“Are you driving?” he asks.
“No. Not this time.”
He wonders if he’ll remember how, but the moment he straddles the bike, it all comes back like it never left.
The dog has been a problem when it comes to planning this trip. Gator can’t run alongside the bike all the way to Arizona, and there’s no sidecar to stuff him in. The solution is something they’ve struggled with, especially with how resistant Wade had been to bond with him at first, fearing a future loss.
“I um…I know one of the children who’s taken a liking to him,” Kara said the previous night. “I can’t really explain how just yet, but I will someday. I think the dog would make her sohappy. She would take good care of him. It’s safe here. Safer than ruining his paws on pavement for weeks or months.”
So he agreed, knowing that they’d both miss this floppy-eared animal but that maybe he was always meant to end up here, making kids smile in a world where smiles are hard to come by.
Kara squeezes Wade’s arm in a comforting gesture. “He’ll be okay. Look how happy he is.”
The puppy hardly spares them a glance, far too thrilled to be cuddled by laughing children. They toss a ball for him across the courtyard, cheering when he fetches it, even though he’s easily distracted and meanders his way back. There are no other pets here, he has noticed. They’ve brought in the first dog this community has seen in years. It’s a bittersweet sight to watch him become the most popular new member.
Wade straddles the bike and a thrill washes over him when Kara gets on behind, wrapping her arms around his waist in a snug grip and resting her chin on his shoulder.
The engine roars to life, purring beneath them as they blow through the gates, kicking up dirt in their wake toward a future he can’t wait to reach.
Chapter 21
All Kara really knows is that she wants to be with Wade in whatever capacity she’s allowed. Everything else is just a bonus.
Going out west was only a dream at first. Spoken aloud but never expected to manifest beyond a coveted fantasy that carried them through difficult times, and thenjust like that,it became as real as the bike between her thighs as she straddles it behind him. No longer a hope, but a tangible thing.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Wade asked before they left, as if they weren’t already moments from leaving the past behind.
“I’m sure. Are you?”
“Been sure since we talked about it.”
“What if you remember something about Cole? Will you want to come back?”
He hesitated then before offering her a matter-of-fact reply. “If I was going to remember where we planned on going at the beginning, I would have already. Whatever plan we had, wherever place we thought would be safe, it must have made a bigger impression on him than it ever did on me because I can’t see it anymore. And if I do, if it randomly comes back one day, I guess we’ll cross that bridge if we get there. All I’m thinking about right now is this road trip with you.”
That had been more than enough for her. If he remembers one day, they’ll handle it then. She’s vowed to herself that shewon’t dwell on that particular what-if too much. If he ends up wanting to go back, she will just follow him. She would follow him anywhere, after all.
They have nothing and no one left now except each other. He is her whole world, but that’s not much different from how it’s been for years. She can’t hide it anymore. Can’t put desperate revenge ahead of it or convince herself she’s happy without him by filling that void with another man, another life, another quest.
Can’t do anything but accept it and be grateful he hasn’t been taken from her, too.
Kara isn’t leaving anything behind. Hasn’t truly been part of any community since so long ago, it often feels like an illusion.
Aside from Cole, they aren’t leaving any other strings untied. The dog is making children happy, far safer behind those walls than on this journey with them, and Kara’s previous suitor has been properly squashed.
Silas and what’s left of his operation will eventually be overtaken by the remaining communities.
They aren’t wrong to have left in an effort to chase the open road, but she still has trouble imagining why Wade would be so eager to spend all this unfiltered time alone with her.
Because he said he loves you, a voice in her head whispers above the growl of the engine.
Some part of him has always been restless and prone to wandering, though. Maybe this is a chance to rediscover that part of himself again under the pretense of something else. Whatever his reasons, she’ll take it. Won’t hesitate to feel lucky that he still wants to be her partner on a wild road trip, even after everything they’ve been through.
The first leg of the journey is familiar. Instead of watching the scenery, she closes her eyes, resting her cheek between his shoulder blades.
They are running away together. Just the two of them. The more she thinks about it, the more her eyes water and prickle hot. She doesn’t deserve this, but he’s giving it to her anyway, and she’ll do everything she can to make sure he never regrets it.
His palm covers her hand where it curls up his chest, and his next words have excitement coursing fast through her veins.
