Seventeen Days by D.B. James Read Free Book Online Page B

like me.
    “Who you calling a dickweed, Salty?” He’s stopped in his tracks and is in Steve’s face. 
    Walking over to step in-between them, I shove at Thad, pushing him toward the door. 
    “It’s too early to hear you two go at it, plus we’re needed at the dock. Go get the coolers ready.” Shaking my head, I turn back to Steve. “I don’t know why you two can’t get along. It was over two years ago. Y’all should get over it already.”
    Not waiting for him to reply, I make my way out to the dock. This day has barely started, and I already wish it were over.

    Aunt Savannah wasn’t surprised in the least when I told her about the job last evening. She must’ve known ahead of time Harrison was going to offer it to me. I still wonder why he knows his way around her house like he does. He has to be more than merely her neighbor. 
    Asking her to drive me in every morning was easier than I thought. Things are … weird between us. 
    “I’ll pick you up at six, okay?” she asks as I exit her truck. We haven’t said one word to each other this morning. It’s like we can’t seem to find any common ground. Maybe I should ask her why she has never made an effort to have me in her life? I’d love to know the answer. She doesn’t seem anything like Sienna. My bitch of a mother is probably the whole reason she hasn’t kept in contact. 
    “No, you don’t have to pick me up. Harrison said he’d bring me home every night so you don’t have to drive out here to grab me. Guess it makes sense, since he lives so close and all.” 
    Not giving her a chance to reply, I all but slam the door in her face. 
    Rolling the window down, she scolds me before taking off, “That wasn’t very nice, young lady. I may have had more to say. I’ll hold dinner for you. Do try to have a nice day. You should try smiling. It may make you a few friends.” 
    Hmm. Maybe I should try to have a relationship with her. Since I decided to let Harrison in, I guess I could let her in a bit as well. It’s not like I’d give her too much false hope if she knows up front my plans for not keeping in contact once I go home. 
    Harrison knows and still kissed me. Opened up to me a bit as well. It did feel good to tell him what I did, and last night was the first night I can recall where I didn’t wake up in a sweat. 
    Sienna may have stolen my childhood, but she won’t steal my future. 
    I’ll learn to stand on my own. 
    Harrison thinks I’ve been blinded to the world around me, but he couldn’t be more wrong. I’ve seen how awful people can be. I’ve met the monsters in the worst nightmares. My mother is one of them. She’s the most awful, vile person. She’s always tried to mold me into the perfect version of her she could. She sees her flaws in me and tries to perfect them. Instead of loving me. 
    Hair not the right shade of red? Dye it.
    Lips not full enough? Inject them. 
    Waist not a perfect size two? She’d insist on me going on a liquid diet for a week. If she knew I was now in a size eight, I think she’d have a stroke. Luckily, she stopped tracking my weight around a year ago. 
    I will not let her win. 
    I will learn to be strong.
    Walking into the office, I notice a man with graying hair out near the smaller one of Harrison's boats. It better not be a customer; I’m not fully prepared to deal with any yet. Please let him be one of the employees. Although, they’re not supposed to be here till closer to nine, and it’s barely eight. 
    The smell of coffee surrounds me once I enter the office. I’m surprised to see a note left sitting near the coffee pot. 
    “So you don’t make yourself a pot of sludge. - H”
    Laughing, I grab a mug and pour myself a cup. I’ll have to remember to thank him for the coffee later. 
    As I’m taking my first blissful sip, the man I noticed outside enters the office. He grabs a mug and makes himself at home at the chair in front of the desk. 
    “You Morgan?” he