Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
“Yeah and no. The town is a little nervous about your presence.”
Agatha looked at the woman and knew she wasn’t going to leave. “You do realize this is strange?”
Amelia chuckled. “True, I do realize that, but you see, what is also weird is a woman on her own, still in a town where I can guarantee most of the residents have been assholes to her. It has me curious.”
This whole town was strange and weird. She was just a single woman looking to find a place to settle down. No, that was a lie, when she entered this town she hadn’t intended to stay. All she’d wanted to do was travel, and now she couldn’t imagine leaving. She found the town’s rudeness charming, which had to be incredibly strange, even for her. It wasn’t like she went out of her way to be around rude people.
“What is there to be curious about? I like this town. It’s beautiful and peaceful.”
“And do you have any family? A fiancé? A boyfriend?”
Agatha sighed. “No, my parents died a year ago. I don’t have anyone.”
“Oh,” Amelia said. “I am so, so sorry.”
“It’s fine.” The pain of losing her parents was still fresh, but she wasn’t hurting as much. “It’s why I want to move here. To have a fresh start. I’ve been traveling for so long now, and I think it’s time I settled down. I know that’s not going to be easy. I’ll need to find a job and no one seems to want to rent me a place, let alone find me a job.”
“I have a job for you,” Amelia said.
This surprised her. “You do?”
“Yes, I do. I’ll have to talk to the bar owner, Val, but I think there could be a place for you. We’re always looking for waitresses.”
“A bar?”
“Yes, the Poison Bar,” Amelia said.
“Do you think that’s wise?”
“I don’t see why it would be a problem.”
Agatha smiled. “No one likes me, don’t you think that would affect customers?”
Amelia threw her head back and laughed. “Trust me, no one in this town likes me, either. I mean, they put up with me because of who my husband is, but they don’t like me. They’ve been trying to get rid of me for years, and in fact…” Amelia stopped and looked at her. “I do have a place.”
“You have a place?”
“Yes, it’s my old place. I’m not living there anymore, so if you don’t mind being near the bar and kind of on the outskirts of town, to the point of obscurity, you should be fine.”
She actually felt elated. “You’re sure?”
“Totally sure. If you’re ready, we can go check it out now if you’d like?”
“Yes, yes, I’d very much like that.” She finished her breakfast and quickly got to her feet to pay the bill.
The waitress constantly glared at her, but she didn’t care. She would have happily stayed at the hotel, but the chance to get away from the nasty looks and perhaps start a life here was too much of a temptation. She left the diner walking side by side with Amelia.
“So, this town doesn’t like you? Were you an outsider?”
Amelia chuckled. “No, not at all. I’m a … vegan, which probably doesn’t mean a whole lot but I made sure to ban the hunting of deer, and I also own a couple of dogs, which is not well known here, and well, yeah, I’m the odd one out. You could say they act like a pack.”
She saw Amelia smiling.
“A pack?”
“Don’t you think?”
“I guess. Wait, are you referring to this town as a pack of wolves?” Agatha asked.
“Something like that.”
Agatha wouldn’t have described them like that, but this woman had been living here a lot longer than she had, so she figured it was best to leave the viewpoint to her.
“Don’t worry, they won’t be insulted by that,” Amelia said. “Most people would have left by now. If not at the hotel where Nancy and Georgie work, then certainly dealing with Bob.”
“Ah, you heard about Bob?” So those were the names of the women at the hotel—Nancy and Georgie. She liked the names. They were lovely.
“Everyone hears about Bob. He wasn’t exactly forthcoming with me. Tried to get me to leave town. Don’t worry about it. If you can handle people giving you the stink eye, and you know, being generally rude, then I’m sure you’ll settle in nicely.”
“What does everyone have against me?” Agatha asked. “I’ve been polite and haven’t been rude or attempted to ruin the natural beauty of the place.”
“They don’t like change, and you’re proposing it. Don’t worry about it, it’ll pass.”
They had walked for several minutes, leaving the town behind. The sun kept filtering through the trees but she had also noticed they were under a great deal of shade.
“Here it is,” Amelia said. “It’s not much, and the main showroom is still empty. I always hoped to do something with it, but so far, zip.”