Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
And now Kathryn was making her sound selfish and childish.
“Actually, I’ve had a lot going on at work. I don’t have time for a social life,” Maya said.
Kathryn tensed. “Yes, I’m certain that teaching yoga is very time-consuming.”
It was said without a hint of sarcasm. But the blow still landed. And she could tell that everyone saw it.
Except, perhaps, her father.
But she had often wondered if he was blind to his wife’s criticisms and actions toward her.
Or if he just didn’t care.
“It is. You should try it sometime. You might find it helps relax you. And it’s good exercise when you’re older and you no longer have the flexibility and level of fitness.” Maya made certain to smile at her.
Blow landed.
“That’s very kind of you to be worried about Kathryn, Maya,” her dad said, patting her back.
Yeah, either he was a great actor or he was completely blind to what was going on here.
He led her over to the sofa and sat next to her, taking her hand in his.
“Perhaps Kathryn would like to attend one of your classes.”
They both gaped at him in shock.
“Although I’m afraid that won’t be able to happen for a while,” he added. “We have a bit of a crisis, dear.”
“What sort of crisis?” she asked suspiciously. “Why did you keep calling me? What’s going on?”
“This is going to be upsetting,” her father replied. “I’ve received death threats.”
Hmm. Right.
That did sound scary. And she tightened her hold on her father’s hand. “Credible ones? I mean, you must have a few enemies, right? It could be just someone blowing hot air? And how long have you been receiving them for?”
Okay, so there was a part of her that still loved her dad. She certainly didn’t want anything to happen to him.
“They started about three weeks ago. At first, we thought they were just hot air,” Marlin replied. “Like you say, Dad has enemies. There are a number of people who could threaten him. But we still took them seriously, of course.”
“However, there was an escalation when someone attempted to run your father off the road,” Reeves said.
She stared up at him. Out of everyone in this room, he was likely the most trustworthy. Perhaps her brother.
Then her gaze went to her dad, she studied him closely. “You weren’t hurt?”
Why had no one told her?
He could have sent her a message, left a voicemail. Something. Anything.
Run off the road? That sounded like a big escalation to her. As though someone was definitely trying to kill him.
Her dad patted her thigh. “I’m fine. Going to take more than that to take your old man out.”
“But it does mean that we know this person is willing to follow through on their threats,” Robert told her.
“So what am I doing here?” she asked, confused.
“Because the threats didn’t just mention me,” her dad told her. “They spoke about my entire family. Which means Kathryn, you, Maisy, and Marlin could be in danger.”
What?
Was he serious?
Shit. Maybe Vince hadn’t spray-painted her garage door. Perhaps it was this guy who was threatening her father . . . and her?
But would that person have gone from attempting to run her dad off the road to defacing her garage door?
That seemed highly unlikely.
“But with Maisy so far away, it seems unlikely that anyone could get to her,” her dad explained. “And her husband wasn’t that interested in our offer to help guide him in his protection of her.”
Jesus.
Seriously? He’d tried to give Fletch advice about how to take care of Maisy?
Fletcher was most definitely the one in charge in that household. Although Maisy got everything she desired, so long as she didn’t try to put herself in danger.
Still, in no way was Fletch ever going to take her dad’s advice on protecting Maisy.
“Fletcher has Maisy covered,” Marlin said.
“Absolutely,” her father said with a nod. “But I just wanted to make sure that my baby girl would be looked after. She’s such a sweetheart.”
Yeah.
He never said that about her.
“What about Marlin?” Maya asked, looking up at her brother. He appeared tired, worried.
“I can take care of myself,” he said.
“Of course you can,” Kathryn said, walking over to Marlin. She wrapped her hand around his arm.
Maya could swear that Marlin tensed. As though he didn’t want her touch. She’d never noticed that before.
Then again, how often had she seen her brother around the stepmonster? A couple of Thanksgiving dinners and Christmases? Marlin hadn’t been a regular in the house after their mom died.
So maybe Marlin didn’t like Kathryn either?
Jesus, had it really taken her this long to work that out?
“Marlin is more than capable of looking after himself,” Kathryn said, setting those dark orbs onto Maya. “It’s you we’re all so worried about, dear.”
Right. So worried.
She figured that Kathryn wouldn’t put her out if Maya was on fire and Kathryn was holding a hose.