Angelica (The Burkes #1)

CHAPTER ONE

“Angela!”

Angela Reynolds was startled at the sound of her name, which was followed by a rush of familiar tension. She wanted to keep walking. To ignore the man who was trailing after her.

She took a breath and forced her shoulders to relax. Then, she turned to face the man, hoping her expression didn’t show how she truly felt about him.

“What do you want, Craig?” Angela asked.

The tall, stocky man stopped a few paces away, a smug look on his face as he crossed his arms. Fear curled inside her as his gaze wandered over her.

He may have had the role of brother by virtue of them having been adopted by the same people, but she had never considered him that. Just like she didn’t like to think of Jim Reynolds as her dad.

“Dad wants you back at the farm,” he said. “You need to help with the garden.”

Angela shook her head. “I can’t. I have to work.”

Craig’s expression hardened. “Your job is at the farm. Not here.”

Here was the small town of Briar Hollow in central Kentucky. The homestead was located about half an hour to the northwest of the town, though she wished it was on the other side of the country. Or maybe even on the other side of the world.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t been able to get very far away when she and her sister, Kiara, escaped the homestead. That meant that at least once a week, Jim or Craig would track them down and insist they return to the homestead.

The homestead where she’d been raised was the last place on earth she wanted to be.

It had been their world for so long, giving them barely a glimpse of anything beyond the boundaries of the homestead as they’d grown up.

And had the people she’d lived there with been different—kinder—it might have been an idyllic life.

Unfortunately, it had been anything but.

Angela wrapped her arms around herself. “Kiara and I both have jobs here. Our home is here now.”

“You both are ungrateful little brats,” Craig spat out. “You owe Dad everything.”

Angela’s insides trembled. “We have helped him plenty. Now it’s our turn to have lives of our own.”

Her words sounded braver than she felt, but she had to stay strong. For her sake, and for Kiara’s.

There was a reason Jim and Craig always approached her and not Kiara. If one of them was going to cave under the pressure, it would be her.

Angela didn’t like to admit that about herself, but the reality was that she wasn’t as strong as Kiara.

“We’re not coming back,” Angela said firmly as she lifted her chin. “You and Dad have to accept that.”

“Not sure that we do,” Craig said, glancing around the street where they stood. “Watch your back.”

As he ambled down the sidewalk to the old pickup truck parked in front of the hardware store, Angela wasn’t sure if what he’d said was a caution or a threat.

Not wanting Craig to catch her watching him, Angela swung around and rapidly continued in the direction she’d been headed before he’d stopped her.

She tugged her coat more tightly around her body as she hurried toward the grocery store. A brisk late November wind cut through to her bones, though she wasn’t sure it was all the wind. The interaction with Craig had left her shivering.

A bell chimed as she stepped into the store. The place wasn’t very big, but it carried all the basics, along with a few specialty items. From what she’d heard from others in town, the prices weren’t very cheap, but she and Kiara had no choice but to shop there.

They’d never gone beyond the homestead or Briar Hollow, so she’d never shopped at the bigger grocery stores where prices might be more reasonable.

“Good afternoon, Angela.”

Angela turned to smile at the older woman behind the front counter. She and her husband were the owners of the store, and she’d always been friendly to Angela.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Martin. How are you doing?”

“Just fine, hun. And you?”

“I’m fine too.”

“Do you have plans for Thanksgiving?”

“Nothing too fancy,” Angela said. “We’re just having a small dinner.”

“A small dinner sounds lovely. I’ll be cooking dinner for almost thirty.”

Angela couldn’t imagine a gathering of that many people. “I’m sure they’ll appreciate your efforts.”

“I certainly hope so,” the woman said with a laugh. “They’ll be bringing some food as well, so it won’t all be on me.”

The bell chimed again, and Mrs. Martin turned to greet the entering customer. Pulling out the paper with the list she and Kiara had made the night before, Angela got one of the small wheeled carts and made her way down the nearest aisle.

There wasn’t much variation in what they bought from week to week, so it didn’t take her long to gather everything on the list. She also had a small list for their landlady, so she added those things to her cart.

Once everything was in the cart, she took a couple of minutes to add up the total of everything on the paper. After a brief hesitation, she headed to the candy section.

