Shit, what have I done? She hates it. Oh my God, I feel like I’ve disappointed May and hurt her. “I’m sorry,” I say as I place my arms around her.
“Don’t be sorry, my girl. Please! This is the best gift I’ve ever been given.” She sees the other picture I’ve had framed. I scanned the one of her family, and had the photo restored and blown-up. “Is that the picture in my home?”
“It is. I had two created. One for here, and one for you.”
Tears stream down May’s face. “In this one room, there are so many beautifully perfect memories. You’ve not only restored this house; you’ve restored the love in my heart. Thank you, Hope. You’ve given me so much.” She hugs me, and gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Would you mind if I spend a moment in here alone?”
“Of course not. Would you like me to wait for you outside?”
“Please no. I’ll come find you downstairs when I’m ready. Go, make sure everyone sees the beauty of this house.”
“Take your time.” I head out of the room. There’s a steady stream of people walking through the rooms. I can hear Charlie’s voice bellowing from Roger and Jean’s room. As people walk past, they offer their praises for what we’ve done with the house. I duck my head in, and tap Charlie on the shoulder. “May’s in her room, can you make sure she’s okay in about ten minutes? I’ll go downstairs and see if Elle and Tabitha need anything.”
“Sure thing.” Charlie leans into me. “Everyone’s loving the house, I’ve even had a few people ask me what our next project will be. One guy gave me his number and told me to call him when we’re ready to sell one of the houses on Oak Tree Parade.” He’s nearly jumping out of his skin with enthusiasm.
“That’s so cool.” I clap my hand on his back, excited how awesome today is turning out to be. “Watch out for May, okay.”
“Sure thing, partner.” Charlie turns and starts talking to someone as I leave. Charlie was so happy I offered to make him a third partner in the new business. He deserves it; he works hard.
Heading down the stairs, I walk into the kitchen where Elle and Tabitha are frantically buzzing around. “How’s it going? Do you need a hand?”
“Yes. Can you chop these lettuces up, while I go out the back and check the barbecue grills?” Tabitha asks.
“I’ve got it.” Tabitha runs out the back to check on whatever she’s cooking out there. “Thank you for helping, Elle,” I say as I start chopping the first head of lettuce.
“Oh yeah, of course. Anything I can do to help.”
“Hey, I wanted to ask. The houses over on Oak Tree Parade, can you sell them for us when they’re done?”
Elle raises her eyebrow at me. “Was there another option?” she asks with a straight face.
“I just wanted to check you’ll be okay with selling them.” I keep chopping the lettuces.
“Hope, the house is amazing,” I hear Jake say. I catch Elle smiling, and her cheeks turn pink when she hears his voice. But she doesn’t look up at him. I think she’s too embarrassed by the flush in her cheeks.
Turning, I see him standing on the other side of the counter, leaning against it. “Thank you, Jake. Hey, can you do me a favor? Charlie’s upstairs showing the house, and May’s in May’s Room. Can you go check on her, see if she’s okay please? I’ve asked Charlie, but there are so many people, he may get distracted.”
“Oh, yeah. No problems. Before I go, Elle, a totally weird thing happened.”
“What?” Elle asks, finally turning to look at him.
My God, when are these two going to get together. Her eyes light up like she’s looking at the bright sun. And Jake winks at her. How damn cute. “One of the deputies came across a missing person report of a girl by the name of Layla, someone who looks virtually identical to you. Talk about doppelgangers.” He shakes his head.
“Yeah,” Elle says. “Weird, huh?” She turns forward again and continues preparing the food.
“I’ll go check on May,” Jake says.
I look over at Elle. Her hands are shaking, her face is totally devoid of color, and she’s actually not preparing anything. She’s holding the knife so tightly her knuckles are going white. “Hey, are you okay?” I ask. Elle’s eyes are wide. “Elle!” I say, louder.
“Yep.” She turns to look at me, as the knife swings to point at me with her death grip. My eyes glimpse down at the knife. Elle looks like she’s holding her breath.
“What’s going on?”
