“Hop in,” Cal says finally.“Of course, we’ll give you a ride.Just to town or is there somewhere in particular you need to be?”
I think about the offer as I take a seat in the back.
Getting to town isn’t really getting me anywhere.I still need a place to stay and a job.I don’t think I’ll find either in the closest small country town with the name I can’t even remember.
But I can’t ask them to drive me back to Reno, and I sure can’t afford to take a bus, so the bus station isn’t an option.
“Just to town.”I don’t sound too convinced, not even to myself.
“How’re you liking Yosemite Ranch?”Victoria asks.
“It’s beautiful.Fresh air.And the houses are right out of magazines.”
“Have you tried out Finn’s pool yet?”Cal asks.“It’s three feet at one end and twelve feet at the other end.Saltwater.Good for the joints.”
“Not yet,” I say, but what I mean is, not ever.I’ll never swim in the pool with the beach and the slide.There sure are a lot of “nevers” in my future.More by the minute, it seems.
“You come from Reno, right?”Victoria asks.“Were you a housekeeper there, too?”
“No.”I don’t offer any more information than that.I look out the window.
We’ve just passed through the Yosemite Ranch gate, and we’re on the two-lane paved road.I know it well.I stared at it for hours and hours yesterday.
Cal and Victoria are just trying to be friendly, and I appreciate that.I appreciate the ride.But I know their kind of people don’t want to know the truth about my work history, or any of my history.I don’t blame them.
I smile to myself, imagining how my answer would sound to the educated, kind, and beautiful rich people they are.
“My last job in Reno was a waitress at a twenty-four-hour truck stop.The tips were pretty good, but that’s only because the uniform was a pink crinoline micro-mini that my boss said was a retro 1960s style.Whatever.All I know is that the skirt stopped just below my hips and showed off the matching frilly underpants.
“Truckers loved to pat my frilly underpants.Half of them liked to tip extra when they patted.The rest just patted and stiffed me.”
So much shame.So much regret.
It’s all I’ve known.
CHAPTER 15
Emma
So I keep the truth to myself as we continue our drive.
After the tragedy of the last—and worst—of my foster home situations, I’ve worked odd jobs that put me at the beck and call of shady men.Gross men.In order to eat and pay my share of the gas and electric bills, I had to get used to a pinch here and a squeeze there and so many come-ons and disgusting jokes that I should have received hazard pay.
But the other stuff?I never got used to it.
And in my life, there’s been some of the other stuff.
“Are you going on your honeymoon?”I change the subject and try to make my voice sound cheerful.
“Yes, but Victoria doesn’t know where we’re headed,” Cal announces.
It’s a beautiful June day.Sunny and warm with a sweet breeze.I would love to enjoy the day, but every mile we put between me and the ranch takes me further away from any hope of a decent or safe future.
I can’t go back to the truck stop in Reno.I quit there two weeks ago, when it happened.When it went from icky to deadly in the blink of an eye.Right before I found the ad for Yosemite Ranch.
“I think I know where we’re going, though,” Victoria says, breaking me out of my thoughts.
“No, you don’t.”Cal leans over quickly and kisses her cheek.