She picked up a package of gummy bears for Kiara and a plain milk chocolate bar for herself. Kiara would probably tell her she shouldn’t have wasted the money, but she’d still eat the candy in one sitting.

There was one other customer standing at the register when Angela approached it. Knowing that no one ever rushed when Mrs. Martin checked them out, Angela stood looking at the magazines in the rack beside the checkout.

She and Kiara hadn’t been raised knowing anything about celebrities. There had been no television for them, and the books they’d been given to read had all been historical.

It wasn’t until they’d gotten older and started coming into town periodically with Jim and Sandra that they’d realized that there was so much more to the world than the homestead surrounded by gardens and trees.

Kiara had memories of the time before she’d been adopted, but Jim had gotten angry with her whenever she’d tried to talk about the shows she liked on television. Eventually, she’d stopped talking about any of it.

Now, though, Kiara loved to read all the magazines about movie stars and professional athletes. Her favorite thing was to look at pictures from fancy events to see the red carpet looks. Kiara also liked to watch movies, shows, and even sporting events on their old laptop.

“Did you find everything, hun?” Mrs. Martin asked as Angela shuffled forward with her cart and began to unload it.

“Yes, thank you.”

Mrs. Martin deftly rang up each item, giving Angela a wink when she got to the candy. When she told her the total, Angela frowned and looked down at her paper.

Had she done her math wrong? Thankfully, she’d erred on the high side, so the bill was lower than she’d expected.

Math had always been a weakness for her. As a baker, she had to know measurements and how to adjust recipes, but she always double and triple-checked her figures.

“There are a few things on sale this week that I haven’t gotten around to changing the price tags for yet,” Mrs. Martin said.

“Really?” Angela had a hard time believing that, but she was grateful. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, hun.”

Once Angela had paid for both orders, she thanked the woman again, then picked up the bags. The door swung open as she approached it, and a middle-aged man stepped back to hold it open for her.

She gave him a smile and a nod before stepping out into the chilly air. Cold had swept in that week, a reminder that winter was on its way.

It took her fifteen minutes to walk from Main Street to Hawthorn Avenue, where she and Kiara rented a basement suite from an elderly woman.

After living in the apartment above the bakery for over two years, they’d had the opportunity to move somewhere else. And just a couple of days prior, they’d transferred their meager amount of belongings into the basement apartment.

It was small and dark, but it was safe and affordable. Best of all, they didn’t have to worry about Patty, the owner of the bakery, her boss, and their landlady, walking into their space whenever she felt like it.

There hadn’t been a lot of options for rentals in the small town, but they hadn’t had a way to get somewhere bigger. That hadn’t bothered Angela too much, as she’d been wary of living in a more densely populated city, even if it was farther away from Jim and Craig.

Before going down to the apartment, Angela knocked on the door to the main part of the house. Hearing Miss Ida call for her to come in, Angela opened the door and stepped into the kitchen.

Miss Ida approached from the living room, her steps slow. She was a vibrant woman, but her body was beginning to fail her. Arthritis had settled into her joints, especially her legs and hips, making it difficult for her to walk.

“Are you okay, my dear?” she asked as she approached the bag Angela had set on the counter. “Darlene called to say she saw that man harassing you again.”

“Yeah, Craig stopped me, but I’m fine.” That was basically the truth, especially since she was safely in the security of her own home.

“I still think you should talk to the sheriff about him.”

Angela could only imagine the hell that would rain down on her and Kiara if she called the cops on Jim and Craig. That wasn’t something she wanted to chance.

“For now, they’re mainly just a nuisance,” Angela said as she helped Ida unload the groceries into the fridge.

“How’s that new project coming along?” Ida asked.

“I’m stuck,” Angela confessed. “I’ve had to rip out stitches several times. I’m ready to give up.”

“Why don’t you come up after dinner and let me have a look at it?” Ida suggested. “I’m sure we can figure it out.”

“I’ll do that,” Angela said. Ida was a master knitter, and when she’d discovered that Angela also knitted, thanks to Sandra’s tutelage, she’d invited her to the knitting group she was a part of. The women were mostly from the church where Ida, and now Angela, attended.

“Thank you for doing the shopping for me,” Ida said. “I sure appreciate the help.”