Page 59 of Summer Ride

Carter held onto her as she cried and then when he felt her entire body go lax, he laid them down on the sofa and held her long after she’d fallen fast asleep.

When his stomach growled loudly, she woke up and shifted.

“Sorry,” she said against his chest.

“It’s okay. Did you get some rest?”

She nodded and sat up, wiping her hands over her face. Then she looked outside. “It’s raining.”

He glanced at the door and nodded. “Yeah, it started about half an hour ago.”

He shifted and stretched. “Hungry?” he asked, making his way into the kitchen.

“Not really, but I’d better eat something since we didn’t really have breakfast.” She moved into the kitchen.

She pulled out a salad and he grabbed a container of lasagna for himself.

“You know what I could really go for is some pizza,” he said as he microwaved the lasagna.

“We could head into town for dinner at the pizza place we ate at last time we were here,” she suggested. “But do you want pizza for dinner after eating lasagna for lunch?”

“There’s always room for pizza,” Carter joked.

That afternoon they played Dragon Slayer on the multi-game controller he found in one of the cupboards, and at dinnertime they decided to brave the storm outside. They changed into better clothes and headed into the small town about five minutes from the house for pizza.

They were soaking wet when they entered Black Jacks Pizzeria, but nothing could damper their attitudes. The place was surprisingly packed for a night with such bad weather.

It appeared that everyone had the same idea they had and just wanted to get out of the house.

They got a booth in the back after waiting ten minutes. When the waitress walked by, Carter quickly ordered a pitcher of root beer and a large Hawaiian pizza and breadsticks.

“I didn’t want to wait to order,” he said with a shrug.

“I’m just thankful we both like pineapple on our pizza,” she joked. “How many of our friends don’t?”

“They’re all crazy,” he joked. “My second favorite is barbeque chicken, but about the only one who does that right is Isaac.”

When their breadsticks were delivered, they discussed getting the rest of her things from her apartment, which they had forgotten to do before they left.

Her month-to-month lease was up the week after they returned home, and she still had a few things she wanted to get. Anything else they were going to haul over to a local donation box.

“When we get back, I’m going to tell the clinic I’m leaving at the end of this year,” he said, surprising her.

“Does this mean you’re going to settle down to just one job? You’ve been bouncing around so much. It must be exhausting going between the clinic, the camp, and the sanctuary.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to settle on one if I’m going to have free time to spend with my family.” He winked at her. “I’ll make it work. Besides, now that I have a new roommate to help pay the bills maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to take some time off. With the baby on the way, I’ll have to make time to finish the extra bedrooms.” His smile doubled.

She smiled as she took a sip of her drink, but then a look of sheer terror crossed her face, and she spit the soda out.

“What?” he asked, concerned.

“He’s here.” She pointed to a large glass window.

When he turned to look, all he could see outside was the darkness of the night. The dim streetlights only allowed him to see a few feet of the soaked streets outside of the pizzeria.

“When the lightning flashed a moment ago, he was right there.” She pointed again. “He was right there, by the stop sign.”

Her hand shook, and she started to push her way out of the booth. “We have to—”