Page 68 of Dotted Lines (Runaway 5)

“Come with me.” The plea in my voice was unmistakable. “I don’t want to go alone. And I don’t want to take Holly. She’s the best. It’s just that . . .”

“She doesn’t get it.”

I shook my head. “No one does.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Okay, you’ll go?”

“I’ll go.”

I closed my eyes as a wave of relief crashed over my body. She was coming. Tonight hadn’t been goodbye. “I’ll pick you up around ten tomorrow.”

The plan was to stay at a hotel tomorrow night before the meeting Wednesday. The drive back to Elyria wasn’t long, but my meeting with the developer was at eight. With the regular morning traffic, it didn’t seem worth the rushed commute.

“We’ll be ready,” she said.

I breathed. “Good night.”

“Karson?” she whispered before I could hang up.

“Yeah?”

The other end of the line was silent other than her breathing.

“Clara?”

“Was it real?”

I closed my eyes. “It was real.”

“It’s been a long time, and I worried that maybe you were just a teenage boy and I was just a teenage girl and sex was . . . sex. Please don’t take offense at that. We were young and I wouldn’t blame you but—”

“It was real.”

She went quiet again.

“You still there?”

“Yeah. Sweet dreams, Karson.”

Then I’ll dream of you. “Good night, Clara.”

Chapter Twelve

Karson

“What made you change your mind?” I asked Clara. “About coming along.”

“Aria.” She glanced over from the passenger side as we rolled down the highway. “She asked me if I’d regret it in ten years. At first, I said no. But it nagged at me and I realized I need this closure.”

“I can relate.” I needed this closure too.

With Temecula. With the junkyard.

With Clara.

The top was up today to keep the wind and sun from August’s face. And the exhaust. The trip from Elyria to Temecula was about an hour but if we hit traffic, it could take considerably longer.