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Sadie took one for the team with zero remorse. “No problem, sir. Sorry if you got an eyeful. We’ll keep it in our pants until we get home.”
Old Man Turner’s eyes grew wide. “Right…of course. I’ll let you guys go on about your business.” He made like he was going to leave, but then paused. Turning back toward us, he gave me a cautious look. “I hate to ask, but…you got everything you need in there?” He nodded toward my backpack.
Heat crept up the back of my neck, and my shoulders tensed. I couldn’t leave the house once without someone reminding me of how broken they thought I was. I knew he meant well with the question, but all it served to do was crash my mood. For a brief moment, I’d gotten lost in Sadie and forgotten who I was. But my hometown and the people in it always managed to bring me kicking and screaming right back into reality. “Yup. I’m good.”
“Okay, well I’ll leave you two—”
“We’re all done here,” I said.
“We are?” Sadie asked.
“Yeah.” I avoided meeting her eyes. “We better get going. The sun will be setting soon, and we don’t want to still be on the trail when it does.” I grabbed my backpack and slung it on with a little more force than necessary, and grabbed her backpack and handed it to her, along with her camera.
She took them both with a perplexed look.
My mood continued to sour as we took the trail back toward the parking lot. There was no sightseeing on the return trip. Only awkward silence. My one-eighty obviously confused her, but I didn’t have it in me to explain why. Old Man Turner’s question took me back to some of my darkest days. It was foolish to think anything could be different.
Sadie wouldn’t want me if she knew what kind of person I truly was.
She gave me a questioning look when I opened her door back at the truck but held her tongue.
Angry at myself for being so stupid, I climbed into the cab and slammed the door
I had no idea how I was going to get through the drive home, let alone the next several days. But I was confident it was going to be a living hell.
