Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 28432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
I’m used to men that are calculating, that will say and do whatever they want to get you to trust them. Only to plunge the knife deep into your back later. Everything about him might be an act.
But the dark gray clouds above rumble out a warning. It doesn’t matter if he’s worse than my father and his friends seeing as I don’t have much choice. I can’t stay in this car all day. As it was, I didn’t mean to fall asleep in the back of the old clunker.
“What’s yours?” I ask, my voice coming out hoarse. I don’t remember the last time I had a sip of water or a bathroom break. My legs are cramped, and I’m desperate to leave this trunk that reeks of burned rubber and wet carpet.
“Trace,” he answers.
Princess purrs softly as if confirming that the man can be trusted. She’s a white cat with ice blue eyes under that floppy hat. Her coat is thick and healthy even if she’s covered in some type of lotion that smells like sunscreen. Her weight is normal. There are no signs of mistreatment that I can spot. That has to mean he’s a kind man, right?
Thunder cracks the skies again and lightning flashes, making my decision for me. “Is your place close?”
I think it has to be if he just showed up with the cat. I try to remember how long he was gone, but I have a headache from not eating and I’m more than a little dizzy. When was the last time I had a meal? Had to have been a couple of days ago.
He grunts and I’m assuming that was an affirmation. He holds out his hand again, but he doesn’t reach for me the way he did earlier. He’s making it clear that I have a choice this time.
I study his hand, unsure of why it feels like everything is about to change. It’s a big, calloused hand. Burn scars dot the backs. The thought of him being injured makes my stomach feel funny.
Finally with a deep breath, I take his hand. Electricity dances along my skin and it has nothing to do with the thick, humid air. I let him help me out of the trunk, stumbling on my feet since my legs are asleep from being cramped up for so long.
His hands go around my hips for a brief second before he instantly drops them. I feel bereft without his touch, and I don’t understand it. He looks away from me and points to a clearing in the trees.
Princess sits at his feet and meows. He picks her up and holds her close to his chest. There’s something about seeing him carry the cat in his big arms that makes me melt a little inside.
I take a moment to get my bearings. We’re in the middle of a forest, somewhere on a mountain. The air here smells fresh and clean, and the promise of rain hangs heavy.
“Do you like it here?” I ask as I start walking beside him. He limps with every step he takes. I noticed it earlier too when he went to grab his cat. Sometimes when I get nervous, I start to babble. “I mean, of course, you like it here. You live here. Most people like where they live, I guess. I never did, but maybe I would have if—”
He stops walking so fast that I stumble on my feet again.
I pause to right myself and crane my neck up to stare at him. He has sky blue eyes that look like the perfect summer day. One of those endless ones with no clouds in it and a cool breeze.
“Are you in legal trouble?” He grunts out.
I snort which is clearly the wrong response. But my father kept me under lock and key my whole life. He’d promised I could go to college when I turned nineteen. Like everything else he said, it was a lie.
He rubs his beard and studies me. The big mountain man seems just as curious about me as I am about him. But the difference is while he has nothing to hide, there are a whole lot of things that I have to hide. At least, I do if I hope to survive. “So, if I call the sheriff there will be no warrants out for your arrest?”
“No! You can’t do that.” The moment my identity is logged in an official report somewhere, my father will know. He’ll send someone to retrieve me, and I’d rather die than go back.
Trace looks up at the sky as if he’s searching for something. No heavenly voice thunders back at him, telling him what to do with me.
I expect him to tell me to go, that I’m too much trouble.
The silence between us continues to stretch and I’m desperate to fill it. “I’m an excellent housekeeper. I can clean and cook and sew.” All skills that would make me a good little wife, skills that were preparing me for a life that would be hell on earth.