Page 24 of Peach

“Yeah, man?”

“How about Rory and I come over and go through the paperwork you need to sift through?”

“The box with the papers won't arrive until tomorrow morning.”

“We’ll come over tomorrow night. We’ll help you arrange the papers and make a list of places you need to call, or we’ll cancel subscriptions for you.”

“Gosh, that’s too nice of you all.”

“Maybe, but it will help, right?”

Peach nodded. “Yeah, that will take a huge load off my shoulders.”

"Well, we've got that settled," Harry said as Jax stepped in.

“What’s settled?” Jax asked.

Harry answered, “I’m going to help Peach go through the papers and get accounts closed or at least looked at.”

Jax nodded. "So the woman I contacted took the information about Audrey and Diane. They're going to look into what happened. Also, they'll look into the deaths of your parents. The investigation may not find answers you like, but at least there'll be someone looking into it."

“Thank you. That’s another thing off the table. It feels manageable.”

“So Wild said Haisley has never been to the ocean,” Bear said.

“Nope. She’s never seen the ocean.”

“How about we head to the beach on Saturday morning and then we can hang out at the pool?” Harry asked.

“I’ll make sure she’s okay with that,” Peach said.

Andy chuckled, and Peach turned to him. The smile on Andy's face was too big.

“What?” Peach asked.

Andy lifted his eyebrows. “You’re getting attached.”

Peach pressed his lips together and shook his head. “I’m just being nice. My mom wanted her taken care of. I’m just following my mom’s wishes.”

There was more laughter from Andy. Wild rolled his eyes and shook his head. The other guys had various reactions.

A weird feeling slid through Peach. Maybe he'd mouthed off a few times about not wanting to be with anyone. He'd vowed never to get into a deep relationship and here he was living with a woman he was extremely attracted to. But no, he wouldn't get involved beyond helping her and making sure she could eventually live on her own.

“Guys, I’m really just helping her out. You’d all do the same in my situation,” Peach said.

“Yeah, and look how that has turned out for us,” Bear said. “I have a wife and two kids.”

Peach frowned. "It's not like that. I'm not with her. We haven't kissed, and we're not going to."

Wild came over and put his arm around Peach. “We believe you.”

He wasn't sure if Wild was making fun of him or if he really meant it. Haisley was here because he couldn't leave her in Georgia. Those people wanted her dead, and he wouldn't allow them to win. He would look after Haisley like his mom would. There wouldn't be more to it. He would prove that he could have Haisley in his house and his life and he wouldn't develop feelings for her, because feelings got people in trouble.

Chapter 18

Haisley spentthe day searching for something she could make for dinner with the ingredients in Peach’s refrigerator and pantry. After she made the decision to make spaghetti and sauce, she unloaded his dishwasher and then cleaned his bathroom.

She figured she needed to earn her keep, and cooking and cleaning was easy for her. Before she began working in the store, she spent some time cleaning people's houses and ended up working for one of the motels in town cleaning rooms. She didn't mind hard work and had the whole place clean. Dinner was almost finished when Peach stepped in.

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