Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Sienna stood and went to the door, frowning when she saw that Mirabelle looked paler than she’d been, bright-red spots on her cheeks. “Are you okay? You look flushed.”
“Oh yes. I’m fine. Just a little warm.” She smiled, grabbing Sienna’s hands and squeezing them. “You’ve always been a daughter to me,” she said, her voice breathless with sudden emotion. “Even when you were gone. Now . . . well, I’m so glad you’re back. So glad.” She gave Sienna’s hands another squeeze and then turned away, hurrying for the front door.
Sienna watched her open it and leave as Gavin came up next to her. “Was your mom okay?” she asked. “She sure did come and go in a hurry.”
“I think she wanted to give us time alone,” he said, pulling her close. Sienna smiled, giving him a quick kiss.
“I wish I could spend the rest of the day with you,” she said. “But my off day is canceled. I have to get back to work.” Her mind returned to Kat’s phone call. And the newest note. “Our killer isn’t done yet,” she said. Of course . . . she’d known that was the case, but God, she’d hoped she was wrong.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
School ended, and I tried my best to put everything that had happened during my high school years behind me. I got a new job with a new company. I worked hard, rarely using the entirety of my breaks, never checking my phone or goofing off the way the other employees who worked with me did, and soon, I received a promotion. I kept my head down and did nothing to draw negative attention to myself. My father had taught me well.
A promotion meant more money, and more money meant more nutritious food. I even had a little extra to pay for a gym membership. I had always been tall, but now I grew in mass too. I began to notice women giving me furtive glances or fixing their hair the way I’d seen them doing when they were talking to popular guys in school. But now they did it with me.
I was still gun shy, though, when it came to women. I’d found a sort of peace, and I welcomed it. I had my job. My bosses praised me. I had a home where I felt safe. Finally.
That autumn, a new girl started at one of my places of employment. She had dark-red hair and eyes almost as blue as Mother’s. I called her Dolly in my head because her skin was as pale and flawless as a porcelain doll. She was very petite, but she had large breasts that overwhelmed her frame. Though I tried to be as discreet as possible, I had a hard time not staring at them each time she passed my way, and I think she noticed because after a while, she would stop and chat, arching her back slightly and smiling a knowing smile when my gaze naturally strayed downward.
We’d been working together for about a month when Dolly finally said one day, “Why don’t you ask me out? I know you want to.”
I felt the heat creeping up my neck but tried my best to appear casual and only mildly interested. Inside, though, my heart was racing, and I wasn’t sure if she was right or wrong. Did I want to ask her out? I enjoyed our chats. I looked forward to seeing her at work. I’d even practiced flirting with her just a little—or at least what I hoped was flirting—and thought it’d gone well. It made me feel more confident. It helped mute the reminder of the humiliating failure of the one and only date I’d ever been on with Smiles. Dolly was much more forward than Smiles, though, and she took my hand and placed it on her large breast, watching me as I swallowed and grew ever redder in the face. She laughed, dropping my hand and saying, “I’ll be ready after work.” And then she turned, blowing me a kiss over her shoulder as she returned to her post.
I could hardly focus on my work, and the next few hours saw more mistakes and fumbles than I’d made at my job since I started. Another employee asked me twice if I was feeling okay, and I told him I felt mildly ill but that I’d be fine.
Part of me hoped Dolly was only kidding about our after-work date and that when I saw her next, she’d make an excuse and beg off. I didn’t see her for the rest of the day, though, and when my shift was over, I decided to leave without seeking her out because at that point I really did feel nauseated, my heart was still beating far too quickly, and my hands were sweating. But when I walked out the back door, Dolly was leaning against my car, a saucy smile on her face as she waited for me.