Page 11 of Traces Of You
“Did you stay in a hotel last night? Or drive through the night? You’ve got to be sleeping somewhere.”
He doubted it was in her car. She was clean as if she was showering.
Her hair was combed, her eyes awake, her clothes not wrinkled.
“Cash for a hotel,” she said.
She was volunteering more than he was asking.
“Let’s go somewhere and talk,” he said. “Give me an hour. Will an hour make that much of a difference in your destination?”
Her chest was rising and falling while she thought.
“No. But not where anyone can see us.”
Which was tricky. “If I let you pull away from here, you won’t try to leave, will you?”
She snorted. “Do I look stupid? You’ll just put your lights on and pull me over.”
He smirked. “That’s right.”
“Where can we go that won’t draw a lot of eyes?”
“My place,” he said. “It’s set back off the road between here and Warrensburg. No one will see your car.” But that meant she’d have to follow him and she could dodge him and take off. “Ride with me.”
“And people will see,” she said.
He stood up, his thighs burning from being in the crouch for so long.
He had to give her something to earn her trust. It was like she said, she couldn’t get far from him.
“Where do you want to go?”
“Do your parents still have the farm?”
“They do,” he said. She’d be in for a shock though when she got to the property. It’d changed significantly from twenty years ago.
“Can we go there?”
“Sure,” he said. “Do you remember the way?”
“I’ll never forget,” she whispered.
3
TO PROTECT HER
It was a mistake of epic proportions to stop at a diner in Lake George before heading to Canada.
She’d gotten a hotel here last night, drove around and past Ridgeway Orchards and remembered the one year in her childhood that wasn’t so horrible.
Picking apples, getting baked goods at the cafe on Ford’s parents’ property. Meeting his siblings and having that one loyal friend she’d lacked for years.
He’d protected her that school year from being bullied.
He wanted to protect her from getting it at home, but she’d never let on.
Ford knew. He saw it. She kept her mouth shut, knowing that her mother was going to pick up and move again like she always did.
