Page 42 of Peaks and Promises

I pushed away the sensation.

“We’re trying to get away from Axel, aren’t we?” he asked.

The fact that he called him Axel and not my dad made the corners of my mouth lift. “Yeah, we are.”

“My mom didn’t want to tell me that, but I figured it out.”

“She probably doesn’t want you to be scared.”

“I’m not,” he said decisively.

“It’s okay if you are. Being afraid isn’t a problem. It’s what you do when you’re scared that matters.”

Looking down at the floor, he nudged a pebble with his toe. “I’m scared they’ll hurt my mom.”

“Of course you are.”

He looked up, surprise flashing across his face.

“You love your mom, and you don’t want anything to happen to her, right?”

He nodded.

“And there are some very bad men out there who could hurt her. And you, too. It’s okay to be afraid of that. But I need you to listen to me, okay? I’m not going to let that happen.” I held out my hand. “I promise.”

He took my hand, and we shook on it.

Summer opened the door to the garage and let out a relieved breath. “There you are. Is all your stuff in Reese’s car?”

“I think so,” he said.

She met my eyes. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Let’s go.”

She went back into the house to make sure the lights were off while I double-checked the doors. I paused for a second and looked around the living room. At the worn furniture and bare walls. It hardly looked like I lived there. And I had the strangest feeling I wasn’t going to see it again.

But of course I was. Once I got Summer settled, and we were sure Axel wouldn’t be a problem, I’d come back. It wasn’t like I could stay in Tilikum.

Except the thought of leaving her there gave me an odd pang of regret deep in my chest.

We climbed into my SUV, I opened the garage door, backed out, and closed it again. Summer let out a long breath as we pulled onto the street. I couldn’t tell if it was relief or uncertainty. Maybe a bit of both.

The route out of town took us past the diner. It felt like it had been days, not hours, since we’d been there. The parking lot was mostly empty. Just a single car with a couple getting in—probably after realizing it was closed.

“I should stop for gas,” I said. Usually, I didn’t let the tank get low, but it had been a weird couple of days, and we’d be traveling long stretches of road without any services.

“Can I get a snack?” Nate asked.

Summer glanced over her shoulder at him. “You’re hungry already?”

“Yeah. And Reese said it’s a long drive. We need snacks.”

She looked at me as I pulled into the gas station and stopped at the outermost pump. “Do you want anything?”

“I’m good.”

“Okay, we’ll be fast.”