Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 41143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
Henrietta glares at Allister as he disappears out the door of the guesthouse. He drove me back from his place first thing, and we've been here about an hour now, just long enough for him to make sure we had a nice goodbye before Henrietta showed up. I made him promise not to let on about us, not yet.
I'm just not ready for the wrath it will bring. The household staff has hovered around me for so many years, they're like family. And just like family, they'll all have an opinion on us. I just want to enjoy what we have without all the editorial from everyone. You'd think I was ten years old, the way they treat me.
"Why was he here? Again?" Henrietta snaps.
"He just came by to check on me. He knew you wouldn't be here until lunch." My heart pounds. I don't know why I'm hiding this, but I am. "You should be pleased he's looking out for me."
She narrows her eyes and sucks air through her teeth, shaking her head, then turns back to her work. She swears in Polish under her breath, chopping vegetables and dropping them into the soup pot. For a few long, silent minutes, I scribble ideas for a book outline on the notepad Allister bought me on the way here.
I'm jolted out of my book fantasy when Henrietta drives a knife through a head of cabbage with a sharp smack.
"You know, you have to be careful," Henrietta gripes at me as she works. "People want money. This is the way things always are."
I'm about to answer, scrambling for some way to defend Allister without giving the game away, when the door opens.
"Hello?" It's Wilson's voice. He sounds like he's in a good mood.
"How did you get in?"
"Door was open."
That's odd. I was sure Allister pulled the door shut on his way out, and it locks on its own. Maybe it didn't catch?
"Wilson, what are you doing here? I didn't send for you."
"I came by to see if you wanted to go out. I know you're here all on your own. And I brought Henrietta her newspaper." He sets it on the counter, then winks at me. "Careful about what, exactly?"
"Ojej! People. Her money," Henrietta says, swinging around to point the knife at me. "More than before, now that you are queen of the castle over there."
"And I keep telling you both, Allister has plenty of his own money. Why would he want mine?" I turn to Wilson. "And what about you? I suppose you don't want any money at all?"
I may not know exactly what everyone gets paid, but I know Wilson can't be living like LeBron James.
"No." The usual twinkle in his eyes goes dark. "I don't. Money means nothing to me." It lands harder than it needs to.
"God, you both are on a crazy roll. I'm not as naïve as you think, you know. I have seen the worst things that people can do, remember."
"No ba. Fine, I am an old lady, I know when I should stop talking. Anyway," she glances around at Wilson, "where were you last night?"
"Last night? I don't know what you mean."
"I mean, the car was gone. All night. I came to find you, and you were not here. When I left for the market this morning, still nothing."
Wilson leans into the countertop, avoiding my raised eyebrows. What he does on his own time is his business, but him taking the family car all night sits wrong with me.
"I couldn't sleep. Drove by here to make sure everything looked okay." He turns to me and gives a half smile. "Didn't like the thought of you being here alone." He chuckles and crosses one foot over the other, then switches them back. "Okay, I'll admit it." He raises his hands in the air. "I hung out here, outside in the car all night. Even peeked in the windows a few times while you were sleeping. Might sound a bit creepy, but I had the best of intentions, I promise. Just wanted to be sure you were okay."
He's lying.
Henrietta grunts at the soup pot. "You should tell someone when you take the car all night. You know better."
Wilson winks at me again, and my stomach tightens. Why is he lying to me? Maybe he had a hot date and wanted to impress her with the car. I hope that's all it was. I'd understand that. He doesn't have much, and whatever he says, that has to sting. I brush it off, tell myself to remember to increase his wages.
"When is May coming back?" Wilson changes the subject after a long pause.
"They’ll be back around three, but then Decker plans to lock them in the house for a week. Or two."
"Psssst, that will never happen, Zabka. You know as well as I do, as soon as they get back, May will be over here checking on you, and you two will be making all your usual plans."