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She didn’t lookover her shoulder as she walked with quick, meaningful strides, her purse tucked securely to her side. Her car sat across town, nowhere near the train station. No need to give any clues about how she fled town. After taking multiple buses and then hopping in a taxi, she asked to be dropped off five blocks from the destination she was nearly upon.
Had it all been enough?
Only time would tell.
Her hands shook as she dug in her purse for her wallet, her small duffle bag strapped across her chest. She had only packed what would fit in it. Everything else she had left behind. Not that she cared about anything she left behind. Useless objects that filled the space.
The attendant who sold her a ticket didn’t blink an eye. Barely even looked at her as they took her money and then handed her a one-way ticket to St. Louis. Good. The fewer eyewitnesses, the better. She had even purchased a blonde wig to cover her auburn locks and added glasses that she didn’t need to wear to see.
She didn’t bother putting her duffel bag above the seat. Instead chose to keep both her purse and the bag clutched on her lap as the train took off. According to her ticket, it would take her three days to get to St. Louis from Orlando. Three stops total. When she hit her first stop in Washington, D.C. roughly eighteen hours later, she got off and didn’t look back once.
Sure, she wasted money buying a ticket to a destination she never had any intention of going to, to begin with. But anything to knock someone off-balance if they managed to find a small clue of where to look for her.
After walking several blocks from the station, she hailed a cab and asked to be dropped off at the closest hotel. Lucky for her, there was a salon right across from it. The wig was starting to make her itch, and she didn’t trust herself not to mess up dying her hair. She managed to get in right away and walked out as a true blonde. She’d keep the glasses for the time being. Instead of renting a room as the cabbie most likely had expected, she caught a bus until she saw a dealership.
She bought her first car ever. It wasn’t much to talk about, but it would get her from point A to point B. No more spending money on useless destinations. Now, she could get to her last stop in a straight shot. It was silly how giddy she was at the prospect she’d picked this car herself. The other one she had owned had never been her style, one she hadn’t even picked out herself. That was her old life. The one where she shut up and did as she was told. From here on out, every decision would be because it was whatshewanted. Not what someone else wanted.
She drove to Pennsylvania then through Ohio and Indiana. Once she hit Illinois, instead of turning toward Wisconsin, she stayed straight to Iowa, then moved up to Minnesota. Four days later, she was two towns away from the end of her journey.
She didn’t want it to seem odd driving into town with nothing but a small duffle bag. A quick stop at a local mall solved the problem. She shopped so much her feet hurt and purchased so much that she ended up carrying bag after bag to her car. Clothes, toiletries, paintings, and wall decor that honestly held no meaning, but she’d pretend they did. Kitchen supplies, bedding, and some books because she couldn’t wait to relax and simply read. Of course, to make it all appear legit, she found boxes as well and packed all the new belongings as if it were how she left her old home. No need to raise suspicions.
Had she done enough to make herself look innocent? She could only hope so. There was no turning back now.
When she got behind the wheel of her car, she sat there, gripping it. Wondering if she had done the right thing. The smart thing.
If he found her…
Nope. She would not think of it. Because it would do no good. She had left, and that was that. Her chance to change her mind had left the moment she ditched her car and never looked back.
She blew out a small breath and put the car into drive, plugging her final destination into the GPS she had purchased when she bought the car. She had no smartphone so couldn’t use that device. That had been the first thing she’d gotten rid of when she left the house. No need to give him the ability to track her. Her car was so old it didn’t even have windows that rolled down automatically. But this was the start of a new beginning. Eventually, she’d get all those fancy gadgets and be like everyone else. But first, she had to settle into her new life and find a job. The cash she’d snatched before leaving was dwindling to nothing.
Her eyes widened when she saw the welcome sign.
Welcome to Sleighville. Where you are sure to have a holly, jolly time.
God, she hoped so. Anything was better than the hell she’d been living in.
Though, as she saw the first tree all dolled up in ornaments and lights, she wondered if she hadn’t traded one hell for another.
Her foot let up on the gas as she trailed through the main street of town, wincing at it all. Garland hung up in window shops. Christmas lights sparkling in every display. And the large sleigh carrying Santa with eight reindeer pulling it in the center of town made her want to puke.
When she pulled onto her street to the house she had rented, the same nauseating sight was everywhere. Lights strung up on gutters. Christmas paraphernalia set up in the yard from Santas to Frosty to elves that looked way too merry in her opinion.
But the house she pulled into sat bare. A quaint little house that almost looked like a gingerbread house. Square in design with a steeple roof. All it needed was some colorful gumdrops and icing sprinkled everywhere. It sat back from the other houses on the street, near the woods nestled behind it. Hiding from everything. That’s exactly what she needed. To hide.
There hadn’t been many options when she called to rent a place. When she finally decided she’d had enough, that if she didn’t leave she’d die, she knew she had to flee somewhere he’d never look.
A town that celebrated Christmas year-round.
And as someone who hated Christmas—despised it with every breath in her body—she figured that would be the last place he’d think to look for her.
She got out of her vehicle, stretched her neck, and looked around. She had ditched the glasses before she hit Minnesota, so when the car pulled in right behind her, she felt naked and unprepared. She took a step back, ready to run.
Keep your cool. Don’t act like a skittish ninny.
With that reminder in place, she greeted the woman who exited her vehicle with a cheery smile. Way too cheery, as if shelovedcelebrating Christmas year-round.
