Page 8 of Peach

He shook his head. “No, come along. I don’t want to be responsible for picking out what you want.”

There wasn’t any way she was going to get out of this. Robert wanted her to go with him. On the way out, Haisley grabbed her purse. She had some money, but not much so she could pay for his food, too. If she moved to Atlanta, she could get a job, maybe. But who would want to hire a pregnant woman?

She headed out to meet Robert beside the car. “Did you rent this?”

He nodded. “I flew in this morning. Took the red-eye.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’re from California.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I should have come home more. I didn’t realize my dad wasn’t taking care of the lawn.”

Her gaze slid over the lawn with the tall grass that was mixed with weeds. Guilt filled her. John had been too busy in the last few weeks. Though, based on the peeling paint on the shutters, she figured he had stopped taking care of the place for other reasons.

She should have mowed for him, but he hadn't picked up gas for the mower, although he said he would. Since she no longer had a car, it was hard for her to get to the station.

They'd helped so much, and now they were both dead and she felt responsible. Eventually, she would have to tell Robert everything, but she feared his reaction. She needed to come up with a plan for where she could go because she was sure he would make her leave soon.

Chapter 5

Haisley suppresseda shudder as they drove past the Baptist church. If only she had power, she could take down the man and all of his cronies protecting him. She was nothing, and men like him knew exactly how to hold their foot on her neck to make it look like she was the aggressor and they were innocent victims.

The grocery store wasn't too far from the church, so she had to get her emotions under control quickly. Robert parked and hopped out before she could get her door open. Surprisingly, he was there to help her out. A weird feeling slid through her. Why was he being so nice?

She wasn’t used to men being decent, but the more time she spent with Robert, the more she liked him.

They entered the grocery store, and she glanced around, nervous about being in public. She tried not to go out when other people who might know about her situation would be at the store. The last thing she wanted to do was run into someone who would attack her.

They started shopping, and her worry grew as Robert filled the cart. He'd said he would only be in Georgia for afew days, but he was buying way too much food. They were done with their primary shopping and were on the frozen food aisle when she spied the pastor's wife.

Haisley thought of turning and running, but Robert asked her a question. She paused and slowly peeled her eyes off Kirsten as she tried to focus on Robert.

She blinked at him, trying to remember what he’d said. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Do you want ice cream?”

“I-I don’t know. I’m not?—“

"So what do we have here?" Kristen said in her way too syrupy voice. "Did you hook your claws into him, you little slut? Did you tell him how you whored yourself around and blamed everyone else for parading around half-naked? What are men supposed to do when you act that way?"

“Leave me alone.” Haisley was tired of dealing with people like this. Would Robert be reasonable and listen to her explanation of what happened, or would he believe this woman because she was the wife of the Baptist preacher? It hurt to think so many people believed the word of her attackers just because of who they were in the community.

“You should be run out of town, you whore. I hope you rot from the inside.”

“Hey, leave her alone,” Robert said.

Kirsten’s nose wrinkled as she looked Robert up and down. “Why don’t you do that?” Kirsten asked before she whipped around and stalked away with her cart.

Robert didn’t take his eyes off the woman until she was gone from the aisle. Then he turned to face Haisley and put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t listen to people like that. She’s wrong.”

The pain and embarrassment of what happenedwrapped around her, and she wanted to flee. She had to move away from this town.

“Can we just get out of here?” Haisley asked.

"Sure. Let me pay, and we'll go."

Haisley stood close to Robert, hoping no one else came up to verbally assault her. She wasn’t paying much attention, and Robert was paying before she had time to pull out her wallet.

“I’ll pay you back,” Haisley said as they stepped outside.

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