Page 10 of Peach

Peach nodded. "Yeah, once I moved out and started taking care of my own stuff, I didn't understand him not doing his own laundry or at least helping with laundry. I take pride in keeping my place clean and my clothes washed and in the proper place. I never talked to him about it.”

“Not very many guys are like that.”

Peach opened the door to the laundry room and glanced around. "This house needs some work. I don't have time to do it. I hope the realtor is okay selling it as is."

Haisley nodded but didn't say anything. She was losing her home. He didn't want to kick a pregnant woman out, but he couldn't deal with taking care of this house andliving in San Diego. Maybe she had somewhere she could go. Surely, she had family.

After Haisley finished loading her dark clothes, he grabbed the soap and put some in the dispenser. He shut the lid and Haisley spun the knob to turn the washer on. They stood in silence for a moment as the machine started to whine and spin.

“Are you hungry?” Peach asked.

She shook her head. “Not yet. I was going to clean the bathroom.”

“Do you think we could sit and talk?”

He wanted to know more about Haisley and what was going on with her. It was odd that the pastor's wife had yelled at them in the grocery store. Maybe he should drop in and talk to the sheriff. He didn't know the man and didn't really want to get involved, but he was already involved since some woman had thrown a cup of soda on him.

How had small town life gotten so crazy? He only had a few days here. Before he arrived, he'd thought he would be taking jogs down memory lane. Instead, he was fighting against an enemy he didn’t understand for a woman he didn’t know.

Chapter 7

Haisley hadan idea of what they were going to talk about. "Listen, Robert?—"

"Please call me Peach. No one calls me Robert, and I won't know who you are talking about if you say Robert."

“What is that about? Why Peach?”

"Because when I first went into the Navy, the guys at RTC—that's recruit training command—they thought I looked very young. Then they found out I was from Georgia, and that sealed it. I was known as Peach. That's the simple answer."

“Okay. So Peach, there isn’t much to tell.”

“She called you some awful names.”

Her cheeks heated, and she turned away from him. "It’s okay.”

“I don’t think it is. I think I should know what is going on because I’m sure it ties to why you are living here.”

Haisley blew out a harsh breath and shook her head, trying to push away the pain and shame she still felt. Telling Robert, or Peach, about everything was too much. “I can’t.”

She took off, racing to her room, which happened to be his old bedroom. Running away was immature, but she couldn’t tell this man everything that had happened. She’d barely been able to tell Ellen. Telling a guy what had happened to her was out of the question.

No footsteps followed, so Haisley began pulling her clothes from the closet, trying to decide what she would keep and take with her when Peach kicked her out because she was sure that would be coming soon.

The thing about what happened to her was embarrassing. Thick guilt piled on, making it even worse. Ellen had tried to make her see that she wasn’t at fault, but she couldn’t help but feel guilty for that night.

She’d gone over to Will’s place because he said he wanted to discuss something about her car that had been totaled. It seemed reasonable that he would admit to the crime and offer to pay her some money for damages. She hadn't known what he was planning, but she should have been smart enough to figure out the man was up to no good.

Will had never done anything out of any goodness of his heart or kindness for others. He'd always tried to screw her over. Now, she was paying the price. She set her clothes on the bed and then fell to the mattress. None of them knew she was pregnant. How mad would they be once they knew she had a baby in her belly? The pregnancy was proof that one of them had sex with her that night. Of course, with Kirsten telling everyone she was a whore, who would believe she'd been attacked? All the men were at fault because not one of them had tried to help her.

None of this was fair. She just wanted to escape. It would be nice to go to a place none of them would ever find her and live on her own. She could easily make up astory about the father of the baby. It would be easy to lie and say she’d done in vitro just to shield her baby from the hate that would surely come their way if anyone learned the truth.

Chapter 8

Peach switchedthe clothes over to the dryer, trying not to study Haisley’s panties too closely. He didn’t want to think about how she would look in her pink lacy underwear and matching bra. Did she have a matching bra? A shiver snaked through him at the idea.

He blew out a breath and shook off the building lust. No question, Haisley was incredibly desirable, but she wasn’t for him. She was a guest in this house, and though his parents were gone, he wouldn’t treat her like she was there for him.

A hollow feeling opened in his chest. That had happened a few times lately, especially after a weekend spent with his buddies and their women. Being in a relationship wasn't for him. He didn't need someone special. Special was overrated. There couldn't be that much to being in a relationship. Sure, the guys all seemed happy, but how happy could they be?

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