Page 49 of Swept for Forever
“Don’t call me that. Makes me sound lazy.”
Dom laughed. “All right. Autumn then.”
It was the first time I really looked around. Mountain peaks lined the horizon, not bad for a hospital view. Then again, the whole town probably had a front-row seat to the scenery.
Dom flicked on the radio. The tail end of “Sand in My Boots” faded out, replaced by a DJ with a voice way younger and way more hyped than I’d expected from a town this size. “If anyone sees my fishing rod, it’s got my name on it. Glen. G-L-E-N. I left it near the stump that looks like a coyote. You know the one.”
I squinted. “Was that…the actual radio?”
Dom shrugs. “Buffaloberry Hill FM. You lose something, they’ll shout about it until someone finds it.”
I chuckled and sank back into the seat, grateful for a town that didn’t seem to expect too much too soon.
The first stoplight blinked red. To the left sat a big warehouse-style building. A hardware store, by the looks of it. The doors were propped open, and folks were moving in and out with purpose.
A few blocks down, things softened. The buildings turned older and friendlier, the wood siding weathered just enough to feel honest, not rundown, with red brick tucked between faded paint and flower boxes. A bakery. A diner. The town didn’t try to impress. It just showed up.
Somewhere more comfortable turned out to be his motel.
It made sense. He’d just moved here and clearly hadn’t sorted out a permanent place yet.
At the motel parking lot, we went through the whole in-and-out-of-the-truck dance again. Lulu was extra bouncy thistime, soaking up the praise I kept giving her, though some of it probably belonged to my chauffeur.
“Uh, let’s keep this quiet, okay?” Dom said.
“Oh?”
“She’s technically not allowed here,” he added. “Madam Teddy Roosevelt would lose it if she found out.”
“Who?”
“The motel owner. Huge fan oftheRoosevelt. Teddy. She acts like she’s protecting his legacy or something. Yellowstone and all that.”
“Okay, got it.”
“Lulu, sit,” Dom commanded, taking the leash and guiding her to his side. She obeyed, settling at his feet.
My heart squeezed—from Lulu, Dom, and the whole ridiculous situation of having these two take care of me when I was so used to fending for myself.
But the fuzzies lasted exactly five minutes.
Because then Dom handed me a motel key.
“To your room,” he said.
Wait. What?
I stared at him. “You got me my own room?”
He frowned. “Uh, yeah?” Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Right. Because itwas.Because he was a good guy, and this wasn’t that kind of thing.
And yet, disappointment hit me anyway.
Which was stupid.
I wasn’t his. Not in any way that mattered.
