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The sheets slid through her hands a little faster than she’d expected. She hit the ground hard enough that she fell back onto her ass.
Without wasting time, she scrambled to her feet and raced for her car, diving into the driver’s seat. She was just closing the door when she heard her name roared.
“Penny!”
She twisted the key in the ignition and prayed the finicky engine would start on the first attempt. When it did, she shifted into reverse and backed out of the parking space.
Derek emerged from the building and ran toward her.
Penny slammed the shift into drive and mashed her foot on the accelerator.
Derek ran out in front of her.
She jerked the steering wheel to the left, swerved around him and almost hit another car.
Her heart pounding, she skidded sideways out of the parking lot onto the road and drove as fast as she could, zigzagging through streets with no care as to the direction as long as it was away from her ex-boyfriend. She didn’t stop until she was certain she’d put enough distance between herself and Derek that he wouldn’t catch up to her.
Since it was early morning by then, he might assume she’d go toward the restaurant where she worked. Penny steered clear of that end of town.
She wasn’t going to work. She was going home. Done with LA, she had no desire to stay or ever return to California. Her heart and soul belonged in Montana.
Without her cell phone, she had no GPS to guide her. As soon as she could, she pulled into a truck stop and bought a paper map of the city and an atlas with all the states and major highways.
She had every intention of driving all nineteen hours straight through, only stopping for gas, food and bathroom breaks.
After seventeen hours on the road, she stopped at a truck stop just short of Bozeman, Montana, to get fuel one more time before driving the rest of the way along the curvy, deserted highways of the Crazy Mountains heading toward Eagle Rock.
She’d been standing in line to pay for snacks she’d collected when the woman behind her asked, “Headed to Bozeman?”
Penny nodded. “Going through Bozeman to Eagle Rock.”
“Oh, really? Me too,” the woman said. “We still have a way to go.”
“Yes, we do.” Penny gave her a tired smile. “It’s been a long day.”
“Maybe we’ll see each other on the road.” The lady gave her a commiserating tilt of her lips. “Safe travels.”
Penny carried her bag out to her car.
The woman who’d spoken to her left the truck stop, climbed into an SUV and drove away, waving a hand as she passed Penny.
As Penny drove through Bozeman, tears welled in her eyes. She’d gone to college at Montana State University in Bozeman for a year before she’d left to follow Derek to LA. Where would she have been now if she’d stayed in college? She would have finished school and gotten a job as an accountant if she’d followed the degree plan she’d mapped out for herself. She was good with numbers. Hopefully, she could go back to school.
But first things first, she wanted to go home to Eagle Rock. She’d had a life and friends in there.
Because of her hectic work schedule, she hadn’t had time to nurture any friendships. And Derek had demanded her time when they’d both been home.
Penny couldn’t wait to get back to Eagle Rock to see her mom and dad and the friends she loved as much as sisters.
Her heart swelled, and more tears welled in her eyes.
Several miles outside of Bozeman, she slowed as she entered the curvy roads leading into the Crazy Mountains. Not long after traversing the winding road, she rounded a bend. An SUV was pulled to the side of the road with the hood up. The woman she’d seen at the truck stop stood beside the vehicle, waving her hands.
Penny didn’t like stopping on the lonely road at night, but the woman was alone and obviously experiencing engine trouble. The least she could do was to offer her a ride into Eagle Rock. Especially since they were headed the same direction.
She pulled up alongside the stranded SUV and rolled down the passenger window.
The woman leaned in, her lips twisting. “I don’t know what happened. The engine just stopped working. I got out and opened the hood, but I don’t know anything about how the thing works or how to fix what’s wrong to get me where I need to go.”
