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“Kit?” Her voice was soft. “Whatever’s wrong, whenever you’re ready to tell me, I’m here. You know that, right?”
Tears burned behind my eyes. “I know, Grandma.”
“Good. Now you need to come visit soon. I’m not getting any younger, and neither are you.”
“Thirty-one isn’t old.”
“You’ve been working since you were sixteen. You need some balance, and I want some great-grandchildren.”
A knock at the connecting door saved me from another lecture about finding a man and settling down.
“I have to go, Grandma. Someone’s at the door.”
“You call soon. After you dry out your cell phone.”
“I will. Love you.”
“Love you too, pumpkin.”
I hung up and crossed to the connecting door. Angelica stood there in designer jeans and a silk blouse with every color of the rainbow. I thought I might get vertigo just looking at it.
“I’m heading over to see Millie, my brother Renzo’s wife. Wann come with me?”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll just read for a while.”
She studied me with those dark eyes that saw too much.
“You’re only allowed to pout until lunch,” she told me. “Oh, and Lisa Thatcher will be calling.”“Who’s she? And why will she be calling?”
But Angelica had already disappeared, leaving me staring at the closed connecting door. An hour later, another knock interrupted my attempt to lose myself in a book about steel plants in Indiana during the war. I went to the front door and looked out the peephole. I saw a blonde woman who had to be Lisa Thatcher and a man standing next to her. I opened the door.
“Lisa?”
“That’s me. This is Earl. He works with me at the shop. We brought you something.”
“The shop?”
She laughed. “You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”
I shook my head.
She held out her hand and I shook it.
“Let me properly introduce myself. “I’m Lisa Thatcher, Roan’s wife. I manage Thatcher Automotive. Code thought you might need a car of your own while you were here in town. He told Roan, so here I am with the shop loaner. It isn’t much, but it runs.”
“Let me get my credit card.”
Lisa grinned. “No need. Since Roan’s company is handling your security situation, consider it part of the service. Can’t keep you safe if you’re driving around with Angelica.”
I snorted out a laugh. “That is the truth. She drives like a bat out of hell.”
Earl handed me a set of keys. “It’s a blue Honda Civic, parked out front. You can’t miss it.” With that, they turned around and left. I stood there in the open doorway, considering my next step. I could go back to reading, but I really needed to get away. Alone. Away from everything, including Angelica’s well-meaning help.
I grabbed my purse and headed to the front of the Inn. There it was, the blue Honda. I got into the driver’s seat and took a moment to consider where I would go. Pigeon Forge was only thirty minutes away. I'd passed signs for Dollywood on the drive in with Angelica. A theme park seemed like the perfect place to lose myself in crowds of tourists who wouldn't know Kit Lord from any other random blonde.
Shit, I needed my disguise. I ran back to the room and grabbed my Dodgers’ baseball cap and my oversized sunglasses. I pulled my hair into a ponytail. Voila. I was just some random woman.
The parking lot stretched forever. Families poured from minivans and SUVs, kids bouncing with excitement. I pulled my baseball cap lower and adjusted my sunglasses before stepping out of the Honda.
