Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
She would be alone, and at some point the law would catch up to her and she would either die or go to jail for a crime she didn’t commit.
All in all, it was a pretty shitty future, so why was she fighting the glorious present she found herself in?
A man walked by, his big dog on a leash. His eyes trailed her way and a frown crossed his face before he suddenly needed to be on the other side of the street.
Oh, yeah, that was why. She was rapidly becoming the town pariah.
“He seems fun.” Heather wrinkled her nose. “Do I smell or something?”
Heather wasn’t the reason that man had crossed the road. “I think that’s more about me becoming the town whore. I’m sure that Alyssa chick has been running my name into the mud.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s get this done so we can go to the store.”
Not that she would buy anything, but she would help Heather. And then she would work her shift and possibly see Josh and Grim for the last time if she could get her car back tomorrow or the next day.
The thought of leaving them sent her into a tailspin, but what else could she do?
“They’re not open yet.” Heather pointed to the sign on the door. “They don’t open for another fifteen minutes. Do you want me to knock?”
It was only fifteen minutes. She could wait. She sank down on the top step. “It’s fine. I thought I would get out here early. I guess small towns run on a different clock than the city.”
Heather sank down beside her, setting her gorgeous bag at her side. “Where I come from, time definitely runs slower.”
“I thought you came from here.”
She shook her blonde hair. “No. My mom moved here after I was long grown. We actually lived up in New York most of my life, but then I traveled a lot and ended up in this little town for a job.” Her lips had quirked up like she was remembering something lovely. “I fell for that town. It was a while before I could live there, though. After my husband and I finally got our shit together we moved there, and we’ve been building a business ever since. You should come sometime. It’s mountains and weirdness and surprisingly good coffee.”
She would love to be able to visit. But she didn’t want to get her new friend’s hopes up. “I’m afraid I’ll be working a lot soon.”
Heather turned to her. “I know. Your dream job. I’m excited for you.”
“I wouldn’t call it a dream job.” More like her never-ending nightmare. She wasn’t handling this conversation the way she should, but she found she couldn’t work up the will to fake it around this woman.
“Oh. I guess I thought because you moved your whole life for it that it was something you’d always wanted.” Heather seemed to think about it for a moment. “Okay, then I have to ask. Why? Does it pay that much better than Christa’s?”
She should never have opened this up. Nicole scrambled. “Yes. It’s a good bit more money and lots of room to get promoted.”
“Is it more important than the guys you’re seeing?” Heather asked. “Sorry. I know that’s intrusive, but I feel like I’ve gotten to know you and it’s so obvious to me you’re crazy about those men. And from what I’ve heard from my mom, they’re good men. I mentioned I have a new friend who’s in an odd dating situation and she knew exactly what I was talking about. She said she’s been hoping Josh and Grim could find someone nice to settle down with. She said we haven’t had a good wedding here in a long time and when those boys settle down, she expects fireworks. I think she meant that literally, like their dads have promised a ceremony the town won’t ever forget.”
It was good to know they had at least one fan rooting for them, but she could also see why Jack and Sam might have said that. “I bet their own wedding wasn’t a big affair. I heard this town was hard on Jack and Abby and Sam.”
Heather sobered. “Yeah, I got that story, too. Mom didn’t move here until after they’d been married for a while. She said things settled down, but people still talked. Is that why you want to leave? Are you afraid of all the gossip?”
Nic snorted at the thought. “I don’t care what anyone thinks except the people I love. I care very much what they think, but I tend to make up my own mind. I spent too many years not able to make my own decisions.”
“Because of your ex-husband.”
Nic nodded. It felt good to vent. She wouldn’t talk about this with Josh and Grim because there was a possibility that the guys would go all alpha-male, protect-our-woman on her and try to find her ex. Who was dead and buried. And that could open a whole line of questioning she was trying to avoid. So Heather was her go-to girl when it came to venting about her previous life. She’d decided it was safe enough. After all, she wouldn’t see the woman again in a few days no matter how much she wanted to. Heather felt like family already, like the mom she’d wished she had. And she only said that because Heather had a son who was a mere three years younger than she was. Big sister. That was probably a better way to go. “Micah didn’t like it when I disagreed with him. He was a my-way-or-the-highway kind of guy. Except when I tried to take the highway, he punched me in the gut. Never the face. That would have invited questions. But he learned where he could hurt me.”