“You do?”
“Yes, it’s part of my modeling wardrobe. However, I can’t wear them for more than twelve hours a day, and I can’t sleep in them. It’s hard for me to put them in by myself. Usually, I need some help since I can’t seem to stop blinking long enough to do it.”
“Thanks for telling me that, but I’d still worry about you.” He paused a moment and then added, “I think those guys looking for you believed that story I concocted about you and that oldercouple. However, if they realize that I lied and deliberately sent them on a wild goose chase in the wrong direction, they will figure the right direction is probably California and track you to there. One good thing is that they have no idea I own a rig since it was parked in the back. More than likely they’ll think I’m driving a car or a pickup truck.”
He allowed time for her to digest what he said so far before saying, “So here’s the plan. When I delivered the bikes to Fred’s sister, Delores, I asked if she could swing by here and take you to her place for a couple of hours. She said she’d be here after she dropped the bikes off at a friend’s house. She wants to keep them hidden somewhere so that her boys won’t find them until Christmas.”
Eden lifted a brow. “I didn’t know you had delivered those bikes to anyone.”
“You were sleeping, and I didn’t want to wake you. I’ve known Delores and Fred for a long time. In fact, ever since I began driving rigs. They are good people. Before she got married and moved here, Delores used to help Fred at the truck stop.”
She nodded. “How long have you been driving trucks?”
“Close to twelve years. I started at eighteen.”
“Oh.”
“Anyway, Delores will come get you, and I will finish making this delivery,” Drew said. “When the truck is reloaded with the shipment for Dollywood, Delores will bring you back here to meet back up with me. I prefer no one see you in public.”
“Okay. Thanks, Drew.”
When a pickup truck pulled up beside them, he said, “That’s Delores. Her husband died in the first part of the year from a heart attack at thirty-eight, leaving her with their two young sons. Let me introduce you.”
As soon as introductions were made, Eden knew she liked Delores, whose features reminded her a lot of a youngerJanet Jackson’s. Something about her friendly smile and warm disposition had Eden lowering the guard she often kept in place with others. It was a relief.
During the two hours she was with Delores, she had used the woman’s telephone to call her best friend, Sophie. Over the years, the friendship between her and Sophie had been a best-kept secret. Although their families ran in the same circles, their parents assumed they were only acquaintances.
Back when she, Sophie, Mark, and another friend name Renard, were in high school, and they’d discovered that their parents were planning their futures without them, they worked together to keep tabs on what the parents were up to, then they’d share that information between them. And the best part? Their parents didn’t have a clue they were working together.
When Sophie finished college at Yale, she’d begun working for her father’s land development company, a corporation that she would eventually run one day. Eden, on the other hand, had no interest in taking over her parents’ multi-million-dollar chain of hardware stores.
As she called her friend, she knew that, thanks to the three-hour time difference between California and Boston, Sophie should be home by now. “Hello?”
“Sophie, this is Eden.”
“Eden! Girl, you are the talk of Boston, being on the cover of Vogue. You looked absolutely beautiful. Everyone thinks so, even my parents. And I understand your mom doesn’t have a problem with it, either. But from what I’ve heard, your dad is fit to be tied.”
“I got that impression, especially since, after I told him I would not be coming home, he sent his men for me.”
“You’re eluding them, I hope.”
“So far, so good.”
“Well, just so you know, I heard Dad tell Mom that Mr. Tyson is hiring more men to add to the search. I spoke with Mark last night, and he thought it would be a good idea to create a few “Eden sightings” in different parts of the country. However, we want to make sure you’re nowhere near those locations.”
“I appreciate you and Mark doing that for me.” It was crazy that despite her parents’ wishes for Eden and Mark to marry, it was Sophie that Mark loved, and she loved him back.
She and Sophie talked a bit longer before ending the call. Knowing her father was increasing the manpower to find her was disturbing, but it only strengthened her resolve not to be found.
**
“I like Delores,” Eden said, when Drew picked her up two hours later.
“Why?”
“She’s friendly and down to earth. I could tell she loved her husband very much. Him, and those boys of hers, were all she could talk about.”
“Yes, they were really good together. I attended their wedding.”
