Kate James - The Truth About Hope

“You should tell her,” Morris said to Priscilla. “She needs to know.”

Priscilla stared intently at her hands. “It’s not something she should worry about.”

“It certainly is,” Morris replied with more heat than Hope had ever seen the stoic chauffeur exhibit.

“I’m sitting right here! Please don’t talk as if I am not. Tell me what ?” Having already gone through the gamut of emotions, Hope felt her stomach tense once more. She slid her gaze from Morris to Priscilla.

Morris sat down and took Priscilla’s hand in his. “She needs to know, since you’ll both have to be careful.”

“Careful about what ?”

Priscilla drew in a huge breath. “Your father confronted me, when he got back from the pound. He said I was growing too close to you.”

“I don’t understand. We’ve been careful. He doesn’t know we’re friends.”

Morris passed Priscilla a fresh tissue so she could dab at her eyes. “We have been, yes, but maybe not enough. You see, I defied him when he was taking Einstein to the pound. So when he got back, he reprimanded me for being...insubordinate.”

Morris snorted.

“He said how dare I question his decision-making, and that I was forgetting my place because of our relationship. Yours and mine.”

Morris cut in. “How could she forget? She works insanely long hours, even though she’s supposed to be done by five.”

Hope watched as Priscilla patted Morris’s knee, and she wondered if she’d missed something between her two friends.

“Anyway, your father said I had to stop being friendly with you,” Priscilla told her apologetically.

“Yeah. He said she was just the help , and if she didn’t know her place, she’d be easy to replace.”

Priscilla choked back a sob. “Your father pays very well, and even with all the help I get from Molly’s grandmothers, I need the income for her.”

Hope knew how dedicated Priscilla was to her daughter, and she was fully aware of Molly’s special needs. “You won’t lose your job,” she assured her, and the plan she’d formulated on the drive home gelled in her mind. She had to leave her father’s house, not only because of Einstein, but because of her friends. She couldn’t let Priscilla or any of them suffer on her account. She was about to tell them about her decision, but if her father found out that they knew, he would just as likely fire them both.

No, she couldn’t take them into her confidence. “I’ll think of something,” she said vaguely. She turned her attention to Morris. “I can’t take Einstein into the house with me until I get things sorted out. Could we set up a space for him in the garage again, like you did when he was a puppy?” She forced a rueful smile. “But this time so he can’t escape?”

Morris ran a hand along Einstein’s back, as he lay at their feet. “That won’t be necessary. He can stay here in my apartment for as long as you want. If he’s here or out in the back, your father won’t know.”

“I appreciate it. Please keep him out of everyone’s sight,” Hope added as she stood, Einstein clambering up beside her. She hugged them both. “I promise it won’t be long.”

She already knew the issue would be resolved in a week. She and Einstein would be gone the day after she turned eighteen.

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