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“Where are we?” she asked. Rose fished around her purse for her cellphone, trying to find out what time it was, but she couldn’t find it. “I think I lost my phone,” she said.
“You didn’t lose it. I took it.”
“You did what?” she shouted, waking Sadie. The toddler cried out and Rose turned to soothe her. “You’re all right, honey. We’re almost there.” Rose turned back to Thorne and looked him over. He didn’t seem to be fazed by her anger at all. “Where is my phone?” she asked.
“I tossed it out the window about two states back,” he said.
“You did what?” she whispered, trying to keep her daughter calm.
“You said that your ex caught up with you about three days before you found Savage. I’m betting that he’s been tracking you by your phone this whole time.” Well, that made sense since her ex held the contract on her cell phone. Rose had never gotten around to getting her own plan once she left him.
“Shit,” she mumbled.
“Language,” Thorne chided.
Rose rolled her eyes at him. “I never thought about being on his plan and him being able to track us. Thank you for getting rid of my phone, but I’ll need a new one. Can we stop somewhere?”
Thorne dug into his jeans pocket and pulled out a phone. “You can use this one. It’s a burner and only Savage, Bowie, and I have the number. Don’t call anyone else with it—especially not your ex.”
“I have nothing to say to him, so that won’t be a problem. Thank you,” she said. “How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing,” Thorne said. “Savage gave it to me to give to you when we got on the road. It’s a gift from him.”
“Well, I’ll thank him the next time we talk,” she said.
“As for where we are—you’re in Texas,” he said. “My home state.”
“You’re from Texas?” she asked. “I just assumed that you were from Huntsville.”
“No,” he said. “Most of the guys in Savage Hell are from another state. Hell, we just patched in a kid from California. A lot of the guys are military or retired and well, we just kind of stuck around Huntsville and found our home at Savage Hell.”
“I take it you’re military then?” Rose asked.
“Yep, I was in the Army until about two years ago, when I retired,” he admitted.
“You retired two years ago?” she asked. “How old are you?” She knew that he must be older, just from the gray in his beard, but she never thought to ask. Plus, she was always told that it was rude to ask a person’s age—well unless she was waiting tables and carding minors who were trying to sneak a drink at the bar.
“I just turned forty,” he said. Thorne sounded a little put off by her question, making her feel bad.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. Forty isn’t that bad,” she said.
“Forty sucks,” he said, “but I hear that the alternative is worse.”
“What’s the alternative?” she asked.
“Death,” he breathed. “I’m good with being forty. Hell, I never thought that I’d make it to thirty, so I’m glad to be here.”
“Well, I just turned twenty-five, and having a two-year-old, some days I feel like I’m forty,” she joked.
“You’re still a baby yourself,” he said. “You were only twenty-two when you got pregnant?” he asked.
“Yeah, I was just a kid, practically. At least, that’s how I felt. I didn’t have any clue how to be a mom, since my own mother died when I was only seven. But I quickly figured it out. Plus, Sadie was a pretty easy baby. That’s what my father used to tell me, anyway.” She always felt sad when she talked about her father. Sure, he kept her from the only other family she had over a silly feud, but she still loved her father.
She was with him when he passed. She had just run to get Sadie from daycare, after working the day shift at the diner, waiting tables. She was exhausted, mainly from looking over her shoulder all the time, trying to see if Joe was following her. Rose took her daughter home and started making dinner for her father and her when she heard a thud from the other room. She turned off the stove and ran into the room to find her father lying on the floor. He was already gone by the time she had found him. Rose called 911, but she knew that it was a frugal attempt to save him, he was gone. She was just thankful that her daughter was in her crib, playing with her toys when it happened. She didn’t want Sadie to see her grandpa like that, even if she was too young to understand what was happening.
“Well, you seem to be a good mom, Rose,” Thorne said.
“Thanks for saying that,” she said. She looked over at him and smiled.
