Page 54 of You're the Reason

Her brow creased into a frown. “You gave up your entire Saturday for me. Let me do this.”

“No.” The carriage was almost to the bottom of the wheel. He moved across the bench closer to the door.

She sent him one last frown as the door opened. Then stood and exited, not stopping to wait for him. So much for their fun day. His mom had a way of ruining everything in his life. Grace could frown all she wanted, but he wasn’t taking her anywhere near Muskegon Heights or his mother.

ten

That unfinished sentence had the power to mess with her mind like nothing else Grace had ever known. I know... what? I know I still care about you or I know it would have never worked? Both possibilities. Both very different statements. Grace crossed her arms, watching the road go by out the passenger window of Seth’s Lumina as they headed north on 31.

They had talked about a lot on the drive home—her class, his new plan for a ninja gym, even about the upcoming fall festival—but they hadn’t circled back to finishing that sentence, and he refused to discuss stopping at his mom’s. And here she’d thought for a moment there on the Centennial Wheel that she was finally getting to see behind the armored wall he kept around himself.

At least she had talked him into stopping to buy the groceries when they were passing through Holland but now that they were approaching the Muskegon exit, he was back behind his thick armor, refusing to budge on the idea of dropping her off in Heritage before taking the food to his mom.

“Do you honestly think I’m such a snob that I couldn’t handle being at your mom’s place?” From the stories, she could guess his mom lived in a not-so-nice place, but was that really the reason?

“It’s just not a good idea. That place is not for you.”

“What’s the big deal? I go to Muskegon three times a week for my doctor appointments. How different can Muskegon Heights be? According to Apple Maps, they’re only ten minutes apart.”

“They just are, okay?”

The wholething just didn’t make sense. Unless for some reason he was embarrassed of her. Her gaze unfocused reducing the passing foliage to a blur of dark green out her window.

His phone buzzed, and his gaze flicked to it, but he didn’t pick it up. His hands gripped tighter on the wheel.

That wasn’t good. “Do you want me to read it to you?”

There was a long pause, and Grace had given up on him answering when he finally let out a slow breath. “You’d better.”

Grace lifted the phone. “It’s from your mom.”

He didn’t react so she supposed he already knew that. “Hey, Sethy, Jim said I could borrow his car so I can drive up to you in Heritage. Leaving soon.”

“Ugh,” Seth practically growled into the car. He looked at Grace, then flipped on his blinker, his jaw tight. “Text back that we’ll be there in ten and we already have food.”

She did as he said, then waited until the three little dots produced a heart emoji. When she looked up, he was pulling into a gas station but chose a spot alone rather than going to a pump.

“I know you don’t think it’s a big deal, but you have to trust me and do exactly what I say,” he said suddenly.

“What?”

He looked at her across the car, his gaze intense. Gone were the warm brown eyes that she’d seen in Chicago. What had she gotten herself into?

“At my mom’s. You have to stay with me at all times and if I say no to something, it’s no. Meet me by the trunk, we need to fix all that.” He motioned to, well, all of her, then he cut the engine and climbed out.

Ouch.

She climbed out and walked to where he’d just opened the trunk. He turned and let his gaze rake over her. Not in the same way as earlier. His eyes were distant, hard, and calculating. “First your bag needs to go in the trunk. Along with anything on you that has any value whatsoever.”

He circled back and pulled her duffel from the back seat and tossed it in the trunk. “Not only do we not want it stolen out of the car, but my mother is a master at pickpocketing. I’m not having her take that fancy watch off your wrist when you’re not looking.”

“I think you’re being a bit dramatic.” She slipped off her watch and added it to her bag, then her necklace.

“I’m not. Trust me. Take down your bun.” He pulled his stocking cap off and handed it to her. “Put this on and tuck as much of your hair in there as possible.”

“I will look ridiculous—what will your mom think of me?”

“Hopefully, she won’t think of you.”

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