“You’re punishing him for someone else’s mistakes, Nona.He’s not his father.He didn’t hurt you.”
“You don’t know anything about it.”
“I know you’re breaking his heart.”
“That makes two of us.”
Meredith brushed by her and continued down the hall.She noted the shotgun hanging in the gun rack once again.The cake she’d baked to commemorate Billy’s birthday sat on the kitchen table, abandoned.Wade’s bouquet had been tossed in the trash can.Wynona followed her to the door and watched her exit.
Meredith paused in the open doorway.“I’m not running away from Wade,” she said, clearing her throat.“I’m coming back.”
“He won’t be here when you do,” Wynona said.
She turned and left with that pronouncement echoing in her ears, along with the sound of the door slamming.Wade didn’t come out to investigate the noise, to her relief.She put Daisy and King in the dog run for the night.
“Watch over Wynona, okay?”she said to King.“She’s a wreck.”
She wasn’t the only one.
King sat on his haunches, alert and ready.He was an excellent guard dog, and he would protect the ranch.Daisy would give indiscriminate affection.She licked Meredith’s cheek, her tail wagging.Meredith hugged both dogs goodbye.Then she hurried down the driveway with Chico.Her ears strained for sounds of Wade emerging from the barn.Her backpack jostled with every step.
Even when she was half a mile down the road, she didn’t feel safe from discovery.It reminded her of the day she’d left Tripp.She’d planned a meticulous escape.She’d lived in fear for weeks afterward, expecting him to catch up with her.
She broke into a run and didn’t let up until she reached the truck.Heart racing, she unlocked the door and deposited Chico on the front seat.He sniffed the unfamiliar old-man smells while she took off her backpack and climbed behind the wheel.She started the engine, maneuvered onto the road, and drove in stealthy darkness for a few miles.When she reached the highway, she switched on the headlights and accelerated to the max.It wasn’t a smooth ride, but the vehicle chugged along gamely.The gearshift was stiff, the shocks squeaked over every bump, and upholstery springs poked her bottom.
Chico, unbothered by life’s worries, curled up and napped.His little paws twitched with doggy dreams.
She made it to Junction before midnight.She stopped only for fuel and coffee.She rumbled past Mason, and Llano.The largest cities on the route were Fort Worth and Oklahoma City, which she planned to bypass to avoid traffic.Thoughts of Wade and Wynona plagued her, their words repeating in her mind.
I’m coming back.
He won’t be here when you do.
Wade’s voice was softer, gentler, and even more haunting:Promise me you won’t leave without saying goodbye.
She also replayed their afternoon encounter, his every kiss and touch.She tortured herself by imagining it would be their last time together and wished she’d had the nerve to tell him how she felt before she left.
Meredith would have listened to the radio to occupy her mind, but the only station she could get was blasting Tripp Gilley hits on an endless loop.She switched it on, heard “Poison Rose,” and turned it off.Later, when she tried again, she heard him crooning his breakout song, “Last Man Standing.”
Ugh.
She drove past windmills and cornfields, dusty stop signs and faded barns.In the wee hours of the morning, more than a hundred miles into her journey, a clanging noise sounded.The engine groaned like a cow in labor.She pulled over to the side of the road and watched smoke billow from the hood.With no tools and no flashlight, she couldn’t do much to solve this problem.Instead of looking under the hood, she curled up in the cab with Chico.Meredith was running on empty after two restless nights.She tucked her backpack under her head, like a pillow, and surrendered to exhaustion.
It seemed like only seconds had passed by when she heard a rap on her windshield.She jolted awake with a start.Chico scrambled over her body to bark at the unknown threat.Straightening, she blinked at the driver’s-side window.It was cracked to let in air, but the glass was fogged over.Morning light flooded the cab.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw the telltale black and white of a squad car.Trying not to panic, she pulled Chico away from the window and lowered it.A young officer with a friendly face stood by her door.His uniform had a patch over the left pocket that proclaimed either his name or the name of the police district.
“Yes, sir?”she asked, swallowing hard.
He gave a polite smile.“Do you need any help, ma’am?”
“Oh, no.I’m fine.I was just resting.”
“Your vehicle is okay?”
Meredith nodded.She hoped there wasn’t visual evidence of the breakdown, like a puddle of oil underneath the truck.Chico, perhaps sensing her fear, reacted with aggression.He growled at the officer and bared his mostly toothless gums.
The man chuckled at this ferocious display.He touched his uniform hat.“I’ll come back later to make sure you got on your way.”
