Let It Be Me (Triplets book 1)

Chapter 3

Ophelia sat heavily on the small sofa and took a deep breath. Okay, she needed to be realistic, she thought. She would not be ruined if they went back to Oak Island. She had never broken the law or done anything horrible, but she had spent a youth filled with humiliation, and she didn't want the Richards family to know that side of her.

In L.A, she had it all together. She was competent, attractive, and needed. Back home, she was a nobody, an outcast, and if they discovered it, then they might start to see her that way as well.

Ophelia rested her head in her hands and gave a little moan. It was going to be embarrassing, humiliating, awful, and she could see no way of getting out of it.

Polly's wet nose nudged her arm in greeting or consolation.

"You'll still love me, right girl?" she asked as she buried her head in the dog's fur. Polly was a black and white Pitbull mix. She had a large destructive tail and the kindest eyes.

Polly wagged her tail in agreement then gave a little whine.

"You're Daddy's here to get you!" Polly stood up and danced from paw to paw at the news. "Do you want to go out one more time before you hit the road?"

Polly ran to the door and waited patiently for Ophelia to open it and release her into the lush backyard. One of the perks of the job had been the cottage, and she loved it. At first, she had commuted from an apartment on the wrong side of town, but when Reyna realized she would stay, she had offered her the cottage.

It worked surprisingly well for all of them. When Richards' traveled, she could house sit, and her commute was non-existent. Reyna had been very respectful of her off time and didn't bother her unless it was a dire emergency, but then she was the same with her kids. She was not a needy woman and enjoyed being on her own as much as she enjoyed being the life of the party. She was someone that Ophelia aspired to be.

Ophelia opened the door and let Polly out. Getting to keep Polly for Sullivan was a perk of her job. She had always wanted a dog, and she kept Polly so often, it was as if she was partly her dog.

Polly immediately ran towards the small four-foot fence surrounding the ground's keepers shed and started to paw at something.

Ophelia walked towards her and leaned down to notice that she had lost her favorite toy behind the fence, and she was trying to get it back. It must have happened earlier that morning, right before she decided to jump up on Ophelia. Perhaps that was why she had jumped up on her.

Ophelia walked around to the gate and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. She leaned over it and noticed that it was padlocked. Why on earth did it need to be padlocked? With a sigh, because it really wasn't her morning, she walked back towards Polly, where she was trying to dig her way under the fence.

"Stop, Polly!" Ophelia demanded, and the dog listened and sat with a whine.

"I'll try, but I don't think my arms are long enough, girl." Ophelia hiked up her sleeves on her silk blouse and leaned over the fence. She immediately heard fabric ripping and muttered under her breath.

The toy was within fingers reach, and she wiggled forward a little more, grabbing it, but as she went to straighten up, she realized she was too top-heavy, and her hips were on the wrong side of the fence. When she pushed up off the ground, she couldn't get enough leverage.

She could keep going forward, but then she'd be in the same situation only with a slobbery dog in her face.

Ophelia took a deep breath and started to think. Maybe if she pushed off the fence and not the ground, she tried it only to have her face hit the fence. The pickets were now digging into her hips and starting to hurt.