But I was exhausted, a wave of tiredness hitting me as soon as she mentioned closing up, and I had to stifle a yawn before I replied.
"Yeah, you know, that sounds like a good idea," I agreed. "I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"See you then."
I headed outside, and I was about to stroll out towards the road beyond when it struck me; my car was finally back from the garage, and I could drive home. There had been something wrong with the ignition, and I had been unable to get it to start. And had to drain another chunk of my savings to make sure I got it fixed. But it cut a good forty minutes off my commute each way, and I needed as much time as I could to rest up and take care of my life outside of work.
I slipped into the front seat, inhaling the familiar scent of the lemon-pine air freshener before me, and put the keys into the ignition. Turning them, I waited for the engine to splutter to life beneath me. But was met with a stone cold nothing.
"Oh, come on," I groaned, silently urging the car not to screw with me like this. I just needed to get out of here already, and the idea of being alone with my thoughts if I had to make the walk all the way home made my chest feel heavy.
I attempted it a few more times, but the car didn’t budge. I couldn’t believe it. How much had I paid to get this fixed? And now, it still wasn’t even working? I was so annoyed, but there was nothing I could do about it right now. I already knew that Pam would offer me a lift home if I went back inside to let her know that I was stuck here, but honestly, I didn’t really want to have that conversation with her right now. All that time, alone in the car with her, for her to interrogate me about what was really going on inside my head? Yeah, that sounded kind of like my idea of hell.
So, I had no choice but to get to walking if I wanted to make it home.
The air was, at least, clear and pleasant enough; the last few days of summer had gifted us with the memory of the warmth that had warmed this place all through the season, and I wasn’t going to go taking that for granted. I headed for the road, glancing out towards the hills beyond, where I could make out the sound of the Whisper Falls thundering just out of sight. Even at a time like this, there was something soothing about it, a reminder that, no matter what was going on in my own life, there would always be that sound rushing in the distance.
It wasn’t too far home, but my legs were already aching from a day on my feet at the diner by the time I reached the road. I wondered if I should give my mom a text, ask her to come down and pick me up, but it was late and I didn’t want her to have toget out of bed. She was getting older now, as much as I wanted to pretend otherwise, and she needed all the rest she could get.
I kept my feet moving, putting one foot in front of the other, and before I knew it, I had made it a quarter-mile or so from the diner, the lights dim in the distance. Now that tourist season was coming to a close, this place was quieting down, returning back to the usual residents instead of the busloads of tourists passing to and from. Much as it meant the diner would always be full, I liked the quiet, the ease of it, the knowledge that I didn’t have to put on that game face for anyone...
But, just as that thought crossed my mind, I heard the purr of an engine behind me. I swiftly stepped all the way out of the road, on to the soft earth at the side, and lifted a hand to shield my eyes from the headlights so I could see who was passing by. I expected it to be someone I knew, some friend from town, a regular at the diner, something like that.
But, instead, I found myself staring at a man I had been doing my best to get out of my head. A man who, despite my best efforts, I just couldn’t seem to get away from.
And a man who, despite it all, made the hairs on the back of my neck prickle with excitement as he slowed the car down next to me and rolled down the window. Felix hooked his elbow over the open window, leaning out and raising his eyebrows.
"Need a ride?”
Chapter 7
Felix
Ihad known it was her the moment I had spotted someone on the side of the road, not far from the diner; at first, I thought I had managed to conjure her just through sheer force of will, but no, there she was, as real as day, hands thrust into her pockets as she gazed back at me from the other side of the window.
I had been heading back from a hike I had taken earlier in the day, driving out to one of the nearby scenic spots to clear my head and get a bit of fresh air. It was the least I could do, given that I had been turning over and over in my mind the conversation I’d had with Dina the last time I had seen her. When she had come to my hotel room, she had seemed so certain, so dead set on the idea that she didn’t need my help, and it hardly seemed to matter that it was coming from a good place. No, she seemed to see it like a kind of insult against her and her family, and I hated the idea that I had made her feel small when all I had been trying to do was help.
As much as she had asked me to keep my distance and stop offering my aid, I wasn’t just going to push down on the accelerator and head the other way when I saw her walking home alone. She chewed her lip as she looked back at me, gaze flicking to the rental car I had taken out today.
"I’m fine," she replied. "I can get home myself..."
"I know you can," I replied swiftly. "But it’s going to take you a while to walk home, and it’s getting late. You shouldn’t be out on your own."
"Why, is someone going to pull up at the side of the road and try to convince me into their car?” she retorted, a slight smile on her face. I chuckled.
"Alright, point taken," I conceded, and I drove a little further along the road, pulling onto the side of the road. I could see her watching me confusedly in the rearview mirror, and I opened the door and stepped out, locking up and dropping my keys into my pocket.
"What are you doing?" she called ahead, as she came to catch up with me. I shrugged.
"Keeping you company. If you want that."
"What do you mean...?”
"I’ll walk you home," I offered. "Beautiful night for it, anyway."
She parted her lips in surprise, clearly taken aback that I would make an offer like that.
"Uh, you don’t have to do that..."
