Page 43 of All Inn Thyme
“Heading out?” He smiles and waves at Kase, who cheerfully waves back, grinning and kicking his little feet in his seat.
“Yeah. Thanks for the boots,” I say, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him close.
His eyes light up and he slides his arms back around me and pulls me in for a kiss. He holds me for a minute, and he smells like leather, oil, gasoline, and woodsy spice, even after a twelve-hour shift. When he pulls back, he watches my mouth then kisses me one more time.
“I like that,” he says.
“I’ve decided I do, too.”
“Do you now?” he says, towing me over to the side of the car and caging me in with his arms on either side of me.
“Maybe.” I smirk as he leans in and kisses me again. “See you tonight, Ty,” I call over my shoulder as I turn around to get in the car. I chance one more look as we drive away, finding him still watching me, and he waves.
I get to come home to him.
* * *
My rooms take longer than usual to clean because I can’t stop my mind from wandering to Ty. I keep waiting for the mask to fall like it did with Bradley. But it’s not there. Ty is just… Ty. He just keeps getting better and better and I’m not even sure how that’s possible at this point. He’s thoughtful, kind, and he thinks about us and wants to be around us. And he kisses me like he means it. And I meanmeansit.
After my rooms are done, I head out to the gardens with Kase. I’ve set up a little makeshift place for him inside the greenhouse where I keep a couple of chairs, a cooler with snacks and water, a basket of toys for him, and his little bike that he’s worn a path around the gardens with. He seems to be loving it, and when I watch him play, I know that this life suits us.
I can still remember the day Mitch told us that he’d help us. That was when I knew for the first time in a long time that everything was going to be okay. Kase was staring out the window when he whined, “Momma, I want to go outside to play.” He didn’t understand why he couldn’t go outside like a normal kid, but nothing about our life was normal. I wanted so badly to sit out there with him and feel the sun on our faces.
“Hi, Mr. Mitch,” I heard him call out the open window to the neighbor working on his pickup truck in his driveway across the street.
Mitch wiped his hands on a red grease rag and dropped it on the top of his engine. He then walked across the lawn to the window and said, “Hey, buddy, how are you?”
“I have a truck, too,” Kase said, proudly pressing his truck up against the window screen.
“Why don’t I see you riding your little bike anymore?” Mitch asked.
“My daddy says we’re not allowed outside anymore.”
I wanted to stop him from talking and to tell Mitch to go back home. I wanted to shut the window and hide, but I couldn’t help but wonder if Mitch could help us.
“Where’s your momma?” Mitch asked.
I joined Kase at the window. “Hi, Mitch,” I said softly, then told my son, “Baby, go get your big truck out of your toy box upstairs, okay? Let’s show Mitch your big blue one.”
Once he was out of earshot, I leaned in, knowing we didn’t have much time.
“Can you help us?”
“I’m going to be making a long-haul trip up north in a few weeks. I think I can make a few people disappear.”
“I have no money, nothing saved,” I told him. “We can’t leave the house anymore. He monitors everything.”
“You don’t need anything. Got a friend up there who could get you a job and keep you safe. Both of you.”
I nod, fearful but hopeful. “Thank you,” I told him, choking up, tears spilling down my cheeks, burning as they hit fresh cuts on my lip.
“Hold tight, honey. I’m going to get you out.”
He turned and whistled as he walked back across the lawn, just as Bradley pulled up out front. Bradley got out of his truck and slammed the door. He approached Mitch, who calmly lied. “I dropped off some mail I got of y’alls. Y’all doing good? Haven’t see y’all out and about for a minute.”
Mitch played it well and it seemed like Bradley believed him.
Then Bradley came inside, slamming the door shut, “Been talking to the neighbor, I see. Whoring yourself out again.”
