“We’ll do burgers next time, yeah?” I asked, smiling as he met my eyes.
“That’s fair,” he said, looking out the window.
We got burritos at a stand Jess and I had found a couple of years before. It wasn’t anywhere near our neighborhood, but anytime we had to go south, we made a point to stop by. They were excellent, no matter who was working the stand, and we ate them in the truck, washing them down with sodas in glass bottles.
As soon as Jesse had thrown away our garbage and recycling, I turned the truck back on, and we were on the move again. I stopped at a gas station just off the freeway.
“Here,” I said, handing them cash. “Go in and grab some snacks. Get me a water.”
I watched until they’d disappeared and then turned and hooked the pump to the truck. Leaning against the door, I let the familiar smell of diesel wash over me as I watched the front of the store. There was something supremely satisfying about a full tank of fuel. It cost more than I wanted to know to fill the old truck, and the kids were done before I’d finished. They climbed inside and waited until I was done, with Finn hanging out the window to tell me about the snacks he’d picked and why he’d picked those and not others.
“Did you use all of it?” I asked Jesse as I climbed inside the truck.
“Didn’t know how long we’d be on the road,” they replied quietly, gesturing to the water bottle, two energy drinks, soda, chips, candy, and donuts between us.
“Not planning on living in here,” I joked as we pulled back onto the street.
Jesse just nodded and looked out their window.
I checked the time again.
Then I turned and followed the signs to the bus station.
It took Jesse more time than I’d expected to look at me in alarm.
“We’re stayingtogether,” they said emphatically.
“Of course we are,” I replied, reaching over to squeeze their knee.
“Then why?” They looked between me and the road.
“Picking up a friend,” I said quietly, glancing back at Finn. He had his nose in a book—something he must’ve brought home from school because I hadn’t packed it.
“What friend?” Jesse asked cautiously.
“Have I ever steered us wrong?” I asked, checking my blind spot as I changed lanes. “No? Then relax.”
They were practically vibrating with anxiety as we got closer to the bus station, and when I pulled into the parking lot and found a spot near the back, their knee had started to bounce.
“What are we doing here?” Finn asked, his head popping up from his book.
“Just waiting for a friend,” I said, glancing at the clock again as I backed into a spot.
“What friend? Sara? Are we picking up Sara?”
“Not Sara, bud.”
“Are we going to get to our new house soon?” he asked. “Where is it? Does it have a pool? Hayden’s apartment complex has a pool, and it’s awesome. Are we moving to an apartment or a house?”
Of course, he’d picked exactly the wrong time to start asking questions. He hadn’t cared where the hell we were going or why when he’d come home to a packed house, but now that he was bored, he wanted all the details.
“Just a second, Finn,” I said, watching as a man walked out the front doors of the bus station.
He was tall and dark, with wide shoulders covered in a black T-shirt. His arms were covered in sleeves of tattoos thatI couldn’t make out from so far away. From one hand, a squat black leather bag dangled. In the other, he carried a gray flannel. He had a beard and needed a haircut about a month ago.
He paused and scanned the parking lot before starting toward us.
“No way,” Jesse muttered, watching him.
