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Chapter Forty-Two
Lena
My body shook uncontrollably as I sat in the passenger side of Jackson’s SUV. Brodie drove his truck and followed close behind us.
“Jackson.”
He glanced at me briefly before focusing back on the road as we whipped around the corner. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.” The shakiness in my voice made it difficult to speak very loud.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. Everything is going to be fine. You hear me? Everything. I hope you’re not upset about Brodie helping. I didn’t tell him details, but he’s no dummy, Lena.”
“I’m not.” I’d always been privy to the fact that Brodie knew more than he was letting on; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been giving Jackson such a difficult time about helping me. “What are we going to do?”
“We are going to pack our bags and go on vacation, too.”
“Where to?”
“Have you ever been to Aspen? I hear there’s still plenty of snow for skiing right now.”
“We can’t go to Aspen.”
“Why not?”
“Well, for one, we don’t have a flight reservation.”
“Details.”
I almost laughed. “Or money.”
“I have money, and we can make arrangements for the next available flight. In the meantime, we can hide out at the house. Your ex doesn’t know where we live.”
That was true, but if he did come all the way down here to find me, he’d be sure never to leave any stone unturned. I knew my husband. Not my husband anymore, I corrected. “I can’t let you use your money for this.”
“Why not? I need a vacation, and Aspen sounds great right now. Can you ski?”
I shook my head.
“Well, you can take a lesson. It will be fun. I promise.”
I knew what he was doing with his lighthearted attitude—trying to make me feel more secure, talking about things like there was nothing wrong, calling it a vacation when we were running, and going to hideout. The running and hiding part didn’t bother me, but dragging Jackson into my horror did. “How long do you think we can keep on running until we run out of money?”
He gave me a sideways glance and frowned. “Forever, if we have to. Forever.”
At that moment, I knew how much I loved Jackson. I’d fallen pretty hard, but I hadn’t let myself admit it until just then. I couldn’t let him sacrifice everything he’d worked so hard for to help me.
* * *
Brodie pulledinto the driveway right behind us. He hurried out of the jeep and ran to the front door, Rufus on his heels, but the dog quickly made a beeline over to Jackson. Rufus was Jackson’s dog through and through. “What’s the plan?” Brodie asked as though he was planning to go with us.
“Lena and I are going to Aspen. I’m hoping to find a flight out tomorrow morning.” Jackson shut the front door, and I walked toward the back door and the stairs leading to the cottage. I needed to get my stuff together. I wasn’t so sure about going to Aspen, but I needed to go somewhere. Alone.
Brodie nodded in agreement without even raising an eyebrow. “I have some money saved that I can give you.” I stopped in my tracks and turned to stare at Brodie. This was what family was about, pulling together to help one another in times of crisis. Something I’d never experienced before. Unconditional love. Oh, I knew my mother loved me, and she would have protected me if she’d been able to, but that was a mother’s job. To have a brother or a sister give up his hard-earned cash to help was beyond my comprehension, and I suddenly had a new admiration for Brodie. I couldn’t let him give up his own money, though.
“No!” I shouted. “I can’t let you do that. Either of you.”
I raced up the steps taking two at a time. Rufus barked behind me. Jackson must have told him to follow me. I headed for the closet. I pulled out all the clothes, including a dress that Leslie and I had found one day when she’d invited me along to go shopping in Fall River. It was white and covered with roses, definitely a springtime dress. I hadn’t worn it yet. I wondered how much time we had until Troy found me. I wanted a chance to let Jackson see the dress. See me in something other than raggedy old jeans. I decided if I wore a jacket, I could travel in a dress just as well as pants, so I put it on. I had no intentions of going to Aspen or anywhere with Jackson. I needed to go alone, but I wanted us to have one last wonderful evening together, even if it had to be a short one. Jackson was right. Troy didn’t know where we lived, so we were safe. For now.
