when she read it.
Run, bitch. I’m counting to ten, and then I’m coming for you.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Alanna jumped up from the chair, staring down at her phone. She was given to the count of ten to hide.
The silly childhood game had been turned into a nightmarish match of wits between her and Kate. If she won, the night was spent cowering in fear of being caught until the sun rose in the morning. If Kate won, she would drag her to Owen’s room to let him abuse her while she played look-out for their foster parents.
When Kate had started forcing her to play the game, she had invariably lost until one night she tried to climb out her bedroom window, uncaring if she would be hurt if she fell. Truthfully, she had reached the point of not caring if she survived. Anything was better than Owen hurting her the way he got a sick pleasure out of doing to her.
She climbed out of the window and was partially out when she heard the wind tell her to go back in.
Staring down at the concrete patio below, she pushed herself out farther, determined not to let Kate find her. Her time was running out, and she was just imagining the voice … until she heard it again.
I’ll help you hide. Leave the window open.
Climbing back inside like the wind told her to, she snuck downstairs and hid under Mrs. Fields’s piano. She had never tried to hide downstairs.
She made it through the night unscathed. That was the first time she had won against Kate. She didn’t always win. Sometimes, Kate cheated by not counting when she didn’t do something Kate wanted done, but she was winning more than she had lost, especially when she started leaving a window open in her room.