It takes her a few seconds, but she slightly shakes her head, and loosens her grip on the knife. Her shoulders relax, and color floods her face again. “What? Nothing.” Quickly, she turns forward, and continues her food prep.
What was that about?
“One of the briskets is ready, and by the time I cut this one up, the other two should be done too,” Tabitha announces as she carries in a huge slab of meat. She places it on the kitchen counter, picks up a knife and slices two pieces off. “Here, try it. Let me know what you think.”
“Brisket equals heaven in my mouth,” I say as I take the slice and pop it in my mouth. “Oh my God! It melts like butter. Elle, you have to try this.” Elle’s totally distracted. I need to talk to her about what’s going on. But I can’t now, not with Tabitha in here. “Elle!”
“Yeah?” She turns, not even hearing me say anything. “Oh, you’re back already. That’s looks succulent. Can I have some?” she asks Tabitha. She’s pretending she’s fine, but I can tell, something’s way off.
“Yeah, of course. Here.” Tabitha offers her a slice, which Elle takes, pops in her mouth and moans with satisfaction. “Good, huh?” Tabitha waits for Elle’s approval.
“It’s so good.” Elle continues prepping the food, but her hands are trembling.
“Hi, Hope?” I turn to find Clarissa standing on the other side of the kitchen counter.
“Clarissa, I’m so glad you could come out today. Have you had a chance to look around?” Wiping my hands on a tea towel, I walk over to her.
“Oh yes. This is just wonderful. As I said in our meeting, there’s been such a buzz of excitement around this house. Thank you for inviting me today.”
“Did you bring your family? If so, please, stay for the festival. There’s food constantly going out, face painting if you have kids, a balloon sculptor, all kinds of things happening.”
“Thank you. Sorry, but I have to get home. But I will say this: you’re exactly what Faith Haven needs. I’m so pleased we’re in business together. Now, let me know when you start over on Oak Tree Parade and what we can do to help.”
“Charlie and I have the team ready to start on the gym at Garnet Way within the week. We’ll have that done quickly.”
“I have no doubt. Take care.” Her heels make a clicking sound against the hardwood as she walks out of the house.
“Everyone’s loving you. You’ve brought life back to a sleepy, small town,” Tabitha says. “Okay, this is done. I’ll take it out front, then go and get the others from the barbecue.”
I look at my watch, and notice I have ten minutes before I’m meeting River upstairs. Dirty bastard. Yes!
“I’ll take it out so you can get the others,” Elle offers.
“Thanks, Elle,” Tabitha responds. “You’re awesome.”
Elle takes the platter of meat out of Tabitha’s hands, and walks outside while Tabitha makes a dash out back to the barbecue. “Can I help?” Joanne offers. Shit, I haven’t seen her since the night her son Thomas, and his friend Matthew were lighting firecrackers inside my house. Joanne stands maybe five foot two, and is quite petite in statue. She’s also really timid and quiet.
“Joanne, it’s good to see you. We’d love the help please.” She looks around the isolated kitchen. “Elle’s just gone out front with some food and Tabitha’s around the back getting the meat off the grills. Both of them will be back soon, and I’m sure they will have something you can do.” And I’m about to get my freak on with River. Hell yeah. Bathroom sex, in a house brimming with pe
ople. I’d better be quiet.
“What would you like me to do?”
“Um, I don’t know. I can barely boil water! I thought Tabitha would have more people here, helping.”
“They’re coming,” Tabitha replies as she walks in with her hands full of the two remaining briskets. “I’ve hired a couple of girls, twins actually, but they called me and told me they’re running late and will be here before midday. So, it left just Elle and myself.” Tabitha looks around the kitchen, then toward the front door. “Isn’t Elle back yet?”
“I’ll go check on her,” I say, feeling something’s just not right. “Oh, Tabitha, this is Joanne. Joanne, this is Tabitha, who will be our chef. Joanne can help until the twins show up.”
“Yeah, I can do whatever you need me to,” Joanne offers.
