Millie's Second Chance (The Town of Pearl 4)

“They think this therapist is aiding Frank right now?” Anthony asked.

“It appears that she was helping him all along and fell in love. He led her to believe that he loved her, too. So she used her professional pull to get him out of jail on good behavior. She even set up a bank account for him with fifty grand in it. Of course, he emptied the entire account within twenty-four hours of her opening it. Then she disappears.”

“Do the detectives think that he killed the therapist?” Anthony asked.

“They don’t know. He’s capable, that’s for sure, and he did kill Clare from Millie’s job. She was really upset about that. She blames herself,” Marco told them.

“She’s not at fault. This guy is out of control and it scares me to think how obsessed he is. What if he does get here to Pearl? We need to keep Millie close by,” Hank stated.

“She’ll fight us tooth and nail,” Dalton added.

“Well, we want to get to know her and convince her to get involved with all five of us and that’s going to take some time,” Jeremy told them.

“It sure is. The only way to get to know her is by spending time with her,” Marco stated.

“As far as I’m concerned, she’s already my woman. She’ll come around and accept it,?

?? Dalton stated firmly and Marco nodded his head in agreement.

Chapter 13

“Okay, spill the beans. What the hell happened between you, Hank, and Dalton at the Dojo this morning?” Stacy asked as Millie, Lena, and Anna painted the rec center together.

“Nothing happened,” Millie replied, but she smiled.

“Bullshit. They kissed you and you liked it, didn’t you?” Anna asked.

“Were you rolling around on the mat with them? How was it? Are they good kissers?” Stacy asked.

“Oh my God! Cut it out, will you?” Millie replied, sounding shocked. But she couldn’t help but giggle. It was just like old times. It was just like the dream she had about when they were young. She became quiet as she thought about the past and her friendship with Anna and Stacy.

“Oh, don’t even think that you’re getting off with giving us the silent treatment,” Anna added, and Lena laughed.

“You three are so funny. You act like sisters,” Lena stated.

“We might as well be sisters. We always did everything together,” Stacy added.

“We never have any secrets between one another,” Anna stated.

“And these two sure can nag like nosey sisters trying to get info from their sibling,” Millie said, and Lena laughed, but Anna and Stacy gasped. Then Stacy picked up the bag of popcorn they had been munching on, reached in, took out a handful, and threw it at Millie.

“Hey!” Millie raised her voice then giggled before she reached into the bag of pretzels she had and started tossing them at Stacy and Anna and then Lena.

“Why are you hitting me? I wasn’t the one trying to force info from you. I’m just an innocent bystander.” Lena laughed and covered her head so flying snacks wouldn’t hit her.

“Oh, don’t you get all ‘I’m innocent’ with me. You were at the dojo. You told these two crazy women about what you think you saw.”

“I know what I saw and it was you looking incredibly beautiful and happy,” Lena stated, and Millie, Stacy, and Anna stopped what they were doing.

Millie lowered her eyes and then looked back up to Lena, who was now standing in front of her.

“It’s crazy, isn’t it? To come to this spectacular town and run from your troubles, the fear, the worry, and start over? To think that you’re alone in that fear, to find the fight within you and then get unexpectedly hit out of thin air by love, attraction, lust, if you want to call it that? To think that you could never have a relationship, never mind one with multiple men, and suddenly you’re considering it?” Lena asked in a whisper but loud enough for the others to hear. Then she placed her hand on Millie’s shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay. The way the Lewis brothers look at you, absorbing your every emotion, caring about what you say, and your response to them is amazing to watch. It makes me feel so good and alive inside to think that my men look at me in that same way. Forget about your past, the men who hurt you, and embrace what is right in front of you. You’re special, Millie, and stronger than you give yourself credit for. I watched you in the dojo. I saw the passion and excitement in your eyes as you sparred with Hank. I also felt the intensity in the air when I walked into the dojo with Sage to find you and Dalton alone. I knew something was up and he made his declaration clear to those bimbos. I believe his words were ‘Millie is fucking perfect.’”

Millie was touched by Lena’s words and she didn’t know what else to do but pull her into a bear hug. Then she felt Anna and Stacy join in the hugging and they all giggled.

“Hey, what’s going on in here? I want to be part of a group hug,” they heard Sage state and then a moment later Sage was trying to wrap her arms around them, too.