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But they knew where I was now. Jonah was probably on the way here right now.
I stood up and left the bathroom and threw my suitcase on the bed, tossing everything inside.
“Jane,” I said quickly into the phone, my voice shaking a bit as I ran through the small space and looked for my car keys. “I have to go—”
“What? Go where?”
“Montana—”
“Why? Sierra—”
“You know how I haven’t been feeling well?” I asked, and her breath caught.
“You’re not—”
“I am, and my family knows where I am now, I can’t stay here.”
“Come over—”
“I’ll call you in a while, okay? I’m fine, I just need to figure out what to do next.”
Jane let out a breath and told me to call her when I got to Hot Springs. I could tell as I hung up the phone that she was trying not to freak out for my sake, but I wouldn’t have blamed for her it.
Pete, a man I barely knew, was the father of this baby and he might be the only person who could help me right now, and not with his money, but with his protection.
Jonah wouldn’t hurt me, not when he was a public figure with a lot more to lose right now than my trust fund, no. But he wouldn’t stop looking for me, he’d do everything in his power to drag me back to the East Coast and put that ring back on my finger.
I wasn’t going to let that happen.
Pete wouldn’t let that happen, I hoped, not if he knew how dire things were for me and our child.
There was a risk, of course, that he wouldn’t care. That he wouldn’t believe me. But I had no other option right now than to run to him and tell him that I was pregnant.
If Jonah tracked me down in Montana he’d find me pregnant and with another man—another man who was big, strong, and had that deadly look in his eyes that set my soul of fire.
I knew little about him but I did know he was twice the man Jonah could ever be.
I dragged my suitcase down the stairs and tossed it into my car.
I could get to Hot Springs in less than a day if I drove through the rest of the night.
I took off, driving through the rain as cities sped by in a blur. Soon I was enveloped in trees, and the sky darkened from a pale, watery gray to nothing but pure night. I had no real thoughts in my mind as I drove, and drove, and drove until I was so fatigued I could barely keep my eyes open. I pulled into a truck stop motel somewhere on the border of Idaho and Montana and fell face down into the bed, sighing with relief.
It was close to midnight when my phone began to ring incessantly.
I didn’t answer the three times Jonah called. I held the phone in my hands and watched his number flash over the screen. He left no voicemails or texts, but the three calls in succession had told me everything I needed to know. He was angry, maybe even drunk, I wasn’t sure.
But that didn’t matter. There was no way I was ever going to back to him or my old life, even if I lost everything in the process.
I’d do what I had to do for this baby. This baby would grow up free and loved. That was a promise.
I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep but my mind slipped into shallow dreams of a small cottage-like house with a white-washed fence crawling with ivy. I dreamed of rolling hills of emerald grass and big, open sky.
That was what I wanted for this baby, whoever they’d be. Someplace where they could run wild when I hadn’t ever been allowed to.
I fell asleep at some point and slept until late the next morning. I stopped to grab a small breakfast and sat in my car for an hour building up the courage to continue over the border to Montana. I counted the money I had left. I could live off it for a few more weeks, but then what?
Eventually I started the car and drove into Montana, driving through the capital and up into the rolling hills and shallow mountains. Cities turned into small, sparse towns. Tractor trailers replaced most of the traffic as the mid-morning sun stretched into afternoon. It was a beautiful day—bright and blue and sunny. A perfect day, really.
