Page 26 of Love and Memories

“I’ve put them through enough. My teen years were full of mistakes. I probably deserved the hits I took.”

“Bella!” Travis said, stern and deep. It was the voice of a man standing up for something he believed in.

Except, he didn’t believe in her. How could he when he didn’t know her?

Travis cleared his throat and leveled her with a stare that would have brought the most defiant child to order. “I don’t want to hear you talk about yourself like that.”

“It’s the truth,” she whispered.

“It’s not. I don’t know who told you that, but no woman deserves to be hit.”

The injustice hollowed out her chest. The ache radiated up her throat, sending tingles flashing behind her eyes.

Her dad used force to control her, and she’d rebelled against it at every turn. That was something she knew for sure.

Her mom stayed out of the way until later when she would quietly let Bella know she’d deserved it.

She had, hadn’t she? She’d caused all kinds of problems for her parents. Maybe that’s why she was eight hundred miles from home and alone.

Bella wiped her eyes before any moisture got the idea to sneak out. “About that plan B,” she prodded.

“Actually, I do have a plan. You met Hadley, Olivia, and Anna yesterday.”

“Yeah.” Bella didn’t want to think about the women who’d made her forget that there was a lifetime of memories she needed to remember.

“Hadley has a roommate, Olivia and Dawson are married and living together, but Anna is living in her parents’ guest house.”

“Guest house? Like, an extra house?” Bella’s voice was higher pitched than she’d intended, but who really had an extra house?

“Yeah. Her parents are attorneys, and they’re wealthy, to say the least.”

Bella’s shoulders sank. “She was so nice to me yesterday. She washed my hair!”

“Anna isn’t your normal entitled rich girl. She’s nice. She’s an attorney too, but she’s a fashion influencer on the side. Companies send her clothes and stuff for her to feature on her social media channels.”

“That’s really a thing?” Bella asked. “Like, she gets paid for that?”

Travis shrugged. “I think so. I have no idea how that works, but she does get free stuff a lot. She donates things to Blackwater Restoration and Blackwater Hope House when she can.”

Bella froze at the familiar name. “What did you say? Blackwater Hope House?”

“Yeah. Our friend, Camille Harding, owns the thrift store and runs a women’s and children’s shelter.”

Bella’s train of thought shifted. A shelter. A place for people who didn’t have homes.

She was going to have to go to a homeless shelter. How could this be happening?

“Sorry, I got off topic there. What I was saying is I think Anna would be willing to let you stay with her until you can get back on your feet. It’s the tourist season, so ranchers and hotels are always looking for workers. You shouldn’t have a problem finding a job.”

Bella’s lungs started working again, and she sucked in a deep breath. “Stay with Anna. There’s no way she’d do that. I’m a stranger. She doesn’t know me.Idon’t even know me!”

“Let’s call her,” Travis said, picking up his phone as if calling a friend and asking her to house a stray was something he did on any other Thursday morning.

“Travis, let’s talk about this. Everyone else who is homeless goes to the shelter. That’s what I should do.”

“Not when you have friends,” Travis said, raising his eyebrows. The expression just made him look sweet and playful and did nothing to convince her that his idea was ridiculous.

“I can’t do it. She’ll feel obligated if you ask, and she’ll just say yes because she feels bad for me.”

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