“Thank you,” he says, taking a drink of the coffee I brought him. “You bringing me pastries is turning into a habit.”
My heart does a little leap that he’d consider something a habit—that we might have habits together.
“Next time I’ll take you for breakfast,” I say.
“I’ll hold you to that.” He laughs and I realize he was probably just making a joke. I rein in my thoughts, annoyed that I read too much into it.
We walk along to the garage, and I tell him the extent of the town I discovered last night on my walk. I hang back while he goes to talk to the mechanic, instead walking over to the fence and staring out at the view. Holden joins me after a few minutes. He blows out a breath.
“He says it won’t be today.”
“What? How?” I turn and look over to the mechanic, who looks wholly unconcerned.
“He says the part is out of stock at the supplier and it’ll take an extra day to get here.”
“Really?” I can’t believe it.
“It is an old car. I guess they don’t keep parts in stock if they don’t need them very often.” He seems very calm about it, which surprises me.
“Okay.” I pull out my phone. “My mom could come and pick us up, or we could get a bus back to the city and get a rental car. We could be back in Gomillion by late afternoon.”
“Or not,” Holden says and I frown at him. “We’re at least two and a half hours away. We could get back, but then we’d have to come all the way back tomorrow to get my car. So instead, we could just stay here.” I can kind of see his logic, but still . . .
“Here? In this one-horse town and the motel with only one room?” I hadn’t actually seen any horses on my walk but I think Holden got the point.
“Well, I was thinking more along the lines of, I like spending time with you.”
“Really?”
“I wouldn’t say it if I-I didn’t mean it.”
“I can’t refuse if you say it like that,” I say and receive a beautiful smile.
“What about the store, though?” I ask, and Holden’s eyes go wide as if he’d forgotten.
“Shit!” He grimaces. I guess he had, then. He calls Clara, first checking that everything is fine in the store. I hear my name mentioned and he moves off out of earshot, but he keeps glancing back at me with a small smile on his lips. I can’t help but drink him in. I’ve been keeping a lid on what I’ve felt for solong, but now I’ve told him the truth, it’s like the floodgates have opened. I just hope he feels the same way.
“She’s good for another day,” he says, coming back and pocketing his phone.
“How did you manage to persuade her?” I ask, and he just gives me an enigmatic smile.
“Shall we see if the motel can accommodate us for another night?” he asks, walking off back toward it and leaving me to catch up.
“One room or two?”
“One of course,” he laughs, and my chest lightens at his easy manner.
We get booked in for another night—the lady looks like she hasn’t moved since the day before, and I think she’s grateful she doesn’t have to stir herself to clean it—then we walk to the 7-Eleven. I hadn’t planned on staying one night, let alone two, and there’s only so long I can go without a toothbrush. We buy what we need, and as it’s a fairly well-stocked store, I also buy a T-shirt so I have something clean to wear. So does Holden.
We spend the afternoon lying on the motel bed, watching bad TV and chatting, mostly about what’s on. At some point I put my arm round Holden and he snuggles into my side, which feels odd if I stop and examine it, but on another level so right, like that space has been waiting for him.
The diner is more than half full when we enter, and as everyone turns to look at us, I guess they’re all locals. After a few seconds they turn back to their own plates, and we slip into a booth andsit opposite each other. I order mac and cheese and Holden gets the lasagna.
“I have a question.” I say once our food arrives and the waitress has gone away.
“Oh, this sounds ominous,” Holden says tightly, but I want to reassure him.
“Not really, I’m just curious.”
