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“I’ll let you know if I see anything come in stock online, but you’ll probably know before I will.”

Blaire shook her head. The only time she got on a computer was when Caleb left home, and she didn’t have a cell phone with internet access either, severely limiting her internet time. She glanced up at the large clock on a pole in the plaza.

“I need to get going. Caleb said he’d be late today, but I’m sure he’ll be in soon. I want to eat and get a shower before he comes in, so I don’t have to deal with him.”

Charlotte cringed and shook her head. “Blaire… you know you could come stay with me, right? My moms wouldn’t mind at all. They love you.”

Charlotte had wonderful parents, a same-sex couple who adopted her as a baby from Ireland when her real mother died shortly after her birth. Her American father couldn’t be located. One adoptive mother worked at the local vet clinic as a receptionist and assistant, while her other mother ran a clothing boutique in the Valley where she designed her own clothing line.

“I know… but you know Caleb wouldn’t allow that.”

“You’re an adult now. You can do whatever you want. You know that, right?” Charlotte huffed out in exasperation, looking up at Blaire. It was hard for her to be threatening when she was so small, but her heart was in the right place. Charlotte didn’t understand that the Wilcox name carried expectations, and any wrong move Blaire made in the Valley always made it back to either Caleb or his grandparents.

“I do… but at the same time, I can’t. You know he’d find a way to get me back. You know he’d make my life a living hell if I ran away from him again. His grandparents might even make things difficult for your parents.” She didn’t dare tell Charlotte what it meant for her if she tried to run away again.

Caleb caught her searching for apartments when she turned eighteen. She forgot to clear the browser history like she normally did, so when closing everything down, her search history remained for him to see. Thinking the compromise would keep her nearby like he wanted, she didn’t expect his reaction. He locked her in the basement as punishment and told her to spend the time getting the idea of moving away out of her head. Blaire wasn’t going to put up with that kind of thing, so that’s when she bought the Florida-bound ticket.

Charlotte sighed and put a hand on Blaire’s arm. “I just want to protect you… if you don’t get away from him, you’re either going to end up married and miserable, or dead.” She wiped her teary eyes.

Charlotte was right. Between the beating she received from Caleb after she tried to run, and the threat his grandparents made on her life, she had slipped into compliance for fear of what would happen to her. Even the idea they would discover her savings account and piece together her intentions made her gut roil with anxiety.

“Look, it’s going to be okay. I promise. I’m working on getting out of here, but for now, I need to go home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Blaire didn’t have the heart to tell Charlotte that Caleb had wiped out her bank account. As long as the other account remained secret, she still held hope.

“Yeah, okay…” Charlotte sniffled and waved as Blaire took off into the busy crowd.

Stopping by Happy Panda, Blaire ordered her usual beef and broccoli with mushroom lo mien, treating herself to crab rangoon for dessert. Little things like that made her day brighter.

Trying to get home before Caleb, Blaire hurried out of the small takeout shop and into the crowd of people as the sun started to set. Valley Center Plaza was extremely busy for a Thursday, probably due to the sunshine after all the rain in Rosebrook Valley last week. It wasn’t a surprise to find it crowded; no telling when they’d have another sunny day. Unpredictable weather rolling up from Savannah off the Atlantic directly impacted their small town. Winter, normally the dry season, had been rainy and overcast this year. But spring was well underway, with March coming to an end. Blaire hoped for a longer reprieve from the damp weather before the true wet season arrived in a couple of months. Naturally, she had to work the rest of the weekend.

This evening, the plaza was filled with the laughter and chatter of people milling about, going to the various shops, restaurants, or bars that lined the shopping center. With a movie theater at the end of the plaza adding the delicious scent of popcorn to the air, several restaurants to tempt the senses, and a flashy-looking club on the other end, Valley Center Plaza had everything. The next larger town had a huge three-story mall, but she had to take a bus from Rosebrook to reach it. The plaza contained the important stores from the larger mall, but with the convenience of being within walking distance to the surrounding neighborhoods.

Blaire managed to mostly slip through the bodies moving about in all directions, protecting her delicious treasure as her mouth watered; she coveted her food, especially now that she had to hide when she ate the good stuff to avoid Caleb’s criticism.

The life insurance her father left when he died paid for the move to a smaller home and a modest—but comfortable—living alongside her mother’s job at the bakery. It also sponsored the gear and camps for the two sports she played throughout her childhood. But eventually, the money ran out. When Blaire was fifteen, her mother married into the Wilcox family. Her stepfather adopted her shortly after they married, and her name legally changed to Wilcox.

Blaire had to change schools to keep up appearances, so she lost her positions on the track and soccer teams. She was prepared to redshirt for Magnolia Heights, but her stepfather wanted her to focus on her studies, so he refused to pay for her to join the teams. Blaire’s mom agreed it would be important to focus on academics so Blaire could attend a nice college now that they had the means to make her higher education aspirations a reality. Blaire didn’t know what she wanted to be back then, and with money being tight before their marriage, college wasn’t her focus. Now, she wanted to help others like her; youth who had suffered loss. With the loss of sports, she had to find other ways to maintain her physique. Walking to and from work daily, swimming when possible, and the rare occasion she could go to the gym helped keep her love of food from showing on her athletic frame. Blaire only became self-conscious and insecure about her body over the last year from enduring her stepbrother’s verbal abuse.

She passed several children tossing coins into the large, three-tiered fountain at the center of the plaza. Once past the fountain, she needed to get through one larger crowd, then she had a straight shot home to her reward for surviving another day. Pushing through a group of people, she slammed into a tall, firm body, lost her balance, and fell on her backside.

She rubbed her hip and took in the guy she crashed into. Her gaze traveled slowly from black motorcycle boots, up a pair of tight black jeans with a chain hanging from narrow hips. A black leather jacket draped comfortably on his wide shoulders. He looked muscular, but not bulky.

“Shit. Are you alright?” he asked.

Blaire bit her lower lip as her gaze finally landed on his face, his words snapping her out of her hungry perusal.

When she didn’t respond right away, he squatted in front of her to check on her, his brows pinched in concern as he studied her. “Are you hurt?” His deep timbre moved over her like a caress.

He had a squared chin and smooth jawline, full lips contrasting a fair complexion. Long, light brown hair fell just past his shoulders. His eyes were a striking pale green like sea glass, unnatural in their beauty, and deep-set beneath his finely-arched brows. When he ran his tongue over his lips to moisten them—an innocent gesture—something came alive inside Blaire. She wanted to bite his lower lip. He captivated her, the sensation foreign and unnerving.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. I am so sorry!” She blurted out the last part too loudly when she realized she’d gone mute, taken aback by the absurdly attractive guy in front of her. She never gawked at anyone before, but he looked like he belonged in a fashion magazine for bad boys.

He shook his head. “It’s crowded, and the sun was in my eyes. It’s not your fault.” He picked up the bag of dropped takeout and slowly rose to his feet.

He held his hand out expectantly.

Blaire swallowed hard, reaching out to take the hand offered, and when he grasped her hand in his, she gasped. His touch electrified her.