Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 101872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Should she do this? Would she be indebted to him? Opal hated to be reliant on anyone.
“I, um, I could find my own place.”
He tapped his fingers against the desk. “You don’t want to accept my help?”
“I don’t want to accept anyone’s help.”
Alec nodded. “Doesn’t make you weak, you know. A long time ago, I had to get my family out of a bad situation. Had no idea how I was going to do that. Someone helped me and now here I am, in a position to do the same.”
“So you’re just paying that forward?”
“I’m looking after family. You took care of Ryleigh for a long time. I want to do the same for you. I know it’s hard to believe that I don’t have an ulterior movie.”
He had no idea . . .
“There’s no catch, no hidden agenda. You want to live alone, and I want to make sure you can do it safely. Or you can stay here.”
Opal took a leap of faith and leaned forward to pick up the pen before signing.
“You can move in at the end of the month. That good?” he asked.
“Yeah, that’s good. Thanks, Alec.”
“No need to thank me. Just looking out for one of my own.”
She still couldn’t let herself believe in the dream he was weaving . . . nope. She wasn’t going to be fooled.
As much as she would like to buy into it . . .
Don’t.
People weren’t like this without an ulterior motive. She just hadn’t figured out what his angle was.
But for the moment, she’d take his offer of help until he and the others showed their true colors.
And then she’d need to decide what to do next. But she wouldn’t get taken by surprise.
Never again.
They all came.
Every single one of them.
They came to help her move. Although she didn’t have any furniture. She’d planned to sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag for a while.
Opal wasn’t really made for camping, but she’d been in worse situations and survived.
To her shock, though, they didn’t come empty-handed. The house wasn’t a big one, but it was adorable. There was a small front porch and then a larger one out the back. The house was painted a deep purple with white trim, which she personally loved. It had a path leading up to the front door with white roses planted on either side.
There were two good-sized bedrooms, a surprisingly large living area, and a kitchen with a small dining area.
There was no way she could furnish the place, which was something the Malones obviously knew since beds and chairs and linen had all turned up with each of them.
By the time they left the place was fully furnished, down to her having a month’s worth of fucking toilet paper.
But she still wasn’t drinking the Kool-Aid.
This town and these people were too good to be true and Opal had learned that when something was too good to be true . . .
That you should run.
1
“Oh my God, I can’t believe she’s doing that in here.”
“It’s disgusting. Miss? Could you go and do that elsewhere?” A snooty-looking older woman stared down her nose at Ryleigh, who sank back into her chair.
Oh, hell, no.
Opal didn’t think so.
This bitch wasn’t going to make her best friend feel bad about breastfeeding her baby in public. Ryleigh had had a tough time getting Kye to breastfeed. Mostly, she used bottles. But she’d given him a bottle at home and he was still acting hungry when they got here, so she’d decided to feed him again.
“I should have brought a bottle with me,” Ryleigh whispered. “I can’t believe I forgot.”
“No, this is not your fault,” Lilac told her.
“Could you take your face elsewhere,” Opal shot back.
“Opal,” Ryleigh said, attempting to stand.
But Lilac reached over and placed her hand on Ryleigh’s shoulder. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Excuse me?” the woman asked Opal. “What did you say to me?”
She had gray hair styled into tight curls and was wearing a high-necked button-up cream shirt tucked into a pair of brown pants. Her friend sitting at the table with her had her hair dyed so dark that it looked shocking against her pale, wrinkly skin. She wore a tweed skirt and jacket set.
And both of them were giving their table judgmental looks.
Opal leaned back and crossed her arms underneath her impressive boobs, pushing them up so they strained against the button-up shirt she was wearing.
She did it on purpose and she was happy at their outraged gasps. Then she leaned forward, placing her arms on the table with her boobs resting on top so they got the full show.
“I said, can you take your face out of my view? It’s offending me,” Opal told them slowly and loudly.
“You cannot speak to Wendy like that!” Mrs. Brown Pants said.
“Why not? Wendy asked my friend to leave,” Opal pointed out.