“Great, can you keep going with…”
I leave Tabitha and Joanne in the kitchen, and head out front. The street is quickly filling with people, and many say hello to me as I walk down the path, searching for Elle. “Hey, you okay?” River asks when he sees me. “And aren’t you supposed to be heading upstairs in.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket to check the time. “Like three minutes?”
“Have you seen Elle?” I ask. Distracted, I look up and down the street.
“Yeah, I saw her a few minutes ago. She said she forgot something, but she’ll be back in about twenty minutes or so.”
“What could she have forgotten?” Something’s going on, and it started when Jake told her about the doppelganger. Shit, what was the name again?
One of the neighbors stops us and talks to us about how beautiful the house is. Every time River and I try to break away, they keep asking us question. A cheeky look passes between River and myself. The minutes drag on, until finally, after a good twenty minutes River politely excuses us both.
River and I head inside, ready for our risqué bathroom sex in a house filled with people. The girls who were supposed to help Tabitha have arrived, and there’s food on every counter in various stages of preparation.
River sneaks a piece of brisket and Tabitha half-heartedly slaps his hand. “What?” he asks. “I’m a hungry man.”
“Do you want me to take some of this out?” I ask.
“Yeah, whatever’s ready. I don’t know what happened to Elle,” Tabitha says.
“No problem,” I say, but Elle should definitely be back by now. River and I grab some plates and take them out to the tables. The uneasy feeling I noticed before is back and has intensified.
River’s eyes are dancing with the devil. He grabs my hand and starts pulling me inside. “You and I have a date.” He grabs me around the waist, and lifts me clear off the ground.
I’ll talk to Elle later. Right now, I’m going to get my lady boner on with the sexiest man alive. He carries me up the stairs, then places me on my feet, and smacks my butt hard, when I turn around. “Get upstairs, and lock the door,” he commands.
I fly up those stairs like I’ve magically sprouted wings. I check the Roger and Jean Room, and Charlie’s standing just on the outside talking to people. He glances over at me, and scrunches his forehead.
I check the Carl Room, and I’m pleased there are only a few people dawdling in here. I head out to Charlie again. “Excuse me,” I say to the man he’s talking to.
“You both should be so proud, you’ve done an amazing job,” he says.
“Thank you,” Charlie and I say together. The moment the man’s back is turned, I grab Charlie’s upper arm and reach up to whisper in his ear. “River and I need to fix something in the Carl Room. It’s off limits for a bit.”
“What do you have to fix? I can help you with it.”
“Eww, no you can’t,” I blurt.
Charlie’s face morphs from confusion to understanding. “Thank God the rooms are sound proof.” He screws his mouth up. “Just…lock the damn door.”
River appears, and says, “Hope, I need you to look at something in this room. Tell me what you want me to do with it.”
“If you don’t know what to do with it, you shouldn’t be using it,” Charlie mutters under his breath so only River and I hear him. River shoots a smirk at Charlie. “I would say get a room, but it looks like that’s exactly what you’re about to do.”
I turn to Charlie, and give him a shut-up look. “I’ll fire your ass,” I say through clenched teeth, though still playfully.
“I’m your partner now, so you can’t. Go, get your freak on.” He flicks his hand at me. “At least one of us is.”
Shit, what’s going on with him? Whatever. I’ll deal with him later.
River and I close and lock the door, and within a second, River’s tearing my clothes off. His lips are on mine, and we break away only long enough for him to tear his shirt off and unzip his pants. “God, I’ve wanted to do this from the moment you got here.”
My heart is racing knowing there are people on the other side of the door. Thankfully, I can’t hear them, which means they can’t hear us either. River grabs me around my bare ass, and I jump up wrapping my legs around his hips. He balances me up against the wall, moves his right hand and positions his cock at my pussy. “Fuck, I love you,” he says as he thrusts into me.
Draping my arms around his neck, I close my eyes and enjoy these few moments we have together. In this very breath it dawns on me, I’m so happy I finally got out of my own head, and told River how I feel. “I love you too.”
Stay tuned for a sneak peek into
Our Chance.
Someone drops something, and I startle awake. Shit, have they found me?
