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Every time I thought of Gram, I rubbed the sparrow tattoo on my inner wrist that reminded me of how small but mighty she was. A Greyhound bus rolled by and came to a stop at the terminal up ahead. As I got closer, I read that the bus was headed for Sea Whisper Island, South Carolina. The place I remember spending the best summer of my life when I was ten years old, before everything changed. It was a sign, and I was reminded of the last thing Gram ever said to me.
Choose happiness, Harley Jane.
Chapter Two
I went inside the bus terminal and stood in line to buy a ticket. There were several people ahead of me and only one person behind the counter. A little old lady was fishing pennies from the bottom of her purse with a shaky hand trying to make exact change for her transaction. I shifted from one foot to the other impatiently as the line slowly moved forward. From behind me, a man shouted from the entryway.
“I’m headin’ out, Doreen.” He was the driver to the only bus outside, the one to Sea Whisper Island, and I still needed to get a ticket. Shit.
There were still two people in line ahead of me and Doreen seemed to be on a personal phone call, completely oblivious to the line in front of her. My heart fell as the bus engine roared and pulled away from the terminal. According to the schedule on the wall, the next bus wouldn’t be until the morning.
Just fan-fucking-tastic.
I looked around the small terminal as I got out of line and thought about my next move. I had only managed to grab a few hundred dollars from Mack’s wallet, so I needed to be careful how I spent it. While I was considering my options, a man started yelling.
“Leave me alone!” I whirled around expecting to find an altercation in progress except all I saw was a scraggly looking guy with dirty jeans and a ripped T-shirt sitting by himself in one of the blue plastic chairs. “No, no, no.” He continued to yell with his eyes focused on something only visible to him. “Because I said no. Leave me alone.” He got up, stormed to another chair then dropped down with a hard thud.
Oookay.
That’s when I decided to get out of there. Immediately. I walked outside just in time to see the bus disappear in the distance. Looking around, there wasn’t much to see. The bus terminal was in a small country town outside of Charleston and I wasn’t even sure what it was called. There was a farmhouse surrounded by cow pastures to my left and a little farmer’s market on my right. I made the decision to walk toward the market and hopefully figure out a way to a larger town. There was no way I was going back in there with the schizo traveler. The clouds grew darker and the wind began to pick up as I got closer to the market. My heart sank a little when I realized that it was closed.
Now what? I thought to myself. Just then, it began to sprinkle. I stared up at the gray sky as the rain fell harder and let the droplets fall on my face. Gram and I used to run outside and look up at the sky while the rain drenched our clothes. I did that often after she passed away and let my tears flow with the drops.
“Hey! You okay?” A deep voice called out to me.
I opened my eyes to see someone sitting in the driver’s side of a black Dodge Challenger. Swiping my hand across my eyes, I stepped forward to get a better look and then wiped them again to make sure what I saw was correct. It was Mr. All-American from the diner. The way he was staring at me with those bright blue eyes made my gut clench involuntarily.
“What?” I asked even though I’d heard him the first time.
“I said, are you okay?” He repeated in a Southern drawl that was heavier than it sounded earlier. “It’s really starting to pour. Can I give you a ride somewhere?”
Now, I’d had a couple of one-night stands with men I barely knew. I’d spent a total of about nine days in jail if you include the times I was thrown in the drunk tank after a few bar fights. But for some reason, I was terrified at the thought of getting into a car with this guy, yet I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I didn’t get the sense that he was a creep because I co
uld spot one a mile away. He seemed too clean-cut, too good-natured, just too opposite of anyone I usually hung around with. It was as if my body knew something about him that my mind was still trying to figure out.
Even more reason to stay away from him.
“Um, no. I’m good but thanks,” I replied and kept walking toward the market.
“Uh, everything is shutting down due to the storm. It’s probably best you head home,” he called out to me through the half-opened window.
“Thanks for the advice, doll,” I shot over my shoulder and trudged along. I noticed that he was still driving at a slow pace behind me.
“Hey, sorry to keep bothering you but this isn’t exactly the safest road to be walking on, especially in the rain.” A second later a car came flying around the corner and narrowly missed me.
“Asshole! Slow down!” I yelled as the car corrected itself and whizzed by.
“Do me a favor. Please?” he said when I looked back at him, and he gestured to the passenger seat. I studied him for a second. He was cute, and he could be fun. The stare between us went on for an exaggerated amount of time while I contemplated my options. My plans up until this point weren’t working out very well, and I did need a ride. The idea of getting mowed down by speeding cars in the middle of the country really wasn’t very appealing. Besides, it was just a ride with a handsome guy, what could go wrong?
“Sure, why not?” I shrugged and got inside. Once I was situated in the seat I looked over at him and God, he was even more gorgeous up close. The corner of his eyes crinkled at the sides as he smiled at me. My gaze immediately landed on his kissable bottom lip and the dimple in his chin.
“Buckle up,” he prompted, and I clicked the seatbelt in place it as he shifted the car into drive. “Fox, by the way,” he said.
“Wow, aren’t you a flirt? I haven’t even been in the car for five seconds.” I gasped dramatically and pretended to clutch at invisible pearls around my neck. Maybe I was right, he might be fun.
All-American began laughing and shaking his head. “Wow,” he mimicked my tone. “We must really think a lot of ourselves. I wasn’t calling you a fox, I was telling you my name. It’s Fox.”
“Oh,” I replied, feeling like an idiot.
