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“Really?” Ashley cocks her head to one side and watches me closely. “Well, I slept soundly knowing.”
I narrow my eyes. “Davis said he found you on the road…”
“That’s right.” She brushes a crumb off the table and into her hand. “God, I was so lucky he was passing by.”
“Seems risky letting a stranger pick you up.”
“Believe me, it was.” I’m not expecting her to say anything else, but when she opens her mouth, words come pouring out. She speaks a million miles a minute. “It was stupid, really. I should have known better than to try to get anywhere in that clunker. I actually thought Davey could get me back on the road.”
She watches as I wipe down the table. When I look over at her, she’s shaking her head as though she’s lost in thought. “In a sense, I guess he did. And now, here I am.”
I offer a tight smile. It’s the best I can do. “And now, here you are.”
Chapter Eight
Ruth
I’m on my way to Hillford to pick up several items I have on order at the hardware store. I also need to grab a few groceries and drop by the post office.
I’ve shifted the car into reverse when I hear a loud thump come from the trunk. It catches me off guard, and my heart leaps into my throat. My breathing becomes taxing, as though my lungs are relearning how to function for the first time.
When I glance in the rearview mirror, I am expecting the worst, but all I see is a pretty blonde in a yellow summer dress. Shit. My mouth goes dry, and I get a funny feeling in my stomach. I almost wish it were one of the thousand other things my mind darted to. Anything but this. Anything but her. I pump the brakes, purposefully flashing the tail lights several times. I expect that she’ll move to the side and let me pass, but she doesn’t, or at least not enough to allow for a quick getaway without mowing her over.
It could solve a lot of problems, to be sure, but it would be a weak move, and I have a low-key agenda in mind for the rest of the day.
She shakily makes her way around the side of the car, high heels and uneven gravel ensuring the journey is a tricky one. She motions for me to lower my window and because I know what is coming, I am tempted to step on the gas and hightail it out of here, but then there’s a strange feeling that stops me. What if something has happened to Davis? What if, Ruth, you could somehow use this experience to your advantage?
I don’t know where these thoughts come from, only that they bother me enough to take notice.
She’s all smiles, her perfectly capped teeth blinding me like the sun. “Davey said you were going into town. Mind if I tag along?”
“Yes, actually.” I don’t have a lot going on at the moment, but she doesn’t know that. And I am certainly not going to si
t around chauffeuring twenty-somethings. That’s my brother’s job. He brought her here. He can handle the babysitting.
Her expression falls. “Please? I promise not to be any trouble.” She looks away toward the guest house, and then back at me. “I just need to run into the drugstore and grab a few things.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not going by the drugstore. I’m going to the post office and the hardware store and I’m in a hurry. Maybe my brother can drive you. Either of them…”
“The post office? Oh, good. I need to pick up some stamps for the postcards I bought to send to my student.”
“I can grab them for you. How many do you need?”
She grips a hold of my door like her life depends on it. “Ruth. Please.”
“I—”
“Davis’s truck is a stick shift. He’s not feeling well, and I don’t want to bother Johnny. And you’re already going—”
“Fine,” I hiss. “Get in.”
We drive to Hillford, which is a good half-hour away, and Ashley is mostly quiet except for the fact that she hums to the tune of every song on the radio, no matter how many times I change the station. She knows all the songs, even the classical ones without words. So eventually, I am forced to turn the radio off altogether.
“Do you think that truck is following us?” she asks, breaking the silence. She’s staring in her side mirror, chewing at her bottom lip.
I glance in the rearview mirror. “We’re on a two-lane road. Where else is he supposed to go?”
She shrugs and perks up a bit. “You’re probably right.”