Pulling my hoodie over my head, I keep my gaze down as I dart out of the truck stop. How can I be so stupid as to fall asleep now? Anything could’ve happened. Thankfully, nothing did.
It’s drizzly and cold as the sun begins to rise.
Looking around, I’m sure to keep my head down, and not look like I’m running. God only knows there’s a ton of CCTV around here.
Just blend in.
I’ve been waiting and looking for a truck driver who doesn’t appear too scary and see one walking out to his rig. I catch up to him, and smile.
He turns his head, and checks me out skeptically. I have to make this look like we know each other, so no one asks questions. “Hi,” I say as I smile.
He crinkles his forehead, and gives me a small nod. “Hi,” he responds cautiously.
“I’m wondering if I could hitch a ride please?” I ask as I discreetly try to look around me. I make sure I keep with his pace, nothing to cause alarm.
He inspects my appearance. Shit, do I give off the impression that I’m running? Is my oversized hoodie, and baggy track pants a giveaway? Crap, please don’t call the police. “Are you running from somethin’?”
“I need to get to my grandmother,” I say with my rehearsed answer. Jittery, I look around again in case they found me.
“Where’s your grandmother?”
“She’s down south.” I swallow, waiting for his reply.
He pauses, and lifts his hand to scratch at his chin. “Show me what’s inside your bag,” he says after a drawn-out moment.
“Huh?”
“If you want me to take you, show me what’s in your backpack. I ain’t taking you nowhere if you’ve got drugs or a gun on ya.”
“I don’t want any trouble. I just need a ride. Please.” I open the back-pack and show him what’s in there. I cleaned out my bank account, and bought a couple of new articles of clothing. Everything else, I dumped. I couldn’t even go back home. “Please,” I say again once he looks in my bag and nods.
“Get in.” He juts his chin toward his truck. “But I can only take you as far as Alabama.”
I let out a relieved breath. “Thank you so much,” I say. I hoist myself up in the huge truck, and when he merges onto the quiet street, I take my hoodie off, shaking out my hair. “I’m so grateful, thank you.”
He gives me a sideways glance as he gathers speed. “What’s your name?”<
br />
“L…” I stop before giving him my name. Crap, I can’t do that. I might endanger him if he knows. “Elle,” I say.
“Lelle?” he questions.
“Elle. Eleanor actually, but everyone calls me Elle,” I say covering my near slip.
“Elle, huh? So, why are you hitchhiking in the middle of the night?”
Chewing on my nails, I can’t tell him because if I do, he’ll call the police. I can’t have that happen. I’d end up like… Suddenly, I burst into tears. Every time I close my eyes I see the look on her face. I hear the sound. “Um,” a strangled noise struggles to be loud enough for him to hear.
“Hey, it’s okay, darlin.’ It’s okay.” He sits straight up in his seat, and takes a breath. “My name’s Earl and I’ve been driving trucks for nearly forty years,” he says. “What do you do for a living?”
I can’t tell him anything about me, or it might lead him in so much trouble. “I work in a diner,” I say. The lies keep growing, but I need to protect Earl, and myself. I couldn’t live with myself if Earl was hurt because of me.
“Yeah?” I say as I look out the window. “Do you like it?”
“Yeah, I do. Bouncing around from state to state.” The more Earl talks, the more his voice is soothing which makes my eyes heavy. He tells me about his wife, and his daughter, who’s married and is expecting her first child.
The more I listen, the more his voice eases the tsunami in my head. But Earl’s voice can’t stop me reliving that moment, and the look of sheer fear and panic on her face. Turning, I try to hide my face away from Earl so he can’t see the silent tears clinging to my cheeks.
The sun rises, and I find my eyes are stinging from the hard night I had. My God, my entire world has turned on its axis in a matter of hours. What started as a fun night out with my best friend, has ended with me running as far and fast as I can.
Before I know it, my eyes close.
“Elle?” Someone pokes me, and I jump awake. “Sorry to startle you, Elle, but we’ve arrived in Alabama. I’ve got a buddy of mine who’s coming through and heading down south, so he’ll take you the rest of the way.”
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