His Vow to Trust by Shanae Johnson

Author:Shanae Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Those Johnson Girls

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Toni stayed in bed as the sun rose. She didn’t rise from the bed until the star was at its pinnacle in the sky. She puttered around the guest house all day, making sure to stay out of the sun’s rays, sticking instead to the shadows, lest she be spotted. Now that the sun was starting to set and darkness was slowly creeping in, she finally poked her head outside the door.

The activity on the ranch had died down. There had only been one knock on her door. Foxy had stopped by to check on her and bring her a plate of food and herbal tea. A wary Tricksy had stood sentry in the background, her wavy hair pulled taut in a high ponytail that made her look like a disapproving warden and not a welcoming matron.

“I felt that you were hungry,” Foxy had said.

“Felt?” Toni asked, taking the plate of food. As a kid who’d grown up on microwaveable foods and graduated to the mess hall of various army bases, she wasn’t picky.

“I’m clairsentient,” Foxy clarified.

Toni didn’t point out that it was late in the day and it was a good bet that she would be hungry since she hadn’t shown up for any of the appointed mealtimes. The guest house had a small fridge and a two-burner stove. But she was grateful for the home-cooked meal.

“And don’t worry about Butch, the bus driver,” Foxy continued. “His honk is worse than his bite.”

With a smile and a wave, the woman bounced down the steps. Toni frowned at Foxy’s retreating form.

Tricksy wrinkled her nose at her sister as she passed by. When Tricksy lifted her head, her and Toni’s gazes connected. It would have been a shared moment, except Tricksy schooled her features and turned on her heel, effectively shutting Toni out.

Toni was used to that from other women. She hadn’t had many girlfriends growing up. She hadn’t had that many boyfriends either. And definitely not a real boyfriend. The school counselor had diagnosed Toni with attachment issues. That was before she left for a better job a couple of weeks later in private care. Though the counselor was gone, the diagnosis lingered. Toni didn’t see the point in attaching to anyone when nobody was permanent in her life.

That’s how she found herself later in the evening—sitting alone on the guest house porch without anyone else coming to check on her. She’d made it clear she didn’t want or need company, and it looked like the Matthewses would respect that. Topher Matthews was clearly all too happy to keep his distance after she’d shed her tears, and that suited her just fine.

She reached for the end of one of her braids and began to uncoil it. Taking a fat-toothed comb, she ran the teeth through her hair, starting at the end. Toni had learned the hard way that any hair maintenance had to start at the end unless she wanted the mother of all headaches. That was a lesson

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.