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She had pushed her father from her mind enough that her body had granted her sleep.
The familiar smells of bacon and coffee wafted up the stairs. Her stomach rumbled, and she sat up, yawning. Maybe her new nephews and niece would be downstairs laughing and enjoying the meal.
Bella rose and donned a fuzzy pink bathrobe lying on the chair next to the bed. It was luxurious, like the one she’d worn at the hotel for Rita’s wedding. Her clothes at home were always thin and flimsy. Father often spoke about the value of saving money, which nearly always resulted in threadbare dresses and drafty rooms.
Nothing like this house.
How long would Rita and Grayson let her stay here? Obviously at some point, she’d have to go out on her own, but if they let her live with them until she could get on her feet, it would be like a dream.
Downstairs, Rita sat at the kitchen table behind a laptop. She gave Bella an easy smile. “Good morning. How’d you sleep?”
“It was hard to relax.”
“I remember those days. Don’t be hard on yourself. You’re basically escaping a war zone, and it’s going to take time to recover.”
Bella sat across from her. “What was it like for you?”
“Let’s talk over food. Do you want bacon and eggs with coffee?”
Her stomach rumbled loudly, answering the question for her.
Rita laughed and got up. “I’ll take that as a yes. Grayson made extra of everything this morning, so there’s plenty. Probably more than you can eat, so don’t be shy.”
“Grayson cooked?” Bella could hardly imagine a man doing such menial work.
“He loves it. I practically have to fight him if I want to make anything for breakfast.” She grabbed a plate and loaded food onto it.
“It doesn’t make him question his manhood?”
“He’s confident in who he is and doesn’t feel the need to prove himself to anyone. Making breakfast helps him get into the right mindset for the day.” Rita put the full plate in front of Bella, grabbed a mug, then went to the coffee machine.
“It must be nice to live with a man who’s so happy and generous.” Bella ate some of the scrambled eggs. They melted in her mouth.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m glad you got out of the cult, so you can look forward to the same one day.”
Bella jolted. If she’d had food in her mouth, she’d have choked. “Cult?”
Rita didn’t even hesitate. “That’s what it is.”
“You really think the church is a cult?”
“I know it is.” Rita set the mug of frothy coffee in front of Bella.
“Acult?” Bella could hardly wrap her mind around it.
Rita nodded and sipped from her own mug.
“Don’t you think that’s a little harsh?”
“They’reharsh. A real church wouldn’t be cruel and sadistic.”
“But… but what about all the good they do? Some missionaries just returned from building an orphanage in South America. And Mother serves at the food bank every month.”
“You can dress up a pile of steaming garbage, but it’s still a pile of steaming garbage.”
Bella opened her mouth to say something, but no words came. Mostly because her sister was right.
The fact that Bella was as terrified of her father and Neil proved as much. Dealing with a cult made her situation more dire. She wasn’t fighting her family and so-called fiancé. She was fighting a whole organization with warped values and no compunction for breaking laws to get their way.
