Page 4 of The Wish List
She was alone.
And like it or not, she owed Shauna Myer an apology.
“I’ll go talk to her now,” Beth said, digging her fingernails into her palms until the pain dulled the ache in her chest.
He moved up another step.
“Preferably in private,” she clarified, “unless you don’t trust me for that.”
The stranger studied her for a long moment before nodding. “I trust you.”
Emotion clogged her throat at the simple statement. She was worse off than she’d imagined.
“Thanks.” She gestured to the empty stairwell. “I’ll leave you to it then. Enjoy.”
The metal fire door shut behind her with a satisfying creak and bang, leaving the enigmatic stranger behind.
CHAPTER TWO
TRINITYCARLYLEWENTstock-still at the sound of a branch cracking nearby. She knew squatting in the woods on the side of a two-lane highway at dusk wasn’t the smartest choice for a pit stop but these were desperate times.
She’d gotten pretty efficient over the past several days driving from the Rocky Mountains to her hometown of Magnolia, North Carolina, and managed to slot in her bathroom breaks so that she’d made decent time on the trip even though she had to stop every few hours.
When she’d left for the West the morning after her high school graduation almost nine years ago, she’d made it to Colorado—over fifteen hundred miles away—in a day and a half. At that point, she’d been fueled by energy drinks and cheap chocolate. Neither of which she’d continued to rely on once she’d decided to stay in the mountain time zone. Okay, she still appreciated a daily cup of coffee and the occasional candy bar, but who didn’t?
However, things were different now and mainlining caffeine while binging on chocolate wasn’t an option in her condition. So the drive had taken longer. She knew her sisters were irritated with her, and neither of them understood why she couldn’t hop on a plane and arrive in North Carolina a few hours later.
It wasn’t a discussion Trinity was willing to have over the phone, but she was here now, the night before Thanksgiving. She’d made it back for the start of the holiday season, which her oldest sister, Beth, had told her was non-negotiable.
Although Trinity was dead tired, she was driving directly to the rehab center where her mother was staying as she recovered from the stroke that had shocked all of them. As much as Trinity didn’t relish returning to her mother’s house, right now she’d pay good money for the lumpy twin-size bed of her childhood and a soft blanket.
Leaves crunched, snapping her mind back to the present, and she started to hum her favorite Dolly Parton Christmas song. Darkness was quickly taking over the shadowy woods. Trinity shouldn’t be scared. She’d hiked the backcountry of the Rockies and Bitterroot mountains for years. Why did the forest surrounding Magnolia feel so ominous?
She was projecting her anxiety and gave herself a mental headshake when a deer made its way across the clearing in front of her. She had nothing to worry about, she reminded herself. Not here.
Nothing bad had ever happened to her in Magnolia, at least in comparison to what she’d experienced after leaving town. But those experiences were behind her for the moment. She finished pulling up her black leggings and carefully made her way back to her car, now singing loudly, only to find she was no longer alone on the side of the road.
A dark SUV with blue-and-red lights flashing from the roof had parked behind her. Trinity gave a mental eye roll. She must have been passed by a couple of dozen speed racers on the various interstates she traveled and not one had been pulled over that she’d seen. She’d parked on the shoulder for five minutes, and a cop had managed to find her. Just her luck.
“Can I help you, Officer?” she called as she approached her car, making her voice sound confident, like it was no big deal.
A uniformed man appeared from the front of her hatchback. “I was going to ask you the same question, ma’am.”
Trinity nearly smiled at that. Ma’am. Had she ever been called ma’am? “I just needed a potty break,” she said with what she hoped was a charming shrug.
As the man drew closer, her breath hitched and she tugged on the oversized sweatshirt she wore to hide her belly.
Not that her sisters would be fooled, but she didn’t want to advertise her condition to every Tom, Dick and Johnny Law she encountered on the trip. Especially not one who looked like something out of a Hollywood Western. Broad-shouldered, square-jawed with warm brown eyes that glittered even in the strange glow from his vehicle’s light bar.
She reminded herself she wasn’t embarrassed about her pregnancy, just private. There was a difference.
“We recommend using rest stops for that sort of thing around here.” His gaze raked over her like he was searching for something.
Trinity couldn’t imagine what or that he’d find it with her. Maybe once upon a time she would have wanted to turn this moment into some kind of meet cute. To flirt and laugh with a respectable stranger. Trinity used to laugh all the time, easily finding the joy and adventure in even life’s tiniest moments.
Not so much these days. Safety and security were priorities, although she hadn’t done a bang-up job of attracting either into her world.
The officer’s gaze moved away from her to the broken wine bottle on the gravel behind her car. She sighed. Apparently, today was not the day her luck would change.
