Pendelton Manor Read Online Free Page A

which was more than she could say about her new surroundings. The tour Adrian had given her was mind boggling and she was really wondering how one person could keep up with this place. As much as the daunting task of doing just that seemed impossible, she was actually looking forward to the challenge. Being a housekeeper for the wealthy had never been a long term plan of hers, just a means to an end while she got through school. But fate had a way of screwing with plans, and here she was at twenty-seven still working the same job she had begun in her teens when Shirley, her last foster parent, had allowed her to earn extra money by helping out with her housecleaning business. She had even allowed Sophie to remain living in her home after she turned eighteen so she could afford to go to school. Two years later, Shirley had agreed to take in two more teenagers and had given her the Tremaine account knowing that the guest cottage would be available to her and she would be able to continue with school, albeit at a slower pace.
    But after Emily’s birth, she hadn’t been able to go back to school right away. Childcare was too expensive and she had been so enthralled with her daughter, with having someone to love, someone who needed her for the first time in her life, that she had wanted to spend as much time as possible with her while she was young. But again fate intervened, and a year later Emily was diagnosed with a brain tumor and even though everything was tried to save her life, she watched her daughter slowly die over the next six months, and with her went every hope, every dream she had for their future. Emily’s death had left a yawning abyss in her life, the void causing a black chasm of never ending despair that she was constantly fighting against falling into, afraid she wouldn’t get back out.
    For the past two years she had been going through the days mechanically, doing nothing but working and grieving, her only outlet the monthly grief counseling sessions she attended for parents who had lost a child. The saying, ‘misery loves company’, was so true, and, as awful as it always sounded, she drew comfort from knowing she wasn’t the only one suffering every parent’s worst nightmare. It was her friends in this group that had encouraged her to get away, start over someplace new, someplace away from the memories. She was lucky, she wasn’t tied down and there was nothing, and no one to keep her in Phoenix. Emily’s father had been a one-time encounter, they had used a condom, and he had failed to believe she was his daughter. That didn’t bother Sophie because that meant she could have Emily all to herself, even if it had been for just a short while.
    Sophie turned from the window and crawled into bed finding the mattress soft just like she liked them. Sinking down, she stretched out, loving all the room the queen size bed afforded her. The sheets were soft against her bare legs and arms, the room lit dimly by a small night light and the sound of soft rainfall soothing. Getting to sleep at night was the hardest part of the day for her, the quiet solitude of the night reminding her of how she used to listen for every sound coming from Emily. But tonight, she found herself remembering the sounds of three people having sex, the snap of leather against bare flesh, the soft feminine cries of pleasure, the deeper masculine groans of release. How long had it been since she had allowed herself to feel any pleasure, lost herself in the ecstasy of an orgasm? While her two one night stands were anything but memorable experiences, her short affair with Mitch had given her many nights of pleasure. Even though their couplings were few and far between and they rarely had more than an hour to spend together when they did manage to meet, Mitch had always made sure he gave her pleasure and after seeing that remembered pleasure reflected on the faces of Nora, Adam and James, she had been reminded of how much she had enjoyed