Cottage Country by JL Edwards Read Free Book Online Page B

wanted to get an early start. She quickly grabbed her phone and text Brandon before she left.
     
                                ‘I miss you already. Just about to leave. I had a wonderful time this weekend.’
     
    It didn’t take long for Brandon to return her text and her stomach flipped when her phone chimed.
     
                                ‘I miss you too. Please drive carefully. Talk soon.’
     
    She walked out to her car where her parents were waiting for her to say good-bye. Her dad checked the air in her tires and looked under the hood as if he knew what he was looking at. Stacey was pretty sure that look of a vehicle under the hood had changed significantly over the years and her dad wouldn’t even know where to put the oil let alone how to fix something in her BMW.
     
    “Thanks Daddy.” She said giving him a small peck on the cheek to show her gratitude. It was his way of showing her that he cared.
     
    “I made you a care package and put it on the front seat for you.” Her mom said starting to tear up.
     
    “Aw Mom, you didn’t have to do that.” Stacey said hugging her mother tight. It was always the same when she left. Tears flowed between all of them.
     
    “Please drive safe Stacey. Call us every once in a while and let us know when you get home.” Her mother instructed.
     
    “I will be careful and I will call.” She said crawling into her car and fastening her seat belt. She waved to her parents as she pulled out of the driveway with tear filled eyes. She was going to miss them so much and it would probably be another year before she made it back.
     
    Stacey made her way to the highway and put her foot to the floor. She was Portland bound and wasn’t going to stop until she got there…well except for gas and pee breaks.
     
    CHAPTER 5
     
    Stacey got home safely and packed her things into her condo. Nothing had changed really. Her plants were still alive thanks to her wonderful neighbor Mrs. Clarke who came over every couple of days to water them and check up on things. Her clothes still were hung in the closet and her bed was made just like the day that she left.
     
    She went to the grocery store to replenish her cupboards. She bought lunch stuff and a few frozen meals for her dinners. It was difficult to cook a big meal for just one person so she ended up eating a lot of salad and baked chicken breasts.
     
    She needed to return to work the next day and she was dreading the pile of paperwork that she was going to be buried under. Stacey went to bed early and was up early to shower and dress in her business attire. She made a pot of strong tea and poured her metal to-go cup full to the brim with her caffeinated beverage. It was time to get back into the swing of her normal life.
     
    Stacey stepped off of the elevator and walked past the reception desk at work. The receptionist Carol who was busy on the phone, gave her a small smile and a wave as Stacey passed. Nobody else even bothered to look her way. She was such a small fish in this big pond and nobody even knew who she was except for a select few.
     
    Her office was exactly as she had left it, only her mailbox was jammed full of envelopes and memos. She sighed and dropped her brief case on the top of her small desk. “Here we go.”
     
    Her days were spent catching up on all of the work that she had gotten behind on. She had to prioritize everything in order to not feel completely overwhelmed and she had a couple of trial dates approaching so she thought she would start with that stuff.
     
    Week by week went by and she diligently cleared through all of her work taking time to attend the courthouse now and again to plead cases for the criminal losers that she was being paid to represent. Drunk drivers, Assault cases, small time drug dealers. They were all the same and it sickened her more and more each day to help these jerks walk free.
     
    One evening while she was looking