She made kissy sounds that I used to find annoying and now I just appreciated I still got to hear them. "Love you, kiddo."
"Love you too."
I headed toward the motel, and the minute I made the turn into the parking lot, I spotted Audrey sitting in a metal chair outside our door. She had a book in her lap and her hair gathered over one shoulder, big sunglasses blocking her eyes from view.
She paid me no attention when I pulled into the slot in front of her. I drank her in, allowing myself to study the long line of her legs and the slight downturn of her lips as she read. She'd grown and changed so much that there were moments when I barely recognized her, but this quiet woman lost in her book, this one I knew better than anyone else on earth.
And she was going to kill me when I broke the news about tonight. That, or she'd insist I deliver her to the closest airport and put an end to this adventure.
After this morning and the…reactions I'd had, it wasn't the worst idea.
I grabbed my backpack and climbed out of the car. I slammed the door behind me but the book kept her attention. I strolled into her space and tipped the book back to get a look at the cover.Inkheart, I read. "Must be good because you've been lost in those pages for a few minutes."
"I'm thinking of reading it with my class next year." She fidgeted with a skinny pink highlighter. "It's a little longer than I usually prefer but it's a great story."
I skimmed the back cover. "This might be Percy's vibe."
"What does he like to read?"
I rocked back on my heels because that was a loaded question. My kid had some wild preferences. "Many things, but especially stories with connections to mythology."
"Do you want any recommendations? Because I spend half of my fifth-grade years on world mythologies and modern retellings, and I've readeverythingout there."
"That'd be a big help. Thank you."
She blinked as if just now noticing the rental car at my back and shot to her feet. "It's fixed? We can go?"
"It's fixed," I started, "but there's another problem."
"No, there's not." She tossed the book and highlighter to the chair. "There are no problems because we've already had all the problems and we're done with problems. The only problem is that we're standing here talking and not getting the hell out of this town."
I slipped my hands into my pockets. "There's a storm coming in. A big monsoon. I guess some of the roads have a tendency to flash-flood and they shut them down as a precaution."
"We are not stranded here for another night," she said, the words frayed. "We can't stay here. Iwon't."
"Believe me, I want another option as much as you do."
"I don't actually believe that," she cried, flinging her hands out at her sides.
"That's tough shit, princess, because it's the truth," I said.
"We should've waited for the rescheduled flight to Phoenix," she said, shaking her head as she paced away from me. "We're going to arrive at the exact same time, but instead of spending that time in my dry, lizard-free home, we're out here roughing it like settlers on the Oregon Trail who're going to die of dysentery."
"We're nowhere near the Oregon Trail."
She whirled around, her hands fisted at her hips. "Would you just shut the hell up? Because I get it. You want to punish me. You want me to suffer."
"That's not true. It's not true at all. You know it's killing me to be stuck here when we're missing everything my mom planned for us."
Her scoff could've cracked ice. "Right, because dragging me in front of your mother and making me put on the fiancée show isn't one more punishment. Because this entire week isn't full of opportunities for you to make a fool out of me and watch me squirm."
"That's not what I'm doing," I said through gritted teeth.
"Maybe you didn't plan the delays or the broken-down car," she said, pacing again. "But you can't tell me you didn't love shoving me into a damp, dingy motel room. It's almost better revenge than trapping me in this heinous lie of yours."
"Would you just calm the fuck down?"
She turned toward me, a murderous glare in her eyes. I'd swear I heard fangs descend. "Do you want me to calm the fuck down? Or have you just been waiting for me to throw a spoiledlittle rich girl tantrum? It'd give you all the permission you need to confirm every terrible thing you already think about me."
