“I do not snore!”
“You sound like a freight train!” she exclaims, followed by a completely maniacal laugh which is instantly echoed from the backseat of the car. “Jesus, the two of you are going to gang up on me, aren’t you?”
Thank god I’d decided to make the call and not just show up on her doorstep in a couple of days, because this was the energy I needed. Positive, uplifting excitement that makes me want to keep moving forward.
“You know, if you need cash for a flight, I can just send you some and you can be here like, tomorrow,” Scarlett suggests, but I’m already shaking my head.
“I think the time in the car will be good. We can talk about what we want for the future, and how we’re going to get it,” I tell her, watching Jovie in my mirror as her eyes begin to droop a little. The weight was slowly beginning to ease and allow us both to breathe for what feels like the first time in forever.
And if it’s feeling this good after only a few hours.
I can only imagine how much relief we’ll feel in a few days when we arrive in Atlantic City, at Scarlett’s apartment—over one thousand miles away.
We need this drive, the slow pull away from that life, and the ease into a new one.
“Okay, but you’re going to call me every few hours to check in,” she demands, covering a yawn.
“I will,” I promise. “I’m still wide awake, so I’m going to probably drive for a few more hours. I don’t want to pull over until I really have to.”
“Do not fall asleep at the wheel, Brynn.”
“I will not fall asleep. When I find a motel, I’ll stop and get some sleep.” Hopefully, in a small, quaint town as opposed to some side of the highway, Bates Motel type of situation. “I’ll call you in the morning before we set off again.”
“Alright,” she answers, though I can hear the reluctance in her voice. She wants to stay on the phone until we walk in her front door, just so she can make sure we get there safely.
When we hang up, I crank the air con a little to keep the cold air on my face, letting the hum of the engine and Jovie’s soft breathing fill the silence. I tighten my grip on the wheel, and a smile tugs at my mouth.
We’re really doing it.
Just me, my girl, and a future that we have control of.
The further we drive away the knot in my chest begins to ease, and while my mind is racing, for the first time in a long time, I don’t try to fight it.
Because it’s not filled with panic.
It’s filled with possibilities.
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 3 - GRIZZ
Tonight was my night off.
Except now it wasn't.
I had a date with a steak that was still wrapped in my fridge. A cold beer that was next to it, paired with sitting out on the front porch of my cabin, listening to nature. The sounds of trees creaking in the wind, the leaves rustling, animals scurrying, trying to hunker down from the cold. It was going to be a relaxing evening shared with the unmistakable chill of a frozen breeze moving through the town like a ghost in the night.
And I was going to love every second of it.
No matter the season, I always take the time to sit in nature.
It's the main thing I missed about life outside when I was in prison. Sure, we got time in the yard, but can you really enjoy it when you have to constantly look over your shoulder? Waiting for the next person trying to make a name for themselves. It took time to build the reputation I had in there, but every now and then, some new kid with a chip on his shoulder would think the fastest way to get respect was to kill whoever sat at the top.
Unfortunately for them, not only were they wrong in that assumption, but it also cost them a one way ticket to the infirmary.
The snow crunches under my boots as I trudge the same worn path back to the clubhouse.
I don’t bother with a flashlight anymore, I know it like the back of my hand.
