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“Come on, Alanna.”
Alanna heard Matthew hurrying to catch up with her.
“I promise he will behave. This is the only way the sheriff will let you go.”
“Then I won’t go.”
“Come on,” he wheedled. “He won’t say a word, I promise. They have fresh apple cider and caramel apples.”
He had her at the apple cider.
Spinning on her tennis shoes, she gave him a threatening glare. “If he so much as touches my caramel apple, I will shove it down his throat,” she warned.
Matthew raised a hand, as if pledging. “I’ll do it for you.”
Alanna poked a finger in his chest. “I’m going to hold you to that promise.”
Matthew nodded solemnly.
They walked back to Silas’ truck, and Matthew held the back door open for her behind Greer, allowing her to slide inside.Alanna stared straight ahead as Matthew closed the door and went to the other door.
“Let’s hit the road,” Matthew said enthusiastically, closing the door once he was inside.
“About time.”
Greer’s sarcastic voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard to her.
Matthew gave her an apologetic glace as Silas pulled out of the driveway.
“Mind turning the radio on, Silas?”
Quiet music filled the cab of the truck as Silas pulled onto the main road in the opposite direction of Treepoint.
As Silas drove, everyone was silent, including Greer. Alanna was able to relax back in her seat and look out at the scenery. The trees were beautiful as they started getting their springtime buds. Staring at them, she began to realize she wasn’t seeing the tree trunks; she was gazing at the top of the trees. Leaning her head closer to the window, she glanced down to see the huge drop-off. They were climbing the mountain and going higher.
“Are you afraid of heights?”
Alanna turned away from the window to smile at Matthew. “No. One of the few things I’m not afraid of.”
“See if you can say that in about ten minutes. We’re going to be coming down, and then going up that big mother.” Greer pointed toward the front windshield.
Alanna tilted her head sideways to look around Greer’s seat. She stared ahead.
“I thought you said you weren’t afraid of heights,” he teased.
“I’m not. I’m just stunned at how pretty it is.”
The hour-long drive wasn’t as bad as she had expected it to be. What had been unexpected was her queasy stomach from the curvy mountain road. At one point, she thought she was going to vomit.
“Silas, you might need to pull over,” she gasped out, putting a hand over her mouth.
Greer turned around to give her a handful of strange-looking candy. “Suck on one of these.”
She glanced down at her bandaged hand, holding the candy suspiciously. “What are they?”
“Homemade ginger candy.” Greer frowned. “What do you think they are?”
“I don’t know.”
