Free Gaining Hope by Lacey Thorn Page A

the bride. It was something that she didn’t plan on doing. She still wasn’t sure exactly how her sister had managed to escape. She’d had word that Faith was married now and happy with a guy who once visited their town. They lived on the east coast somewhere. Hope had a postcard hidden in her room with the address. Once she made it out of this town, she’d find them and see her sister again.
    Her one shot was the fair coming to town. She planned to slip away during the festivities and if luck was with her she should make it to the Gulf and from there to safety.   All she had to do was find a boat to sneak onto and somehow manage to hide out there until they were too far out to turn back. She’d just go with them and eventually make it to Faith. She’d search for a nice older couple. Hell, anything would be better than the guy who was eagerly awaiting their honeymoon. She’d swim the entire Gulf of Mexico first!
    She slipped quietly down the hall, peeking into her three younger sisters’ rooms along the way. She hated to leave them behind. But sometimes life presented you with hard decisions and you just had to do what you could and hope for the best. She was leaving…and hoping for the best for those she left behind.

Chapter One
     
     
     
    Hope waited in the shadows of the early night fall, watching the older woman move about the boat. It looked as if she was preparing it to set sail and that was just what Hope had been searching for. The woman was sixty if she was a day and was humming as she worked. She would definitely help Hope get away once they were far enough out. Hope had no doubts that she could talk her into what she needed. A man would be different. She’d been ogled enough by men to know that her full breasts and curvy body filled most men with lust.
    Hope watched the woman leave the boat and head up the dock and knew that her moment was fast approaching. It was now or never. Once the woman was out of sight, she crept out from behind the storage building she was using for cover and sprinted down the dock to hop on board the boat. It rocked a little and Hope held her breath praying no one else was on board as she cautiously crept down the stairs below deck. She had to find a place that she could hide for an adequate amount of time. It wouldn’t do her any good if she was discovered before they even left.
    She entered a large bedroom and marvelled at the beauty within. The furniture was gorgeous and decidedly masculine. It was also immaculate. Hope had only seen the woman on the boat and with the condition of the room she wondered if it was even being used. Doing a fast search of the room she finally found what she was looking for in the closet. There were several blankets haphazardly thrown on the floor and she was able to make a small nest with them. The clothes hanging up helped to hide her.
    She snuggled down into the blankets and by pulling one up and over her, she was completely hidden from view. Hopefully, it would still just look like a pile of blankets. At five foot three she wasn’t all that tall anyway so she should be okay. She’d just stay here for as long as she could and when enough time had passed with the motor going, she would come up with a way to be discovered and take it from there. She’d always had a great imagination. She’d wait and create her story when the time was at hand. She was fairly good at that. For now she’d just take a little nap.
     
    Shawn and Tommy stood on the shore watching the water of the Gulf lap the sand. It was a beautiful sunset. In the last three months, they had managed to mend the rift caused by the woman Shawn almost married and both agreed never to let a woman come between them again.
    “You really think that we’ll find a woman who will want to spend the rest of her life with both of us?” Tommy asked, his hands deep in the pockets of his worn Levi’s.
    Shawn sighed and ran his fingers through thick hair already blown about by the breeze.