Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
That didn’t matter. Lily wouldn’t need that money. He would take care of her.
“And you kept that from us. It must have killed you when Granny June left me that property and not you. That would have filled the coffers slightly, huh?” Clem said.
“That property should have been mine!” Roberta spat out. “God knows, I deserve it for taking care of that old bitch.”
“Taking care of her? You never visited her; you never did anything for her!”
“She did nothing for me! I wasn’t raised the way I should have been. How I deserved to be. That property was mine and I would have sold it as soon as I got my hands on it. But no, you had to go have these grand ideas of living there. Well, I knew I had to dissuade you, didn’t I? Once I got you away from there and safely married off, I’d have gotten the money I needed from selling that property to Myers and you’d be married to him.” She waved at Harvey.
“I might have had a say in that,” he said dryly. “Not that you’re not amazing, Clem. But my interests lie elsewhere.” His gaze went back to Lily.
Around him, the conversation swirled about the land Clem inherited and how her mother wanted it. How she’d hired someone to try and scare Clem off the land so she could sell it.
Bitch.
Jaret pulled out his phone. “I’m calling the cops.”
Harvey returned his attention to them.
Clem was gaping at her mother. “How could you do that? To your own daughter?”
“Because I needed the money! How do you not understand that?” Roberta said.
“The cops are on their way,” Jaret said.
Roberta sobbed. But he felt no empathy for her. And it was time to go anyway.
“We’ll be leaving now. If you have any problems with the cops, send them my way,” Harvey told Clem as he stood.
Clem glanced over at Harvey, then at her sister. “Lily?”
“Yes? Is something wrong?” Lily asked, staring around at them all.
Harvey frowned. “I want to take her with me, Clem.”
“You’re not taking her anywhere! It’s bad enough I have one defective daughter! I need her.” Roberta leaped for Lily, but Harvey stepped between them and shoved her back.
No way was this bitch getting her hands on her.
“I don’t have much compunction about taking down someone who comes after anyone that belongs to me,” Harvey warned. “So be very careful.”
“Are you sure he’s a lawyer?” Jaret asked Clem.
Harvey grinned. “What else would I be?” Then he turned to Lily and crouched in front of her, pulling her up into his arms.
She was far too light. It was scary.
“Will she be safe with you?” Clem asked.
“She’ll be as safe as I can make her. I won’t allow anything to happen to her, Clem. I promise you.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “If she needs me, you know where to find me?”
“I do.”
But she wasn’t going to need anyone but him. Harvey would see to that.
Lily stirred in his arms, blinking up at him. “Harvey?”
“Yes, it’s me,” he told her.
“Where are we going?”
“Home.”
“I don’t like it at home.” Lily shuddered.
“That place wasn’t your home, Lily. Your home is with me.”
1
Lily felt numb.
It wasn’t an uncommon feeling. Normally, she embraced ‘the numb’.
It was better than feeling anything. Better than being able to feel Rick touch her, kiss her. Than having to listen to her mother talk badly about her, pick at her incessantly.
The numb was safe. It sheltered her from her bitchy, so-called friends and the way they gossiped about her when they thought she couldn’t hear.
A shudder ran through her, and her stomach rolled nauseously.
Was she due for her pills? Why was she starting to feel things? Notice things?
Where was she? Blinking, she glanced out the window. Was she moving?
How did I get into a car?
Panic wanted to slip through the numb, but she shoved it down. Once she had her pills, she’d feel better. That was all she needed.
She could feel the cool leather seats beneath her. Running her fingers over the smooth material, she fought to stay in the numb.
“Are you coming back to me, Lily?” a voice said from beside her.
Lily turned her head to look at him.
His name danced around her mind, but she couldn’t seem to catch it. Like an elusive fish, refusing to take the baited hook.
Weird analogy.
It felt like something Clem might have said. Although she’d have made it sound funnier.
Clem was hilarious. And she loved animals. She always had. Lily had never quite understood her love of the outdoors and animals. She was more of an indoors sort of person.
A good book. A fluffy blanket. A cup of hot cocoa.
When was the last time she’d read a book? She couldn’t even remember . . .
When was the last time she’d seen Clem? Spoken to Clem? She had a feeling it was recently, but she couldn’t remember any of the interaction.