Page 63 of Protecting Little Phoebe

KiPP:Drink it up, little girl. And don’t forget that the driver will be there to pick you up at eleven-thirty.

KiPP:And that I love you.

LG:Love you too, Daddy.

KiPP stood for Knight in Pressed Pants. While LG was obviously Little girl. He was always doing this. Texting her during the day to make sure that she’d eaten or was drinking water. Or that she wasn’t lonely or cold or scared.

He really was the best Daddy in the world.

An hour later, the doorbell ringing startled her, and she glanced at the clock. Wow. This morning had gone fast! Was that the driver Barren was sending for her? For some reason, he didn’t want her driving to his office building to meet him for lunch. Seemed like such a waste to send a driver out here for her.But he’d gotten out his “Daddy voice” and she’d decided to give him this.

She’d been living here with Barren for a week now and she was ready to get out of the house for a bit. The only people she’d met were Sally, Barren’s cleaner and Melly, his assistant. Barren had also taken her out for dinner a couple of times, but she was getting cabin fever.

She couldn’t believe how beautiful his house was. Or how big and grand. She’d spent the first few days getting constantly lost. Barren had joked about putting a tracker on her. Although, when she’d caught him looking at GPS trackers later than evening, she’d started wondering how much of a joke it was.

He lived in a gorgeous two-story house out in the country. They were surrounded by green fields, white fences, red barns, and horses. So many horses. She was in heaven. Barren didn’t own any horses. He said he didn’t have the time to take care of them. But he leased out his land to other people and their horses.

Each morning, she and Snickerdoodle sat on the porch to drink their apple juice and watch the horses. It was heaven. Everything was perfect.

Or it would be… if she didn’t have one thing marring her peace.

Something that she still hadn’t told Barren.

You have to do it.

She grabbed her heart-shaped handbag and opened the door. To her surprise, there was a woman standing on the other side holding a large basket in her hands.

“Hello,” she said. “Are you my driver? You’re early.”

“What? No.” The smile slipped off the older woman’s face and she sneered for a moment. “Would a driver wear Chanel?”

“Hmm. Maybe?”

“I’m from next door. I was riding my horse the other day and thought I saw you sitting on the front porch.”

She must have been riding very close to the house. Phoebe eyed her with interest. A nosy neighbor, huh?

“I thought I would bring you a basket of goodies to say welcome.”

“Oh, well, thanks.” That was nice, if a bit odd.

“I’m Freida.” The woman who had a tight, black fitted dress with a gold belt around her small waist held out the basket of goods. It was filled with high-end hand cream, candles, and room sprays.

“Oh perfect! I just ran out of that hand cream. Thanks!”

“Um, you’re welcome.” Freida held out her hand for Phoebe to shake. “Nice to meet you…”

“Oh, I’m Phoebe.” She set the basket down on the hall table and turned to shake the other woman’s hand enthusiastically. Hmm. Freida had an odd aura. Kind of dark.

Careful, Phoebe.

Freida frantically pulled her hand back, nearly tripping over on her high heels.

“Nice to meet you too, Freida.”

“So, you’re living with Barren? Are you his niece or something?” Freida said bluntly.

Definitely digging for information.

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