“Go,” Raymond said. “Take the week. Take two. I’ll make this place a palace while you’re gone.”
“You’re really okay with this?”
“You’ve worked every weekend since you started. And he’s clearly obsessed with you. Take the stupid vacation.”
I swallowed, throat tight. “Okay.”
“You already said that,” Ansel murmured, smiling like hewantedto touch me. Like he wasn’t quite sure if he could yet.
“I know,” I said. “I guess I’m just saying it again. So I won’t take it back.”
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow. Early.”
“How early?”
“Early enough that you’ll complain about it.”
I smiled. Couldn’t help it. “Perfect.”
He left not long after — quietly; the envelope gone from the counter, the air humming like it remembered him.
I stood there for a long second, heart still pounding.
This was really happening.
CHAPTER 54
We’d been on the road for hours.
The sun was low and fat in the sky, making everything gold — the guardrails, the dust on the dash, the veins in his hand where it gripped the wheel. His sunglasses were crooked from where he’d pushed them up too many times. My hair was up in a claw clip. We were both too quiet.
He looked good like this. Calm. Familiar in a way he hadn’t been for a while. It wasn’t the set jaw or the furrow between his brows or even the vein that showed in his neck when he shifted gears. It was that he wasn’t performing. Not for a camera, not for an audience. Not even for me.
It was just… us.
“Hungry?” he asked finally.
I nodded, not looking at him. “A little.”
“There’s a diner in about twenty minutes. You’ll like it. They’ve gotgreatpie.”
“I do like pie,” I said.
He glanced over. “Lemon, right?”
I turned to him, startled. “You remember that?”
“You told me when I was telling you about the scene with the birthday cake, with Theo’s mom,” he said casually. “Said you hated chocolate icing. Said it reminded you of awful parties.”
My throat tightened. “I didn’t think you were listening.”
“I was always listening.”
The car filled with silence again — but a different kind this time. Not empty. Not awkward.
Warm.
“Where are we going exactly?” I asked, voice softer now. “I mean, I know it’s Crane, Oregon. I know your mom lives there. But… what’s it like?”
