Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Girl.
That reminded her of Gray.
Okay, stop. This is ridiculous. Mr. Danes is about a hundred and three and calls everyone girl or boy.
He was nothing like Gray.
“Sorry, Mr. Danes, I was looking for Jenny,” she told him.
“Jenny? Why would you want her?”
“Oh, uh, I need to get something she borrowed.”
“Christ, you lent something to Jenny? Hope it wasn’t money.”
Nausea bubbled in her tummy. She had a bad feeling about this.
“Do you know when she’ll be home?” she asked.
“Pfft, she’s not coming back. She got kicked out last week for not paying the rent.”
Oh, God.
“When was that?” she asked.
“Got a notice on her door on Tuesday, was gone by Thursday.”
She’d asked Maeve for money Wednesday afternoon. So she’d likely known she was going to leave.
She put her hand over her tummy. “Do you know where she went?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care. Now, go away. You’re interrupting my shows.”
“Sorry,” she whispered.
Turning away, she walked out of the building in a daze. Damn it. Maybe Gray was right. She was too nice.
With a shudder, she tried to shake it off. But it had settled around her shoulders like a dark blanket.
Stupid Maeve.
Naïve Maeve.
Before she knew it, she was in the park. She hadn’t meant to come here. She should be catching a bus to the shopping mall so she could buy some more material.
Instead, she moved to the slide. There was no one else around. Probably too chilly for parents to bring their kids today. Climbing to the top, she sat and looked around.
Maybe she was too trusting. And a bit naïve.
Was it a bad thing?
Only . . . she’d trusted the wrong person before and it hadn’t ended well for her.
Stop it, Maeve. He’s gone.
You’re safe.
You’ve got to keep moving forward.
Was she getting itchy to move again? How many times had she moved in the last year, though? Four? Five? More? This might be the longest she’d stayed in one place, and she’d only been here just over a month.
Perhaps she should head to the next town. Only problem was, she didn’t have any money.
And she was tired. Really tired.
It wasn’t the sort of tired that a good night’s sleep would help. This was the sort of exhaustion that came from too much time spent running. From constantly worrying and never being settled.
No, she was going to stay here a bit longer. There was no reason to move.
And one reason to stay.
If he texted her.
She pushed down the slide, letting out a small cry. Damn, that was fun. She might do it again. As she ran around the side of the slide, she thought she could feel someone watching her.
She glanced around but couldn’t see anyone. Probably someone wondering why a grown woman was acting like a child. Well, they should try it. Going down the slide was fun. And it made her feel carefree.
But she headed away from the park. She didn’t need anyone getting all judgmental on her.
Her phone buzzed as she walked to the bus stop. A shiver ran through her. It was a bit chilly. She glanced down at her outfit. Today she had on her favorite gold leggings with her blue velvet dress.
She loved this outfit. She wore these black boots she’d found for a steal at a secondhand store. Her feet were pretty small, so she usually shopped in the children’s area. She had this pair of adorable light-up shoes that were actually for kids. Unfortunately, only one shoe now lit up.
She still adored them.
Drawing her phone out, she stared down at it eagerly. Disappointment hit her when she saw it wasn’t him.
Then she immediately felt bad since the person texting her was one of her favorite people in the whole world.
Immy: Men suck.
Uh-oh. She could guess who she meant by men. Immy had been in love with Jenner since they were teenagers. But he had no idea she existed. While Jenner was also one of her favorite people, Maeve knew what was expected from her right now . . .
Unwavering support and complete agreement.
Actually, she kind of agreed with Immy for once. Men could suck.
Her bus arrived and she took a seat at the front before she texted back.
Maeve: They so do.
Immy: Right? Why do we put up with them?
Because sometimes they could be sweet and loving, and gruff, and protective, and really good with their tongues.
Okay, now she was blushing thinking about how good Gray was with his tongue, and an old lady had just taken a seat next to her.
Chill out, Maeve.
Immy: Want to run away with me? We’ll join the circus. I think I’d be pretty good at the trapeze. Or lion taming. Does the circus still have lions?
Maeve: I don’t think so. What would I be? The clown?
Immy: Maeve . . .
She could hear the disapproval in her friend’s voice, see her kind face frowning at her. Immy had a huge heart. She was probably the most innocent of all of them and they’d tried to keep her that way. Maeve knew all the guys did their best to protect her. Their overprotectiveness sometimes drove her friend a bit insane. And made her want to run away to the circus. Well, last time she’d wanted to get a job on a cruise ship. The time before, she’d thought she might move to Antarctica.