Read PS01 - Tall, Dark & Lonely for Free Online Page A

and Candy knew it. She wasn’t going to hide behind
    the kids any longer.
    “There are no drugs, no drinking, and no men in your room. Also, we have three male guests. You are not to become involved
    with any of them. Am I understood?”
    The pout was gone. It was replaced by the bitch look. Her eyes were narrowed, her arms were folded over her chest and her
    jaw was set. “And if I don’t agree?”
    Grandma smiled. “Then don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”
    Candy ground her jaw once again. There was nowhere for her to go and no money. She was trapped. She nodded slowly.
    “Good.” She turned to look at Madison. “I almost forgot, if you give your mother any money I will throw you out. You’re not
    doing her any favors by letting her take advantage of you and you’re not helping yourself. You’ve done enough and you don’t
    owe her anything. Am I understood?”
    Madison could only stare and nod. “Good. Well, let’s get you to your rooms.”
    Chapter 2
    She ran her fingers over the quilt that covered her queen size bed and looked around her new room. It was very large, beautiful,
    spacious and all hers. It overlooked a large backyard. Their old trailer overlooked a tire factory and smelled horribly. This
    room overlooked an apple orchard and swimming pool. This was like the Ritz for her. Even sharing an adjoining bathroom
    with a strange man didn’t dampen her good mood.
    Grandma swore the man was nice, clean and hardly ever home. He was only home to shower, which Grandma admitted he did
    two or three times a day. The man was a shower addict as she liked to put it. He was also a detective for the state police and
    was assigned locally.
    For the past two years the detective rented his room and her room, but had lived here for three. He couldn’t tolerate sharing the
    bathroom with anyone and hated having anyone close by. He needed peace and quiet. The three people that rented the room
    before he took over it were anything but quiet. As soon as the last one moved out he informed Grandma that he was paying for
    it so that it would remain empty.
    A week ago Grandma asked the man for a favor. She needed the room for her granddaughter. The man knew about the situation
    and was sympathetic. After promising that Madison was a quiet, respectful woman he agreed. He seemed to think that any
    woman who raised her siblings and put herself through college deserved a chance. His only stipulation, everyone leave him
    alone. He was a loner.
    Grandma said he was nice and helped her out, but didn’t talk to anyone and didn’t join the rest of the house for meals. Grandma
    liked the detective. He helped take care of troublesome renters in the past and as a thank you Grandma made sure that everyone
    left the detective alone.
    It was more than fine with Madison. Their rooms were on the back addition of the house above the large storage room her
    Grandmother used to store everything from her old motorcycles to extra tables. They were well away from the rest of the
    rooms which meant peace and quiet. They also had their own entrance off their short hallway that connected their rooms to the
    main house. Her grandmother was really going out of her way for her.
    There was a room near her mother that was open, but Grandma was trying to give her some freedom and a much needed break.
    The kids were forbidden to come to this section of the house out of respect for the detective. That’s what Grandma said. In
    truth, it was probably for her as well. She understood that Madison came here not out of desperation, but out of love for her
    brother and sister. One which she hoped that she could save.
    She walked back to her laptop computer and scrolled down. “Finally,” she mumbled.
    Last week she discovered that her mother memorized her account number and password. She transferred two hundred of
    Madison’s hard earned dollars to her own account. She had a feeling Jill helped her, seeing how both of them came home