Page 84 of Sinful
"Nowhere. Everywhere. Just—away from people for a minute." She glances back at me. "That okay?"
"Yeah. It's okay."
We walk in silence for a while, following a path that's barely visible in the dim light.
The woods smell like pine and earth and Florida humidity.
Different from Texas, but not bad.
"Are you going back?" I ask. "To Texas?"
"Eventually. Yeah."
"When?"
"When Dad's stable. When I know he's going to be okay." She stops, turns to face me. "Why?"
"Just wondering. Trying to figure out where you'vebeen for three years. You said Texas, but that's a big state."
"Austin area, mostly. Some smaller towns when I was racing." She starts walking again, and I fall into step beside her. "Work at a dive bar called Cactus Jack's. Shitty tips, but it paid the rent."
I stop walking.
"Cactus Jack's?"
"Yeah. You know it?"
"Know it?" I laugh—actually laugh. "That place is maybe forty-five minutes from Sharp. I've been there. Stopped in for a beer on my way through Austin probably half a dozen times over the years."
Her eyes widen. "You're kidding."
"No. It's got that stupid neon sign that flickers, right? And a pool table in the back that's not quite level?"
"That's the one." She's staring at me like she's trying to reconcile something. "We could've met. Before all this. Could've just been two strangers at a bar."
"Yeah. We could've."
"Would you have noticed me?"
"Probably. You're hard not to notice."
"That's not an answer."
I think about it. "Yeah. I would've noticed you. Would've probably thought you looked like trouble and stayed away."
"And now?"
"Now Iknowyou're trouble and Istillcan't stay away."
She smiles—genuine, reaching her eyes. "We were forty-five minutes apart for three years and never knew it."
"Guess the universe wanted us to meet here instead."
"Guess so."
We've reached a small clearing in the woods.
The trees open up enough to see the sky—pink and orange now, dawn breaking properly.
