A Different World, Hayley Smith [good romance books to read txt] 📗

off of him, grass, and tiny twigs until his coat shined and I smiled, pulling on his collar I had made from a leather belt. In shiny silver paint it read 'Tripp'. I flashed him a big smiled and we ran down stairs, grabbing a bunch of little plastic bags for the minnows, then to the buckets outside, he grabbed the empty ones that had a string on them and we brought them to the lake, quickly catching more fish by scooping them up in the buckets, I had hiked up my dress so it didn't get wet, if it did my mom would be very mad.
Once I had finished, I helped Tripp grab to big buckets in his mouth and I picked up the rest in my hands and we began walking for town.
**Later**
We finally reached town and I had a smile on my face, though it had not been extremely pleasant walking on sharp things with bare feet, I had grown used to it and my feed were getting tougher over the years.
I saw the kids look up from counting there coins and saw me, running towards me as I set the buckets down next to the Butchers where Danny, the owner, had built a stand for me. He was like a father to me, always helping if my mom got hurt from walking home and he paid good for the fish I brought him.

"Hey Trey," I said as a little boy smiled at me, he had curly brown hair like his mother Alexa, and bright blue eyes like his father Trevar.

"Hi Julie! My Mama said I can get another lil' fishy, the last one died... He lived longer though since Papa changed his water a couple times," Trey blurted out, he was a very hyper kid. I took out my best looking minnow, putting him in one of the small bags and tied it in a knot along with some water so he wouldn't die.

"'Kay, now make sure our Mama takes him out, not you, he's a floppy fella," I said and he nodded, rushing away after handing me fifty cents which I put in a small sack attached to Tripp's collar.
I sold the minnows to the rest of the kids, making money quickly, enough to buy the pie my mother had looked at the other day, and I smiled as I lifted the buckets with the largest fish and headed inside the butcher's shop.

"Hey Danny, I've got the fish," I called and I heard heavy footsteps before Danny appeared, burly as ever as he walked over, looking at the fish and he grinned widely.

"You never cease to amaze me, Juliet, these are at least worth fifteen dollars all together," He said in his rough voice and my smile got bigger, fifteen dollars meant I could buy my mom more things that would make her happier.

"Thanks, I was hoping they would be better, this one here is new, never seen it before in my life," I said, pointing at a bucket with a single large fish in it.

"That's a carp, bottom feeders, they have lots O' nutrition," I heard his voice say as I watched the fish swim in circles and I nodded as he handed me the money and I held it tight in my hand "Bye, Juliet," he said and I turned and waved at him before walking out, he knew I was a person of few words, only talking more to people I knew, usually people thought I was giving them the silent treatment.
When I was out, I saw Tripp waiting patiently at the stall, guarding the left over fish, I had empty buckets so I placed them behind the stall, I didn't want to bring them home at the moment, I had selling and buying to do.

"Today was a good day, Tripp, your new bone will be double tasty, and Mother will get the pie she wanted, and a dress," I spoke softly to him as he curled up beside me, his head by my foot as I sat on a stool behind the stand.
The stand was wood, a table like thing with two shelves below that held my buckets and bags, and some worms I had found in dirt inside a cup with a lid that had holes in it. The sign on top read 'Fish & Bait' in a pink-purple color. I smiled as I waited for people to come, a breeze blew by and I shivered, grabbing a old blanket from a shelf and bundled myself in it while Tripp's body heat kept my feet warm.
I began reading my book that I had brought in my undergarments and I was flipping a page when someone walked up, judging my the heavy footsteps, it had to be male. I put the vine bookmark in and looked up, my eyes widening as I saw the gold crown on top of his blond haired head. He had brilliant green eyes and wore a suit fit for a prince... oh no...

"Two bass, and a couple minnows," He said in a deep voice that I found enticing, but I shrugged it away and poured four minnows in a bag, knotting it and handing it to him, avoiding skin contact and eye contact as I bagged the two bass in larger bags, knotting them also.

"Be careful, the minnows flop quickly," I said quietly and he slapped down a ten dollar bill on the table loudly making Tripp jump up and growl at him, standing in front of me as I stroked his fur, barely trying to calm him down since the prince had been rude, I hated rude people no matter how handsome or wealthy they were.

