“Right. That one.” Travis pointed to the deformed sandwich and tried again not to laugh. “Um…” He grabbed a paper towel to wipe up the butter off the counter. “There. No evidence. No one has to know.”
It didn’t take long to finish the simple meal, and soon Travis was seated across from Ashlee at one of the tables, just the two of them as they ate. “Mm…can’t ever beat grilled cheese.” He grinned before taking a sip of his water. “So…your mom is a cop who came here to look out for Dylan, right?” He took another bite of his sandwich as he thought. “But…you’ve never mentioned your dad…can I ask what happened?”
The back door opened and closed, and Travis glanced up before almost rolling his eyes as Dylan went to the kitchen to poor himself some lemonade. And this was why going to town would have been nice.
Even if Garret’s eyes looked between the ceiling and his coffee, he was still listening to Nate. Was he right about Victoria. Did she really love him? Couldn’t they have survived if she’d stayed? Wouldn’t the risk of the Agency threat had been worth it? He’d thought so…but she hadn’t? But that meant she loved him? It was hard to understand. Hard to digest. Hard to accept. And hard to move on. How could he keep her in his heart without this constant…pain?
The next words hit Garret with surprise – enough so that his eyes finally met Nate’s. For the longest moment, he just tried to figure out what that meant. And he couldn’t. “Other than picking Maggie up from school or…or standing guard, I… I don’t know what that means.”
Eli nodded his encouragement to Ryan. “I’ll be waiting. You just have fun out there.” He could see the fear in her eyes, and he knew it was going to be hard for her to have fun, but he was so proud of her for at least going through with this. It was one step closer to where she needed to be, and that’s all that mattered right now.
Getting Ryan in the car, Hunter went around and slid in behind the wheel, then started the engine. “Alright…here we go.” He drove around the perimeter at first, just slowly, and checking out the other racers and spectators. Finally though, he was at the starting line, waiting to start.
Glancing over at Ryan, he could see how nervous she was, and felt badly. He could tell this would be good for her, if she didn’t freak out. He didn’t care if she did for his own sake – he’d throw the race just like he’d promised. But for her sake, he hoped she’d make it.
Without asking, he reached over and took her hand, placing it under his own on the gear stick. He’d do the work, but he wanted her to feel it again. To experience it again. The feel of the engine. His eyes looked straight ahead, waiting for the signal. “With both of us in this car…there’s no way we can lose this one.”
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