“Well what?”
“What do you have to say about this money?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that? It’s in your truck.”
She glared. “Do you have any theories you’d care to share?”
He pursed his lips. “Might explain why Big Guns was after the woman. She ripped him off. Ten thousand isn’t a ton, but it can be depending on the circumstances.” He paused. “Some people don’t take kindly to losing what they feel is theirs.” Something sizzled like a lit match behind his irises and then vanished.
They stared at each other.
The baby let loose a massive burp. “Attagirl.” He wiped her chin with a rag and returned her to the patting position. “I better go.”
His stomach growled, and he grimaced.
“Hey. Got anything I can eat while I hike? I’m starving.”
Food was the furthest thing from her thoughts since her own stomach was tumbling in queasy circles. If she’d learned one thing from all her long hauls, it was to always travel with a variety of food choices, prepackagedand organized by time, a.m., afternoon, p.m., late night. Should she feed this man? Her silence lingered too long.
“If you don’t want to, I understand.” He didn’t appear like someone who understood. In fact, he was giving off hurt-little-boy vibes. She’d never been able to abide seeing someone go hungry. Plenty of homeless people had been the recipients of her food. She found herself taking the bologna sandwich she’d stowed on the afternoon shelf in the mini fridge.
“Here.”
His mouth curved in a wondrous smile as if she’d handed him a steak and lobster feast.
“Yeah? You sure you don’t want it? That’s awful nice of you.”
“Don’t get too excited. It’s only got mustard, because I can’t stand mayo, and there’s pickles if you want, but I don’t put them on until I’m ready to eat because they make the bread soggy.” Was she really going on about mustard and pickles?
“Perfect. I eat pretty much anything that isn’t nailed down, and that sounds plenty gourmet to me. Rip off a hunk. We should ration, in case.” Since he was still patting the baby, she unwrapped the sandwich, took a plastic knife from the drawer, and sliced off a quarter.
He devoured it in one massive bite and sighed. “Delicious. I haven’t eaten since last night, and that was stew out of a can.”
A man that big wasn’t going to get far on a single mouthful. She gave him another quarter with a shrug. “You’ll need the energy.”
Droplets of rain hammered the metal cab.
He ate and quirked a brow. “Not to be a delicate flower or anything, but do you have storm gear? It’s gonna be a trek, and the ash is mixing with the rain. Gotta slog through all that debris out there, and it’ll stick to me like skin on a pudding.”
First her sandwich, now her clothes. She shifted uneasily. Still, it was going to be a dangerous enough undertaking for him without adding wet clothes to the mix. She pulled out the raincoat she’d bought on impulse at the thrift shop from its spot under the bed and tossed it over his knees.
His brows zinged up. “I, uh, was picturing a yellow slicker, like the Gorton’s fisherman guy.”
“Desperate times.” She didn’t allow a smile, but when he handed her the baby and shrugged on the raincoat, his wrists hung out of the too-short sleeves as if he were wearing a child’s size. The dark blue material with yellow rubber duckies reached only a few inches below his belly button. Baseball cap jammed on, coat unable to zip over his broad chest, and a smear of mustard on his chin, he was a sight. She angled her shoulders so he would not see her smile in the glow of the flashlight.
The baby was beginning to squirm against her shoulder. A rush of panic followed when she realized she’d be in charge of this creature until he returned.
“How long do you think it will take?”
“No idea. Couple hours, maybe? I’m gonna have to move slow. Ground’s a mess. Two things while I’m gone.”
Now he was giving orders? “What?”
“Numero uno, see if you can get her to sleep.”
“How do I do that exactly?”
“You’ll figure out something. When you lay her down, put her on her back, not her tummy, and make sure she doesn’t smother or get tangled in the blankets. Second, work on packing some supplies in the duffel, okay? Dry clothes, food, flashlights, first aid kit, whatever you can fit. In case.”
