Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
When she had been living with the Devil’s Rejects, it was often the only thing she could scrounge together for a meal. After she had been rescued, she had sworn never to eat one again. Some things in life were inevitable, though, and peanut butter and jelly was one of them.
“Keep it up and you’ll become as good as me.”
“You’re a good cook?” Bliss opened the carton of milk Jesse handed her from the small refrigerator under her desk.
“My recipe file is slightly bigger than yours,” Jessie teased. “I can reheat pizza.”
The women finished their lunch then woke the children. The afternoon flew by as they played with the kids, having them expend their energy with the snowy day outside.
All the children had been picked up early since the snow had grown heavier. Darcy was the last one, and the sky was becoming darker.
“Lisa is late again,” Jessie muttered under her breath so Darcy wouldn’t hear.
“You go ahead. I’ll stay with her and turn out all the lights and lock up.”
“I can’t ask you to do that. You’ve been opening every day.”
“I don’t mind. I can walk home. You live farther out of town. If you wait much longer, the roads will be too bad for you to get home.” Bliss carefully went over all the nap mats with disinfectant, stacking them meticulously before putting them back in the closet.
“You don’t have to twist my arm. I’m gone,” Jessie said, going for her coat and purse.
Bliss went around the classroom, doing the chores to prepare for the next day and letting Darcy help. The girl looked adorable as she wiped down her desk as if it were the most important task in the world. When they finished, she read to Darcy until her foster mother came in to pick her up.
Lisa West looked around the empty room. “She’s the last one?”
“Pick-up time is six.” Bliss pointedly stared at the clock on the wall that showed seven-fifteen.
“My hair appointment ran late.”
Bliss ignored the woman’s lies, knowing full well no beauty salon in Treepoint stayed open past six.
She gently helped Darcy into her coat, buttoning it carefully. The coat wasn’t very thick, unlike the one Mrs. West was wearing, nor had she brought a cap or gloves for the little girl.
“The temperature has dropped to almost zero. She doesn’t have a hat—”
“I left the car running. She’ll be fine.” Lisa reached down, taking Darcy’s hand before leading her outside into the blowing snow.
Bliss went to the window, watching Lisa uncaringly walk the child through the deep drifts. She only had on tennis shoes, which would be getting wet.
As the woman was about to get into the car, Bliss saw her stop to talk to someone walking down the sidewalk. It was Danny Owens, the town mayor. They stood, talking for several minutes in the freezing cold.
“Get in the car,” Bliss spoke out loud in the empty room, looking over at the clock. They had already been standing there for over five minutes.
“Get in the car.” Bliss was becoming more and more irritated. She could easily see Darcy shivering in the cold air under the street lamp. Still, the child never once moved to hurry Lisa up.
“Get in the fucking car!”
“Who are you talking to?”
Bliss spun around to see Drake standing in the room, looking at her strangely. She turned back to the window to see Lisa finally putting Darcy in the car.
“No one.” Giving a sigh of relief, she moved to the desk to grab her purse and jacket. Then she grabbed the keys and went to the light switch to turn them out.
“Who were you watching out the window?”
Bliss knew Drake wouldn’t stop until he had his answer. “I was watching Lisa keep Darcy out in the cold while she flirted with Danny.”
“I thought you might have seen Stark.”
“He’s out of jail?” Bliss guessed trying to kidnap the town slut wouldn’t constitute a high enough bond to delay him getting out.
“He posted bail an hour ago.”
He probably had enough in that tacky wallet that was chained to his jeans to pay himself out.
“Merry freaking Christmas to me,” Bliss snapped, going out the door. She waited just long enough for Drake to come outside before slamming it shut and locking it.
“It’s going—”
“Please don’t tell me it’s going to be fine. I don’t know why people say that. It’s not. It never is.” Bliss took off, walking angrily down the street.
“Wait! Where are you going?”
“To the house.”
“I came to drive you. Get in my car.”
Bliss wiped the snowflakes from her cheeks angrily. “I want to walk.”
“If you need to blow off some steam, I’ll drive us to the hotel and we can fuck until you feel better, but you’re not going to walk in the freezing snow.”
Bliss ignored him, taking a step away, only to find herself falling. She prepared to hit the icy pavement, but her momentum was stopped when Drake managed to catch her and lift her into his arms.