Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Maddy girl, where is the fucking milk? I told you to get milk when you went to the grocery,” Dad yelled from the kitchen.
I glanced over at Cole nervously, hoping he would speak up and say something. It was his fault we didn’t have milk. I’d barely had enough money left after he took most of it from me before school this morning. Cole shrugged as he stayed silent, watching a basketball game on the television.
“Did you use it all?” I whispered.
Cole glanced over at me. “I had to, Maddy. I owed Rev,” he replied, as if it were my fault he’d gotten hooked up with a dealer.
“What am I supposed to tell Dad?” I asked.
Cole shrugged again. “Just tell him you didn’t have enough. I don’t care what you say.”
“He asked me—” I stopped talking the moment Dad’s large form filled the doorway.
His angry scowl went from me to Cole. If he knew about Cole selling party favors for Rev at school, he’d beat him.
“You want to say that a little louder, Maddy girl?” he asked me, not taking his eyes off Cole.
“I was telling Cole I had forgotten to get the milk and asked if he had money I could borrow,” I lied.
Dad didn’t seem convinced as he took a long drink from a can of Natural Light. Dad always had money for that. “What’d you spend all that money on then? There’s barely shit in that fridge.”
He had left me a hundred dollars. That was all he left me every two weeks, and I was supposed to buy the groceries with that. Most of the time, I would babysit the Johnson kids three doors down at night to help buy us more food. But lately, Cole had been finding my hiding spots and stealing my money. Instead of selling cocaine, I knew he’d started snorting it. He said he wasn’t, but I could tell when he was high. It was becoming more and more frequent.
“Eggs have gone up in price, and so has fruit,” I explained, which wasn’t a lie.
“Don’t need the fucking fruit. We ain’t damn uppity folks. Use that money for some damn milk and them chips I like. Stop trying to make us healthy,” he said with a growl, then went over to flop down in his faded green recliner.
“Yes, sir,” I replied.
Apples were the only thing I ever bought for me. They might not care about eating healthy, but I did.
“Make us some grilled cheeses tonight, why don’tcha, Maddy girl?” Dad told me.
“Okay,” I agreed, thankful he hadn’t lost his temper over the milk.
“Why can’t you be more like your sister? Huh, boy?” Dad asked Cole.
I hated it when he did that. It only upset Cole, and that led to him getting high.
Two
Melanie continued to talk while we sat and ate breakfast. She barely touched her food, but she had three cups of coffee. When I was finished, she told me she had a tennis match at the club and then a luncheon with friends. Before she left, she sent me down to the stables and told me where I would most likely find Saxon.
I passed several large, circular fenced-in areas with horses inside them. Some were alone while others had someone riding them. I froze when one massive horse raised his front legs and tried to toss the rider off his back. However, another man jumped over the fence and stood in front of the horse with his hands up in the air, talking to it. The horse came back down on all fours, swinging his head side to side. I was amazed the rider hadn’t fallen off.
Melanie had talked about me working here and going to college. My plans were to get a job, save some money, then get a small studio apartment somewhere. I wasn’t her child, and I doubted very much that her husband wanted to pay for my education. I also didn’t think I was going to love horses the way my mother had.
“Just when I thought this day was going to be shit, you walk right out of my dreams,” a voice said close to my ear.
Startled, I spun around. Piercing gray eyes met mine, and I stepped back because he was standing too close. His black hair was long enough to be tucked behind his ears, and he had a square jaw with lips that were entirely too lush to be fair—the combination was startling.
“Ignore him. He’s an asshole,” Saxon said, and I tore my eyes off the stranger to see Saxon walking up behind him.
“He’s just jealous. Always has been,” the guy replied, then winked at me.
Saxon chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s it.”
“Shiiit,” he drawled and smirked at me. “The package doesn’t get better than this.”
Saxon ignored him and looked at me. “Madeline, meet Trev. I’d apologize, but he comes around a lot. He’s one of those things you get used to.”