Open Eyes (Open Skies) Read Online Free

freelance clothing designer in the city. She had spent almost two months at Open Skies after she had been attacked and badly beaten in New York. Tammy and Rob didn’t live together – yet – but they were together in every other sense of the word. They were happy and making it work, and Tammy just glowed with love every time Julie saw her.
    “Yeah. Tammy. Open Skies gave her a second chance, right? It was a place for her to heal and recover and get strong and figure out what she really wanted. The whole reason she’s living in my sister’s rental apartment and designing clothing is because she came here, right? This place brought her new chances and opportunities.”
    “And new people,” Julie teased him.
    He blushed a bit. “Yeah.”
    “Well, OK. That’s all true.”
    “So, this place changed your life and it changed Tammy’s. I don’t know why, but I think Open Skies can do the same for Vicky Thompson – I think it can be her new beginning. I even really want it to be.” He thought for a second. “I don’t know, Julie. Something about Vicky just really – speaks to me. I feel like this woman needs a break, badly. She needs something to give her a bit of faith.”
    “So, what are you saying?”
    “I’m saying that I agree with you, Julie. She’s my preferred candidate, too.”
    “Really?”
    “Really.” Rob pushed Grant’s CV to the side and tapped his index finger on Vicky’s. “Let’s give Ms. Thompson a break, a bit of faith, a new life. Here. With us.”

Chapter Two
     
    Vicky hung up the phone on the table and sat rigid on the lumpy single bed for a full ten seconds, shaking and staring out the window at the motel parking lot.
    Oh, my God. OH, MY GOD. I got the job!
    She wasn’t sure yet if she wanted to laugh and dance, cry from relief, or run screaming from yet another new life situation; all she knew for sure was that she had to call her mother.
    She reached in to her purse for the burner cell phone she had bought before fleeing to Colorado. It had only one number saved in its phone book, and she dialed it.
    Her mother answered on the fourth ring. “Vicky?’
    “Hi, Mom.”
    “Are you OK?”
    “Yeah, really OK. How about you and Sonia?”
    “Good, good. We’re at the playground.”
    “Which one?”
    “The small one near Ben’s friend’s apartment building.”
    “The private, gated one?”
    “That’s right.”
    Vicky relaxed. “So, good news, Mom. I got the job, at the hotel and ranch near the Rockies.”
    Diana Morgan clutched the burner phone that Vicky had given her and sat down heavily on the nearest bench. She closed her eyes as the relief flooded through her. “Oh, Vicky. Thank God, darling.”
    “I know, Mom.” Vicky felt the tears start even as she smiled. “It’s going to change everything for us. We can start to live normal lives again. Soon.”
    Diana was silent, thinking about the past three months. It had been rough on her and Sonia, no doubt about that, but she knew that Vicky had really been through the wringer. She could hear the stress and worry and fear growing in her daughter’s voice every time they spoke.
    Vicky had left almost every penny she had with Diana, and she had kept almost nothing for herself. This meant one hell of a long bus ride from Kansas to Colorado and horrible motels in dangerous areas and lots of skipped meals. She had travelled light – Vicky had run with literally the clothes on her back and one small suitcase – but she had made sure that Diana and Sonia had everything they might need.
    Thank God for Ben: he had offered without one second of hesitation to take in Diana and Sonia, to hide them and keep them safe. That meant that they didn’t have to pay for hotels, but Diana had insisted on contributing for food. She had been militant about keeping the costs down, and God knows she and Sonia entertained themselves for free at playgrounds and open-air fountains and public parks… but still. The money was disappearing