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Chapter Thirty-two
Finley
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“You’re sure you haveeverything you need?” Claire asks me for the hundredth time as she slides my duffel into the van.
“I do. And if I forgot anything we can always stop and pick it up,” I tell her, smiling as Abel comes bounding down the stairs toward us dressed in a dark t-shirt and black baseball cap, a large cooler in his hand.
“You’ll check in every day?” Claire continues.
“Every day. I promise.” I nod, pulling her in for a tight hug. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” I whisper into her ear.
“More than okay. I think this is just what you need,” she tells me, pulling back to give me an encouraging smile. “Go live your life, little sis. I’ll be here when you get back.”
“I love you. You know that, right?” I fight against the sting of tears that threaten to form.
“I do. And I love you.” She steps back as Abel pulls open the passenger door and holds his arm out to help me inside.
“I promise I’ll take good care of her,” he says as he closes the door between us.
I watch through the window as they share a few words, but because of their hushed voices I can’t actually make out what they’re saying. Abel rests a hand on Claire’s shoulder and says something else. She nods before her gaze comes to mine.
She steps back onto the curb as Abel climbs into the driver’s seat, giving us a small wave.
I wave back, blowing her a kiss as the engine rumbles to life.
——
After leaving Chicagowe headed north into Wisconsin. Because I grew up on the east coast, I wanted a chance to explore more of the mid-western states. We stayed the night in Chippewa Falls, but because of the temperature we ended up having to get a hotel room for the night. Which turned out to be a lot of fun. We ordered in room service and spent the evening watching old re-runs on television. It was a good day.
After that, we spent six days driving through Minnesota, and North and South Dakota, before deciding to head south into Wyoming; which has been my favorite state so far. Not only do they have some of the most beautiful sights, but we also saw some incredible wildlife. Including a bison that forced us to stop in the middle of the road to avoid hitting it. I nearly had a heart attack when Abel hopped out of the vehicle and attempted to shoo it away. We both had a pretty good laugh about it afterward.
In all the places I’ve lived, people ruled the land but out here? Out here the world belongs to nature.
“You hungry?” Abel asks, pulling my gaze from the window.
“A little.” I smile, loving how handsome he looks this morning with his messy hair and bright eyes.
“Okay, pick a letter.” He waits patiently as I think about it.
We started this little game our third day on the road. I pick a letter and he’ll stop at the first restaurant he can find that starts with the letter I chose. This way there’s no discussion about where we’ll eat and it forces us to try something we may not have otherwise tried. So far every place we’ve eaten has been a win, with the exception of the vegetarian Korean restaurant we went to in South Dakota. Turns out I don’t like Korean food. Who knew?
“Hmmm.” I tap my chin dramatically. “B.”
“B,” he confirms. “That shouldn’t be hard or anything.” He rolls his eyes playfully.
“I’m sure there are plenty of restaurants that start with the letter B. We just have to find one.” I smile, unbuckling my seatbelt before sliding across the bench seat toward Abel.
“What are you doing?” He gives me a sideways glance.
“I just want to sit close to you,” I tell him, laying my head on his shoulder.
“Well then, by all means.” He turns and kisses the top of my head before turning his attention back to the road.
We sit like that for several minutes, music playing softly in the background as we take in the sights of Colorado. We’d crossed the state line a few miles back and out of every place we plan to visit, I’m looking forward to this state the most.
We plan to spend at least three or four days in Colorado. As cheesy as it sounds, some of my all-time favorite books take place here and I’ve starred several things I want to see. We quickly determined all of the places couldn’t all be seen in the span of a day or two.
