Free Hideaway Hill by Elle A. Rose Page A

moving around him. All he
could think about was how she used him to get her way. The rain was
now letting up and Arthur watched as Blake opened the door for
Veronica. They exchanged a few more words before going their
separate ways. Once the two were out of sight, Arthur stood and
stormed out of Tiny’s without saying another word to his
boss.

Chapter 6

    V eronica was not having the day she would’ve hoped for. After
the run-in with Blake at the bakery, while being stuck in a rain
storm, she returned to the library only to be informed the system
she’d been working diligently on crashed sometime while she was
out. All of the work she processed that day was lost. As she became
overly involved in her rework, she didn’t notice the time flying
by. Veronica didn’t pull her eyes from the screen until she
realized how quiet the library became. Almost four hours had passed
since Hayley and Sherry called their goodbyes and went home for the
weekend. She wondered why Arthur hadn’t come in to get her once he
left work. But then again, with his mood swings lately, she
wouldn’t have put it past him to have waited for a little while,
and then drove home without her. After collecting her things,
including her cinnamon buns she picked up for dessert that evening,
Veronica headed home. It was darker out than she would’ve hoped,
but she walked as fast as she could. While walking she decided
after they ate dinner, she would need a nice hot bubble bath with a
glass of wine. She hoped Arthur would join her.
    As she neared the house,
she saw none of the lights were on. It worried her. Is everything okay with Arthur? He is still new in town. Would they know to call
me if he was in some kind of accident? That would explain why he never picked me up from
work . Attempting to open the door—which
when one or the other weren’t home, was usually left
unlocked—Veronica noticed the deadbolt was set. Not even the porch
light was on. She knocked a few times with no answer before
fumbling through her purse to find her keys. Her stomach twisted
into knots as she opened the door. Worry shot through her like
little zaps of electricity. Where is
he? Setting her purse on the floor in the
entryway, she felt for the light switch in the hall. With a flick
of her finger, the front part of the house lit up. As Veronica
wandered further into the house, she caught movement in the dining
room. She stopped moving.
    The silhouette looked to be of someone
sitting down, but she wasn’t sure. Perhaps her mind was playing
tricks on her. As she began to walk again, the silhouette started
to rise from its seated position. Her heart leapt into her
throat.
    “ Ar-Arthur, is that
you?”
    She had nightmares for months after she
found her parents murdered. The dreams never started the same.
Sometimes she was walking alone in the dark, or she was home alone
in her bed sleeping, when someone would attack her and try to kill
her. Those images raced through her mind. Backing away slowly, she
knew it was too good to be true. There was no way she was sleeping.
With every step backwards she took, the dark figure took one
towards her. When the silent shape reached the doorway of the
dining room, its hand reached out. A scream caught in Veronica’s
throat as the light popped on. There standing in the dining room
threshold was Arthur. Relief washed over Veronica. Her hand lifted
to hold her chest, as to contain her pounding heart.
    “ Arthur, you scared me.”
Her voice shook—her whole body was shaking. She needed to sit
down.
    “ Didn’t you hear me
knocking on the door? Why in the world are you sitting in the
dark?” Her knees felt like jello as she tried to walk. There was a
chance she might not make it to a chair, so she chose to lean
against the wall. Letting the wall support her, she needed to close
her eyes for a second.
    “ Where have you been,
Veronica? Your workday ended hours ago.”
    His words slurred and Veronica’s eyes popped
open.
    “ Arthur,