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“You know those things are nothing but pure sugar,” Mrs. Delphi pointed out as he approached the counter.
That was exactly what Brooklyn needed. “I know,” he answered with a smile.
“Another business trip?” she asked as she rang up his drink.
Brooklyn often traveled to meet with clients. He loved his career, and so had Blaine. It enabled the man to get away with his affairs. Everyone in town was aware of Blaine’s unfaithfulness. He didn’t even try to hide the fact that he was cheating. That was how Brooklyn found out about what Blaine had been up to.
He had been at the grocery store when he overheard Felicia—the gossipy cashier—talking one aisle over about her hot and heavy weekend with Blaine. Brooklyn knew that Blaine was attracted to both men and women, which hadn’t at all been a problem for him. It evidently hadn’t been an issue for any of the women Blaine had slept with either.
“Yes, another business trip.” Brooklyn didn’t want to go into details about what he was doing. He didn’t want to contribute anything else to the town’s seemingly never-ending source of gossip material, seeing as they already had enough to talk about due to Blaine’s indiscretions.
“Be careful driving. The fog is moving in tonight,” Mrs. Delphi said as she gave Brooklyn his receipt. She was a sweet woman, and Brooklyn was going to miss seeing her every time he came into town.
But he could also see the knowing look she always gave him. Every single person in town knew about Blaine’s affairs. She was probably wondering why Brooklyn continued to put up with the man’s crap.
Brooklyn often wondered the same thing.
“Thanks,” he said as he headed toward the door. “I’ll be careful.”
She waved goodbye to him as he walked out and headed toward his car. Slipping his wallet free, Brooklyn paid at the pump, inserted the nozzle, then leaned against the hood of his car for a moment, letting his gaze drift over the town.
He wasn’t going to miss this place. The people were friendly enough, never batting an eye at his and Blaine’s relationship. But they did whisper about the cheating bastard. This town knew too much, and Brooklyn was tired of them looking at him with pity in their eyes.
He wanted a place he could start over, where no one knew his name or the crap Blaine had put him through. Ridgeway would be better. It wouldn’t be as cozy as Clover, but he could keep his embarrassing past hidden.
The pump clicked off, and Brooklyn replaced the nozzle. After putting the cap on, he climbed into his car and got back onto the main road.
Mrs. Delphi was right. The fog was growing thick tonight.
Brooklyn used both hands on the wheel as he drove. The road was riddled with dips and turns that were dangerous in broad daylight. Having his vision impaired by the fog was a bit frightening, but Brooklyn refused to stay in this town one more night.
As he took a curve that made him slow down, Brooklyn was blinded by an oncoming car’s high beams. He flashed his headlights to tell the jerk to turn his high beams off. All he needed was an accident.
Relieved the car passed him by and the bright light was no longer blinding him, Brooklyn drove on. But the longer he drove, the thicker the fog became.
He was becoming uneasy. Maybe he should pull over somewhere and—
Headlights cut through the dense fog, and Brooklyn shouted just as a large truck became visible, sending him careening to the right as a massive truck barreled past him in the opposite direction.
Brooklyn fought to keep control of his car as he pressed on through the choking haze. That had been way too close for comfort. He needed to find a place to rest and gather his nerves, but Ridgeway was still miles away. Brooklyn continued driving cautiously through the fog, his grip on the steering wheel tightening as he felt the car skid on a patch of slick road.
Just when he thought he needed to pull over or find the nearest motel so he could wait until conditions were more favorable, the fog began to lift.
Brooklyn let out a sigh of relief as the road opened up in front of him. The fog had been so thick that he had been driving blindly for miles, but now he could see the road stretching ahead of him. He glanced at the dashboard and realized with a start that he had been driving for hours. The glow of the dashboard clock told him that it was after midnight, and he was bone-tired.
He needed to find a place to sleep, and he needed to find it fast. Brooklyn rolled down the window and breathed in the cool night air. Then he saw distant lights, and he knew he must be getting close to Ridgeway. He rolled up the window and picked up his phone, scrolling through his contacts until he found Marcus’s name.
He pressed the call button and waited while the phone rang several times. Was he calling too late at night? Would Marcus be awake, and more importantly, was this still his friend’s phone number?
“Hello, darling,” Marcus said when he answered, his familiar voice making Brooklyn smile.
“Hey, Marcus,” Brooklyn said. “I was wondering if you were up for company.”
“For you, any time. What made you decide to come visit? The last time I was home, you were stuck so far up Blaine’s ass that you didn’t have time for me.”
Brooklyn winced. “Yeah, sorry about that. Blaine’s actually the reason I’m calling.”
He told his friend about how he’d just left Blaine.
