Total pages in book: 206
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
I tried to give him the five grand, but he looked at me like I’d lost the plot. I was actually surprised they never asked for my ID in the casino.
“But you paid for everything on the trip,” I reasoned.
“So what? I’m not taking your money, Tia.”
“You’re too old-fashioned for your own good,” I told him.
He rolled his eyes at me. “Well, a leopard can’t change his spots, babe. Put it in your underwear drawer when we get home; save it for a rainy day.”
“Well maybe I’ll just buy you a present with it then,” I challenged, thinking that he’d dropped the leopard and spots cliché for a reason far beyond the five-thousand, but I was trying to avoid focusing on that statement. Was letting me hold onto enough money to get away from him another test? Or was he trying to show me trust?
“Yeah, well, I won’t stop you.” He shrugged.
I gave him a big hug. It felt so light and jovial that day and I was deeply grateful for that as it was helping me cope. Denial was helping me cope, too, but I figured I’d take whatever help I could get!
12
When we got back, his convertible was waiting for us at airport parking, and he drove us home. It was nice to not have security. It felt almost normal. Almost.
When we got home there were two security guards outside, but there was no Sarah as Tommy revealed he had sent her on a surprise holiday to see her family and she’d be a few more days. I thought that was very sweet of him.
She left me a note telling me that she’d prepared some meals in advance and froze them for us to get us through the next few days, if needed. I surveyed the refrigerator, pantry, and freezer and she’d stocked everything up well and there were plenty of ingredients for if I wanted to cook from scratch instead of simply defrosting and heating food up. She’d made a few casseroles, some batches of soup, had multiple groups of marinated meats in zippered freezer bags, a few batches of pasta sauces, and a few lasagnas.
Tommy had gone to his office right after putting our luggage upstairs, telling me he’d be taking care of a few things and that he’d be a few hours. I went upstairs to unpack and found a gift box beautifully wrapped in silver paper with a big pink bow on it on the bed with my name on it. I opened it and it was a shiny new laptop. It was metallic pink, just like my fishing rod, and when I booted it up the screen wallpaper was a photo of the pond at the farm from the view of the hayloft doors at sunset. My heart swelled.
This man wanted me and said he loved me. I so wanted this to work. I wanted the emotion I felt at the moment to be real, not just another brief reprieve from pain.
I spent a few minutes playing with it, did a few quick personalization things, a few Google searches, and then went downstairs to his office. The door was open a few inches, so I pushed it open. He was in his office chair, but had the chair swiveled away from the desk to face the window, which had a view of the pool. He was on the phone.
“I don’t care how difficult; I need you find out the truth about Carlita and Greg O’Connor and you get me answers within the next two or three days. Got me?”
I swallowed hard. I almost wanted to back out before he saw me, but he was turning around. His brows shot up and he gave me a one second gesture.
“Good. Yeah, bye.” He ended the call and his expression softened. “Hi.”
“Hey. I got my present.”
“Hm?”
“The laptop?”
“Oh yeah.” His eyes lightened as what I was talking about dawned. “Ordered that before we left, but it got here too late for you to bring it. Like it?”
“I love it. Love the color. And I especially love the background picture.”
He gave me a big smile.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Come here,” he replied.
I rounded the desk to get to him, climbed up and straddled him in the office chair. He reached back to close the blinds on the window behind him. As they were closing, I saw that a tall, blond guy strolling by the pool. My thoughts momentarily flickered to Earl. If Earl weren’t dead, he’d probably be the man strolling by the pool right now.
“What’s wrong?” Tommy asked.
I shook my head, pushing away that thought plus the urge to ask about that phone call. No point, because it was clear he was still waiting for information.
“Forget it. I don’t want to get into heavy discussions right now. I wanted to show my gratitude.” I leaned in and kissed his neck, feeling a flood of relief at seeing that silver chain around it. My lips touched it as well as his neck. Maybe that wasn’t an accident.