“So how did you imagine your prom would go?” he asks softly.
“I would’ve danced a lot more.” I risk a glance at him and see a half smile playing on his lips. I’m about to tell him how I regret not staying for another dance. “I?—”
There’s a loud clink and then an awful noise coming from my car.
“Shit!” I pull over and we jump out. I look back and see part of my exhaust lying in the highway. We’re not going anywhere else until that can be fixed.
“Where are we?” I ask, and Reece says the name of the town we passed about ten miles back, but pulls out his phone and finds us with the GPS. We’re about fifty miles out of Charlotte, but there’s a town a few miles away. I grab my phone and do a search for garages. There’s one that appears to have a tow truck, so I give them a call, mouthing a “sorry” to Reece as I wait for them to answer.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Reece
“He says he can’t fix it until tomorrow,” Holden says, coming over from where the garage owner is fixing the car to a tow truck. “He says he won’t get the part until then, but he’ll give us a lift into town. You can probably get a bus from there back home if you want.”
“No, I’d rather stay with you, keep you company if you don’t mind,” I say, and his shoulders drop with relief.
We’re dropped off at the garage and we watch as he tows Holden’s car into the compound. The mechanic had pointed out a motel about half a mile back so we set off in that direction. While we walk, Holden calls Clara and explains the situation to her. I can hear enough to know that due to her extra shift today she isn’t working tomorrow and can manage the store.
“Thanks. I owe you one big time,” he says, ringing off. I’m pleased he’s managed to get it sorted. It’s one less thing for him to worry about.
The motel doesn’t look great, but as far as I can tell there isn’t anywhere else. The town seems like the sort of place people pass through on the way to somewhere better, only the unlucky ones get to stay. We push open the fly screen door to the motel office and walk in. Behind the counter is a woman of indeterminate age. She might be forty, or eighty, but probably somewhere in between. Her dyed hair is piled high, and she has a face worn down by a lifetime of disappointments. She eventually drags her eyes from whatever show is blaring out from a screen in the corner. The sort of show that likes to reveal paternities live on air.
“Two rooms please,” Holden asks.
“We only have one room,” she drones.
I glance out the door at the obvious lack of cars in the lot that would indicate more guests.
“Are you sure? Please check again,” Holden says.
She doesn’t bother.
“I said there’s one, take it or leave it.”
Holden looks at me, and I shrug that it’s fine.
“Okay.”
She tells him the price and he pulls out cash and pays.
“I’m not using my card in a place like this,” he says, as we walk along to what is apparently the only room. “I can imagine it being cloned before we’ve even made it this far.”
I agree with him.
“Do you believe there’s really only one room?” he asks.
“I believe she can’t be bothered to clean more than one, or hasn’t moved herself to get more than one ready. It doesn’t look like the sort of place that’ll suddenly have an influx of guests.”
“Right.” Holden agrees with me. He unlocks the door and lets it swing open. It’s a small and outdated room, dominated by a large bed.
“Are you kidding me?” I’m not sure what he was expecting.
“I’ll take the chair,” I offer.
“No, it’s fine. I’m sure we’ll manage,” he says uncertainly.
It doesn’t look too bad as long as you don’t look too closely in the corners. I leave Holden in the room and go for a walk, taking the opportunity to call my mom and tell her what’s happened. I discover a diner not far from the motel, so at least we won’t starve. But apart from the motel, diner, garage, a seven-eleven, and a few scattered homesteads, there doesn’t seem to be much else to the town.