"Calm the mutt down," The prince muttered and I glared at him as did Tripp as he snarled again.

"Whatever," I muttered then spoke softly in Tripp's ear "We're done, we can go home," I put the money in his collar sack and smiled when I saw the prince was gone, happy I wasn't going to get in trouble. I emptied the buckets with only water, which was all of them, and put them on the shelves before standing from the chair and taking the blanket of from around myself, folding it, and putting it away. My brown eyes twinkled as I walked towards the bakery, buying my moms pie and then Tripp's bone which he held triumphantly in his mouth, his head high. I held the pie tight in two arms, wrapped around it. My mom had said it was a mango pie, but I didn't know what mango was, but it had to be good for her to drool over it.
"Home, Tripp," I said softly and we both ran for the forest, my long hair whipping in the wind behind me, unaware that someone was watching us.

Prince

's POV
I smirked as I turned away from the women that looked like a hag under the blanket, I had probably under paid her, but she seemed happy to have ten dollars, I had way more than that.
I sauntered over to the carriage and stepped in, holding the fish out "Someone has to cook dinner," I called and someone stepped forward, my brother, even though he was older, I was the next one in line for the throne.

"Go get some beef, I heard there's a butcher here," My brother, Niall, said. I sighed and nodded my head, I felt like a servant when he told me to do things. I handed him the fish then turned around, walking back out and to the butcher's shop. As I was about to walk in, I spotted a girl running towards the forest, she had the longest and prettiest hair I had ever seen, I watched for a couple of seconds before walking inside, not seeing the dog that was ahead of her and just entering the forest. I walked up to the bulky man and ordered two pounds of beef.

"Who's that girl?" I asked, pointing out the window as the girl was about at the trees.

"That's me daughter, well, sort of," The burly man said, chopping up meat in perfect slices.

"Your daughter?" I asked, she had dark brown hair, while he had dark red.

"No, not really, but she might as well be, her mama is away a lot for work, I practically raised her since she was seven," He said and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

"Oh, well what's her story?" I asked curiously, I thought I shouldn't have when he stiffened as he finished cutting and started packaging.

"Oi, we don't talk about that around here, but I'll tell ya anyway since ya the prince," He said, his face grim as he started, "Her pa, he was a bad man, gettin' home late smelling like other women, Maria, her ma, finally gathered the courage to kick him out, even though they weren't married, she helped kick him out, hitting him with her Teddy, threatened to kill em to after a year unless she visited 'im, she visited for a few minutes and a week later he tried again, we chased him outta town after that," he said, finishing packaging the meat and handing it over "He hasn't come back since, it's been nine years, she gets along fine, sells fish to everyone and worms, makes a living off of that, she has a dog, I believe called Tripp from tripping a lot, had him for five years, since he was a pup, they live in a cabin in the forest, she's very territorial, nobody goes out there to talk, they wait for her to come to them, and believe me, she's no lady, but that's pretty much it," he finished, leaving me shocked as I absorbed every drop of information he had provided, hating the part that I had been incredibly rude to her and I had no excuse.

"What's her name?" I asked and he grinned, taking the money I handed him.

"Juliet Capulet, but she's nothing like the one in the book, and be careful, she doesn't like it when men take a fancy to her, one ended up with a broken jaw and nose, another came home soaked to the bone, and another with the dog's bite marks, some of the people who fancy her call it a demon dog, but believe me, it helps her stay alive," He said and turned and left, leaving me gaping that he had guessed.

I turned, holding the meat in one hand and I jogged back to the carriage and climbed inside, tossing the meat to Niall's waiting hands.
"There," I said breathlessly as I went over the information in my head, not hearing it when Niall tried to talk to me and ended up poking me and I jumped.

"I said, did you see that beautiful girl with the dog heading into the woods?" Niall asked and I glared at him, nodding stiffly and he grinned, slouching back in a seat as a servant took the meat to cook it.

Melodies

They Play On And On In Your Head

Prince

's POV

After eating, I wandered out of the carriage, going for a walk wherever my feet would lead me. The sun was close to setting, but there was another hour before it got