Page 51 of Longest Ride

When the boys were heading up to bed, he changed his clothes and went out the back door. Sneaking out on his kids gave him a guilty feeling, but he did it anyway. Couldn’t seem to help himself.

When he got to the Run, Tara was sitting alone in a booth waiting for him. She smiled as he slid into the seat across from her and he said she looked pretty.

He felt stupid after saying something so fuckin lame, but it was too late to take it back.

They barely knew each other, and he had no idea why he was drawn to her.

They drank a couple of pitchers of Miller, danced to all the slow songs and didn’t talk much.

She told him about moving to Coyote Creek. A transfer to work at this branch of the Credit Union. She didn’t know anybody in town. Only the girls she worked with at the bank.

He told her nothing about himself. Best that way, and she didn’t seem to care. Didn’t ask any probing questions.

When he figured he’d better get home and get some sleep, he walked her out to her truck. Gently, he pushed her up against the side of the load bed and kissed her.

“Are you going to call me again, Travis?”

“Sure.”

Walking to his own truck on the other side of the parking lot, he saw Brooke—one of the servers at the Inn—and he cursed under his breath.

The way his luck was running, Olivia would know all about Tara by the next day, and that would make things awkward between them. More than awkward.

“Fuck.”

Prescott Residence. Midway. Texas.

I parked the stolen SUV behind Eldon’s house, jumped out and glanced around to see if anybody had seen me drive into his place.

None of the neighbors were in their yards.

I let myself in the back door with the key, walked through Eldon’s house breathing in his scent and trying to forget what he said to me at the hospital.

“He didn’t mean it. I know he didn’t.”

I rested on the sofa for a few minutes wishing the two of us could live here in Texas in Eldon’s cute house, but we couldn’t let the cops catch us. It was the first place they’d look for Eldon.

“He’s not the Interstate Rage Killer. I know it.”

One more look through each of the rooms to see if there was anything Eldon would need. I couldn’t see anything he’d forgotten the first time he left.

“He took everything he wanted.”

I locked up the house, jumped into the cab of the Freightliner and started her up. Eldon loved his truck and he’d be so happy to be back on the road.

The drive back to Huntsville didn’t take long. I chose a truck stop on the edge of town and parked in a long line of trucks. I blended in—except for not having a trailer on—and none of the other drivers would even notice me.

I shut the engine off, crawled into the sleeper, curled up with Eldon’s pillow and went to sleep.

Chapter Eleven

Sunday, September 29th.

Love’s Truck Stop. Huntsville. Texas.

I woke up in the sleeper alone and cried for Eldon. In my head, I went over the plan I was going to follow to get him out of the hospital and into the truck.

Inside the building, I used the bathroom. I washed my face and hands in the sink and dried my face with scratchy brown paper towels.

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