Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Hannah was a beautiful woman. Tall and curvy with gorgeous blue eyes and very curly blond hair. Up close, Lyric could see faint white scars on her face, but they were so faded that one just noticed her creamy skin. She wasn’t wearing makeup, or if she was, it was incredibly subtle.
“I sometimes feel like a mad chemist when I’m developing new products.”
Hannah smiled at her, open, friendly, but Lyric recognized the mask. Maybe everyone wore a mask when they had to deal with strangers.
“I’m Hannah Harrington,” Hannah continued.
“Lyric Johansen,” Lyric responded. It was impossible to be in Hannah’s presence and not recognize her power. It flowed from her, a subtle feeling at first, but Lyric’s warning system responded. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She felt the impact of that influence and knew this woman wielded tremendous power, yet someone had come very close to killing her.
“What’s wrong with the world?” she murmured aloud before she could stop herself. “I don’t understand anything in it.”
“I’ve often wondered that myself, Lyric,” Hannah said. “Do you have a minute to visit?”
Lyric glanced toward the closed door to the back room. She had no idea how long she had, but it would be nice to follow someone’s direction. “Sure. I’m just…waiting.” There was a note of reluctance in her voice she couldn’t help. Keys would emerge, and in his presence, she knew she would lose her resolve to run. Around him, she didn’t seem to have self-preservation.
“You’re waiting for Keys?” Hannah led the way to a very small table close to another door that led to the back, most likely the supply room.
“Yes.” Lyric didn’t know what else to say. She sank into the chair and found it surprisingly comfortable. It was carved wood, highly polished, gleaming and rich looking. She was short and Hannah was tall, yet each of the chairs seemed to work for them.
“You seem troubled,” Hannah said. “I don’t mean to pry, but perhaps I have some capability to ease your worries.”
The low tone was sweet and inviting. There was no compulsion; Lyric would have recognized it. Instead, Hannah’s voice was sincere. She inspired trust in a way no one ever had. Lyric didn’t quite know what to do.
Hannah waved her hand, and a teapot instantly sang merrily. “I knew Jonas from the time we were children. I was so painfully shy, I couldn’t speak in front of anyone, even at school. When I did manage to speak, I stuttered. My sisters would help me, so no one knew, not even Jonas. He thought I was stuck-up, just like everyone else did, but I honestly couldn’t speak. As I grew up, I learned several languages and traveled the world, which I despised doing, but I still couldn’t speak without the help of my sisters. For years, I conformed, pretending to be someone I wasn’t. It was very, very difficult.”
She poured tea into two cups. “All that time, I loved Jonas. There was never going to be anyone else for me, but I knew it wouldn’t work between us. He was everything I wasn’t. Adventurous. Brave. Outgoing, so outgoing.” She sighed and raised the cup to her lips, looking at Lyric over it. “He was always involved in something crazy, military, working for special teams; I don’t even know everything he did, but I did know it was dangerous and he thrived on that life.”
Lyric’s churning stomach began to settle as some of the tension eased out of her. Hannah wasn’t requiring anything of her. She was very interested in Hannah’s story. The last thing she expected was a woman who had done things she’d read about, a supermodel, confessing to feeling the same as Lyric felt.
“I knew he would eventually want to go into something like he’s done, becoming the sheriff. People vote, and they want to know his family. I didn’t want to be seen, and that was before the attack. That woman walking the runway wasn’t me. She was never going to be me, but that was all anyone saw. Even my sisters believed in her and didn’t see me.”
Hannah could have been talking about Lyric. It had never occurred to her that she would end up identifying with a woman like Hannah. And a woman who obviously wielded so much power. How could she have felt small and unseen?
“I didn’t want anyone to know the real me.” Hannah continued her confession. “I knew they couldn’t accept me the way I was. I wanted to be a homemaker. Stay in my house and raise my children. I wanted to bake and cook and sew and make my lotions, elixirs, tonics and various homeopathic remedies that could help others if they were ill. I had no desire to travel, yet it was expected of me. Great things are expected of those in my family. Staying home wasn’t even on the table.”