Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
“Shit, I forgot. Let’s eat, and then we’re gonna go raid your closet.”
She’d brought enough food to feed an army, and they were all my favorites. I didn’t know where to start, so we started digging into everything until we were as stuffed as toads and too heavy to move. “Come on, get up.” She got to her feet and helped me up with my outstretched hand.
We headed for the closet, and I felt a tiny spark of excitement. We were in there forever because Miss. Picky couldn’t make up her mind on what I should wear on my perfectly innocent night out. That’s where we were when Rachel walked in, asking what we were up to.
“I’m going on a date.”
“A date? With who?” I wasn’t in the mood for her naysaying. I was already having second and third thoughts about going out instead of staying home with a tub of ice cream, and one wrong word could get me to do just that.
“That would be none of your business. Now run along and try to remember your job title. You’re her assistant, not her keeper. Or are you?” Oh dear, not this again. These two just can’t ever seem to get along. I smiled at Rachel to let her know that I was okay, and she left unwillingly.
I went back to looking for the perfect outfit that said innocent date out with a friend, and then I caught myself worrying about what Ryder would think about this. When am I going to stop putting him first? When am I going to start thinking of my own happiness and forget about his?
Out of spite for myself, I chose something that was less risqué than something I’d have worn if I was trying to impress but perfect enough to send the message that I was not bothered and I was ready to go on with my life.
“Oh wow, that’s beautiful.” She had that suspicious smile on her face again, and I almost balked. Who knows what’s going through that head of hers? I spent the rest of the night lying awake, staring at the ceiling and feeling guilty as hell. This soul mate thing is killer, especially when your mate rage married a maniac and sent your life spiraling into purgatory.
***
*Janie*
***One Day Earlier***
“I bet she sees it and knows it’s about her. Ha-ha, that was priceless, one of the best ideas we’ve had. No one knows for sure that it’s aimed at her, but I bet she will.” I was feeling better than I had in weeks. There was still no sign of Ryder, no one knows if he’s dead or alive, but they’re not ready to get the police involved just yet.
We have our own private investigators working on it, and since his body hadn’t turned up anywhere, we pretty much all agreed that he’s probably not dead. We know he’s not with her either because the people we have watching her haven’t seen him anywhere near her or in the city at all.
His mother claims she hasn’t seen him, and though I’m apt to believe her since I’d made sure to put a wedge between the two of them, we weren’t taking any chances, so we had someone on her periodically as well. This little victory wasn’t much, but it was something; at least it had helped relieve some of the stress I was feeling.
I was ready to pull my hair out when Noel called and said her mother had another idea, and since it involved making Elena’s life miserable, I was all for it. I will never get over the fact that he’d gone to see her after going missing for so long. It led me to believe that he had indeed gone to see her in the hospital.
And then the story of that stupid picture broke, and it was all anyone could talk about for months. With him being gone from the public eye, it only added credence to the stupid rumors that they were together and that there was trouble in our marriage. All my hard work was slowly going down the drain, and everyone around me seemed to hold me responsible when it wasn’t my fault.
No one was doing anything to help other than passing around blame, and things were just falling apart until now. This was giving me life, and for once, Noel, Nicole, and their mother were in better spirits as well.
“Hold on a minute; someone else is on the other line; maybe it’s Ryder.” I get this feeling each time the phone rings, and then the disappointment is almost unbearable when it’s someone else on the line.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Janie Stevens. Did you know that everyone who works gets paid?”
“What? Who is this? What does that mean? And the name is Sumner.” The person on the line made a disparaging sound, which raised my hackles.