Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Lily-May was her sister by blood, but that was all. There was no love, no feeling, no nothing. She looked at her sister and felt nothing but hatred.
“My boyfriend.” She took a step closer. “You mean the same man you bargained me for to get you out of your shit.”
Peyton never swore. She didn’t like to. It served no good. But, as she looked at her sister, she saw the shock on Lily-May’s face.
“You have not helped me from the start. You didn’t help our parents, and you know, I wondered how they got into the mess they did. I have a feeling you did this. You and your addictive ways, always trying to blame them for the crap you got into. It was always someone else’s fault. You never took the blame, and even now you want to blame everyone else. Your boyfriend. Shae. Me. You burned down the bakery. Did you think there is money in that? Shae owns the entire building. Our parents sold it to him, and he has been helping us since the start. You think I don’t know what you wanted? Your share. Your cut. I bet you were hoping they would blame me, saying I had left something on, that I caused the fire. We’ve got evidence to prove it was you.”
Lily-May looked terrified and she was staring at her in desperation.
“I bargained with Shae to get rid of you. I was a virgin, Lily-May. It was what I had to offer to rid myself of you. You should have stayed gone.”
“Peyton, please, I needed the money. You don’t know what it is like to be this way. I need it. Please, I need it. Help me. Please help me.”
“I’ve helped you for the last time, and I don’t care.”
“Mom and Dad will hate you!”
“Mom and Dad are dead. You chose this. Not me.”
Peyton stepped away, moved to Shae, and put a hand on his chest. “Do what you have to do.”
She stepped out of the barn, looked up to the sky, and took several deep breaths. Time seemed to stand still. The air was cold. It was Halloween, and ... she heard the gunshot.
The ranchers made their way to the barn, and she knew Shae had stepped out. There were no tears to be shed. Did this make her a monster? They had crossed a line in their relationship. She knew what Shae was capable of. The damage he could make.
He caught her arm. “Come on, let’s got for a walk.”
Peyton didn’t know if he was now about to kill her, but she didn’t fight him as they walked away from the barn and into a small patch of forest. She thought “small,” but it was actually quite large. She wouldn’t want to get lost in it. There was a fallen tree, and he helped her sit down. She leaned on her knees and clasped her hands together.
“Are you going to kill me?” she asked.
“No.”
“I won’t tell.”
“I know.”
“I don’t feel anything,” she said, and turned to look at him. “That’s a bad thing, right?”
“I don’t know,” Shae said. “She hasn’t exactly been a sister to you for quite a long time. She has caused you trouble, and she put a lot of people in danger with this act.”
Tears filled Peyton’s eyes. “It’s probably sick and twisted, but I finally feel free. I think I expected to feel pain and hate myself, but hearing it, knowing what you did, I feel ... happy.” She took a deep breath. “How do you feel?”
“I’m worried about you.”
“I won’t do or say anything.”
“I don’t mean about that. It will sink in. I couldn’t let them live. Lily-May was too ... letting her go that first time was a risk.”
“Didn’t you have men watching her?”
“Yes, I did, and they kept coming back, reporting that she was working in a strip club. Which she was, but clearly, she got in with the wrong people again.” He sighed. “You can’t blame yourself.”
This made her laugh. “I don’t.” She looked out across the forest. “I don’t think I am ever going to forget this Halloween.” She turned to look at Shae. “You know, there is a big party happening tonight in town. There are going to be a lot of people there, and seeing as I don’t have to worry about being behind a counter, do you want to go with me?” she asked.
Yes, it might make her seem like a crazy person. Her sister was dead, the bakery was gone, and she was asking a man she had fallen in love with, if he wanted to go on a Halloween date.
“Are you asking me on a date?”
“That depends, are you going to say yes?”
Chapter Eleven
“Just go and get one,” Leah said.
Peyton looked toward the pharmacy. They had just taken Shae’s truck to the local grocery store, where she was loaded up on lots of food in order to start taking care of the ranch and the ranchers.