Concord? Where the heck is Concord?
Me: Are you in Wisconsin?
Amber:Jesus. Yes. I’m at the big truck stop on I-94. Will you hurry?
Great. She’s at a truck stop. I hope that doesn’t mean what I think it means.
“She’s hooking at a truck stop again.” Carley’s voice is deadpan. “You’d better be careful. The cops could be involved.”
Me:I’ll try.
Without even thinking, I press Eli’s number. He picks up on the first ring. “Emma?” His voice sounds like a combination of surprise and glee. Seriously, he sounds happy to hear from me. He’ll probably change his tune when he finds out why I called.
“Um. Eli?”
“What’s wrong?”
I guess I’m not hiding anything. “I need a ride.” Might as well cut to the chase. “Well, I need a ride out to a place called Concord.”
“Wisconsin?” His question makes me smile.
“Yeah. My sister—”
“Amber?”
“My sister’s in trouble. She needs a ride and Carley’s car is in the shop.”
There’s a long pause. I sense hesitation. It’s too much, especially since I haven’t actually spoken to the man in over a week. “I’m sorry,” I blurt. “I shouldn’t have—”
“No. No. I’m glad you called. I was just looking up Concord, Wisconsin on my phone. I’ll be there to pick you up in fifteen minutes. You can fill me in on the details then.”
My stomach hurts, like someone just punched me, because Eli shouldn’t be helping me. Not after everything. “Okay. Th-Thank you, Eli.”
“Of course. No problem. See you in a minute.” The phone clicks. I press the red circle to make sure we’re disconnected. Turning to Carly, I say, “He’s coming.”
“Of course he his, silly girl.”
I don’t respond because I’m too busy thinking about everything he said and the things I said.
“Do you want me to go along?”
Shaking my head, I reach out and take her hand and give it a squeeze. “Nah. I think I need this time to talk to him.”
Carly laugh-snorts. “Finally. Your sister is doing something to help you.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
* * *
“Thanks again, Eli.”
He glances over at me and smiles. “Happy to help.”
We’ve been on the road for fifteen minutes and neither of us have said much. I wanted this drive to be a chance for us to talk it out, but I’m not sure where to start. Looking at the navigation screen on his car, I see we’ve got just over thirty minutes before we’re set to arrive at the truck stop. “I, um, really appreciate this.”
Eli looks over at me and smiles warmly. “I’d do anything for you, Em.”
Anything? Funny. Before everything that happened when he went to New York, I’d have believed him, but now? I don’t know what to believe. I decide not to overanalyze his statement. Instead, I go with the banal. “How’s your ankle?” I could tell it was better earlier because he walked up to my apartment to get me and wasn’t limping or using any crutches or anything.
