Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
“He saw his sister yesterday?”
At the manor with her? Gracen couldn’t bring forth a single reason why Malachi didn’t tell her that information.
Sonny’s confusion answered Gracen’s question.
“Was he trying to catch her there?” Gracen asked, trying to make sense of it all. Malachi hadn’t said as much to her, but he’d also acted like he was concerned about someone possibly seeing and recognizing his face at the manor, too.
Which was the truth?
“You tell me,” Sonny returned.
“I don’t think—”
“Listen,” Sonny muttered, pointing at Gracen and silencing her in the process, “when she’s married to me and out of this town, Alora can do and speak to whoever she wants. If that’s him, so be it. Here, she plays by different rules. Maybe he’s forgotten what it’s like to be stuck inside that church, but she’s living it every single day. I’ve seen the welts and bruises her father leaves when she doesn’t toe the line he’s drawn for her—it’s fucking sick, Gracen, because there’s a part of her that believes she deserves it. Can you believe that?”
Sonny shook his head, not waiting for Gracen’s answer before adding, “Not even her brother is going to fuck up the one chance she has to get away from the things this place has done to her. I won’t apologize for making sure he understood as much when we met up this morning, either.”
Huh.
But hadn’t Malachi already made the choice to leave before the meet-up with Sonny? The summer breeze wasn’t chilly, but Gracen couldn’t help the cold seeping deep into her bones. A picture had started to form in her mind made up of all the things Malachi had decided to keep from her, and it wasn’t very pretty.
“I don’t think he’s forgotten about it at all,” she replied quietly.
“Good,” Sonny spat, “because I’m getting sick and tired of walking on eggshells all the damn time. You put Malachi into the equation, and it’s like Alora’s father can’t fucking handle it.”
Gracen flinched.
She didn’t want to know what that meant.
Maybe she was the real coward.
“I’m sor—”
“Don’t apologize,” he interjected, but not very kindly. Sonny shrugged one shoulder, and nodded her way. “Good for you and him, Gracen. I hope he’s making you happy, but until the fall when Alora and I are married ... Well, I’m gonna need you both to stay the fuck away.”
What could she say to that?
“I get it, Sonny.”
Their goodbyes were short.
Awkward at best, really.
He’d headed back down the path while Gracen turned around to say a proper goodbye to her parents’ in their grave. Then, she heard him double back with a loud hey.
“Yeah?” Gracen asked.
Sonny stayed twenty feet down on the path.
Gracen had yet to leave the knoll.
“I wasn’t going to mention it—didn’t really know if you’d care,” he added like an afterthought.
“What, Sonny?”
“Your parents’ old place on the Flats. The owner is moving out west with her son who just got married out there. One of our partners went in and made an evaluation to list the house. It goes up on the market next week.”
Gracen blinked. “Really?”
Every memory of her parents featured the farmhouse and the barn that was big enough for her to get lost in ... at least, when she was just a kid. Located in a small community on the other side of Montgomery Mountain that earned its moniker for the stretch of flat land made up of fields. How could he think she wouldn’t be interested?
“I can forward your contact along to the listing agent,” Sonny suggested with a tilt of his head when he added, “and maybe fill her in on your history with the place if you want to make a private offer?”
She didn’t even think about it.
“Please do.”
*
The end of the workday found Gracen in the same place it usually did. Perched in her stylist chair, feet sore from being on them all day, while she chatted with Delaney and Margot. Only one of the girls who earned their practical hours remained in the salon.
Not for long.
“See you next Monday, Gracen?” asked Christina.
“Yep, see you then,” Gracen agreed.
The young brunette with a sweet smile bounced out of the front doors with a wave over her shoulder. At the same time, Margot grabbed her bag and keys from the behind the front desk with an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, dentist appointment, remember?”
Gracen nodded. “Delaney and I can clean and close up, no worries.”
“Absolutely,” Delaney agreed. “See you tomorrow.”
“Love ya, ladies.”
Gracen and Delaney waved in tandem as Margot took her exit from the Haus. Despite the salon being closed, they still had an hour or more in sweeping floors and cleaning up. Gracen didn’t rush to get up and move.
Delaney rearranged her workstation, before asking quietly, “Did he call?”
The he in question was obvious.
Malachi.
Gracen glanced down at the phone in her hand. She’d kept it close most of the day. Not that doing so was anything out of her ordinary, but she found her gaze searching for it more often than not while she worked.