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4
Lostand Found
The heat was beating downon me two hours later, pulsing in time with my throbbing headache. I’d stormed out of the church without thinking. If only I’d put my sneakers on instead of my now-filthy white satin heels.
Well, Ihadbeen thinking, just not about where I was going to go, and what I ought to wear to get there. Instead, all I could see were those few seconds of Daniel’s dick down Rhonda’s throat, the scene playing out over and over...
I still couldn’t believe she’d called me a plain jane. She wasn’t exactly Heidi Klum, for fuck’s sake. Huge knockers, but that was her best feature, in my opinion.
But now, two hours later, after wandering like a fool, I had no idea where I was. I hadn’t stopped walking the entire time, stomping in my wedding heels down one street, then another and another, wanting to make sure anyone looking for me couldn’t find me, while the occasional passerby slowed in their car, took a good look at me, and sped past like I was some sort of freak. Which I guess I was.
Hell, I didn’t even have a way to call an Uber. Wouldn’t you know, just when I needed it most, my cell phone’s battery was deader than my nuptials, not even flashing that little red battery that screams ‘Plug me in! Now!’
I’d eventually slowed down, as the heels that were designed to make me look cute and sexy while walking down fifty feet of carpeted church aisle had completely and utterly failed as walking shoes. The thin silver leatherette straps, which had looked so sweet wrapped around my ankles, now dug into my flesh, rubbing me raw.
I kept going though, trudging along the blacktop since the country road I was on at that point didn’t even warrant a sidewalk. Instead, I just hoped to get to a gas station, convenience store, or some other sign of civilization before I died of thirst.
Hell, even a McDonald’s would have been welcome. Actually, after four months of not even sniffing a cheeseburger, I could have stuffed half a dozen of them into my face and not given it a second thought. And I was pretty sure I had enough cash on me to buy myself a couple.
Instead, I was lost, in pain, and when my right foot pierced a crack in the asphalt, the heel ripped right off my shoe, sending me tumbling into the weeds on the side of the road.
“Shit,” I screamed at the top of my lungs, sniffling as the tears started to come. I rolled over and got to my feet, but after a single step I stopped, hissing at the pain that plagued my feet and ankles.
Grimly, I lowered myself to the ground for a moment to cry some more and gather my wits. That was something my brother had taught me from his time in the Marines. ‘Feelings are going to come,’ he’d said. ‘When you have a moment, you let them come, put them aside, and get on with the mission.’
Well, my baby brother would definitely say I had a mission at the moment. Mainly, to not be a dead woman on the side of the road. The sun was getting hotter, and the only reason I kept my denim jacket on was to keep the sun off my shoulders.
As if sunburn was my worst problem at that moment.
The tears gradually tapered just like they always did. There’d be more later, but at the moment, I needed to get my shit together and figure out what to do next. First things first, I broke the heel off my remaining good shoe, at least rebalancing myself as I slowly got to my feet. I looked right, then left, and saw that just up ahead, the road ended in a T intersection. The road ahead also looked like a bigger one than where I currently was. So, with dogged determination and aching feet, I kept walking.
It took me a lot longer to get to the intersection than it should have, but when I did, I was overjoyed to find it wasn’t just a small road, but a four-lane country highway. And as I reached it, a red Chevy went flying by.
“Desperate times,” I murmured to myself, sticking my thumb out.
But no luck.
I knew in the twenty-first century that hitchhiking was a bad idea. This wasn’t the old days, there were too many crazies on the road now. And I knew I was quite a sight in my now-tattered wedding dress, mussed hair, and streaky makeup. I probably looked like a crazy, too.
Obviously so, because the first four cars that came by blew right past me without even slowing. One of them, a woman in a Lexus, even honked as she went by, as if I were somehow in her way.
Despair started to rear its ugly head when over a shallow hill came a blue pickup truck. As it got closer, I could see it was a Ford—one of those massive four door monstrosities on jacked up tires that looked like they should be used by the Army, not regular people.
And of course, there was a little voice in my head that said to be careful. I’d seen enough true crime TV shows to know that much.
The truck slowed to a stop, pulling over onto the grass. After a moment’s hesitation, I admitted to myself I really had no other options for getting out of the mess I was in. So, I limped over as best I could, pulling myself up to my full height and trying to look like a badass even though I was in a dirty wedding dress with mascara smeared on my face, and an updo that looked more like a bird’s nest. Three men in cowboy hats stared back at me like they were seeing an apparition.
“Hey there,” the driver said, giving me a big, bright smile, like he saw runaway brides every day. “You okay?”
Did I looked like I was fucking okay?
I didn’t have the best perspective from where I stood, but I could make a few guesses. The driver was a tall guy, and even from the distance, it seemed like his head brushed against the roof of the truck. A light facial scruff partially obscured what looked to be a strong jaw, and his eyes glinted in the afternoon light.
The man in the passenger seat looked straight out of a clothing catalog with medium length sandy blonde hair extending from his cowboy hat to his shoulders. While I was pretty sure he didn’t mean to, his intense stare made my heart rate accelerate. He looked like the sort of man who was quiet, maybe even reserved, until you got him going. And then? Hang on, because nobody was going to stop him.
In the back was a third man, but I could barely make him out. The windows were heavily tinted, and because of that he was in relative shadow compared to the bright exterior sunlight.
Cripes. If I had any brains, I’d be running in the opposite direction.
I put my hands on my hips, mostly so they couldn’t see how they were shaking. “Not sure where I’m headed, and not sure I’d tell you if I did. How do I know you’re nice guys?”
* * *
