He was almost home.
Chapter 7
Tess stared out the window at the flat, dry land with only the occasional shrub taller than her. Barely any trees, but earth so richly red she almost couldn’t believe it was real. After a day of travel, they were still in the middle of nowhere. How was it possible? It gave her some hope Salvatore wouldn’t find them, but if Tan had been after Ed’s family’s station, would he come north himself? Was she playing right into his hands? Her worry was slightly allayed by the thought of a bunch of military men willing to protect her. And together they could put Tan away, so he couldn’t hurt anyone again.
But what would she do after that?
She couldn’t go back to Tan’s place to live, and the second semester of university started in a couple of weeks. She no longer had a job, and her parents might order her home when they found out about everything.
If she had her phone, she’d start looking at work and accommodation possibilities. It was probably too late to get a room at one of the colleges and her classmates had complained about the expense of housing around the university.
But maybe one of them would have a room they could rent her.
She sighed. First she needed to stop Tan, otherwise none of the rest would be possible. “Do you want me to drive?” The past few times she’d offered, Ed had said he was fine.
“No, we’ve got less than an hour now.”
They’d stopped at a roadhouse for more fuel and food a couple of hours ago. Tess didn’t know how Ed was still functioning. She’d had far more sleep than he had, and she felt disgusting. She hadn’t showered in over forty-eight hours, her brain was sluggish from the lack of sleep, and her whole body was stiff. All she wanted was a safe place to shower and then rest. Fatigue sat heavily on her eyelids and the air-conditioning blasted them with cool air. “Are you sure you’re OK?”
“Yeah,” he answered, flashing her a grin. “I’m excited to get home.”
His smile wiped away some of her fatigue. “How often do you visit?”
“At least twice a year,” he said. “It’s a great place for star-gazing.”
She frowned. “I thought you worked in IT.”
“Astronomy is a hobby,” he said. “Wish I’d studied it at uni instead of computing.”
“Why don’t you go back?”
He shrugged. “More IT jobs than astronomy jobs,” he said. “I volunteer at the observatory instead.”
She understood. She would have much preferred to study history instead of science. She checked the time. “Will I be in the way when we get there? The wedding’s tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure what will still need to be done, but there’ll be plenty of people to help.” Ed tapped his fingers on the wheel.
“How many people are invited to the wedding?” she asked, wanting to understand what she was in for. The day before her sister’s wedding had been chaos and stress.
“I don’t know exactly, maybe forty.”
She blinked. That was tiny.
“Georgie and Faith are Amy’s bridesmaids,” Ed continued. “Lara’s the flower girl, and Darcy and Sam are groomsmen.”
“You’re not a groomsman?” Weren’t all siblings meant to be part of the wedding party?
“No.”
“Does that upset you?”
He shrugged. “I was only eleven when Brandon left. We’re not super close.”
Still, it had to hurt to be the only family member not involved.
“You could call me the ring bearer since I have them in my backpack.” His chuckle sounded forced.
That wasn’t the same thing, but it wasn’t her place to judge. She didn’t know these people. Maybe he was like her, the odd one out in the family. “What about Amy’s family?”
