by Leah Atwood
Leave it to her son to embarrass her in front of a complete stranger when it wasn’t even anything to be embarrassed about. Avery’s heart thumped out a ground-please-swallow-me-now beat.
The poor trucker just gawked at them before running a giant hand over his hairy face. He swallowed a couple times, which Avery could see from her vantage point under his Adam’s apple. There was hair growing on it. She’d never noticed before that a man’s beard could grow down so low on his neck. That had to be a difficult spot to shave.
The trucker blinked at them. “And why exactly are y’all still traveling?”
“Long story.” Gavin stepped in. “Do you have any suggestions about a portable defroster, or where we can go to get our defroster fixed?”
The trucker looked at them suspiciously. Then he blinked a couple more times and shook his head, his beard keeping beat with the movement. It seemed like he’d given up on expecting them to be reasonable. After Eli’s summary of their trip, she couldn’t blame him.
Touching one of the boxes, the trucker nodded as though embracing their insanity. “This one should do the trick for you. It’s the better of the two. With all the trouble you’ve been having, though, you might want to get two. And one of these cans to fix a flat tire. Maybe some oil, too.” He started retracing his steps out of the close-ended automotive aisle, handing them more items with each step. By the time he was done, they had everything from flashlights and shiny metallic emergency blankets to duct tape and flares. Lots of flares.
The mammoth man led them up to the cash register then stepped outside to take a look at their car. When he came back in, he shook his head. “You’re crazy to be going to Nowhere, Oklahoma, this time of year, let alone this time of night.”
“We have our orders.” Gavin didn’t back down. “Besides, we’ve come too far to turn back now. And it hasn’t been all bad. I’ve gotten to know two complete strangers here.” He waved his hand toward Avery and Eli.
Studying the group before him, the trucker swiveled his head back and forth between each of them. “You mean you aren’t a family?”
Avery pulled Eli close. “We’re family, and by the time this trip is over and that rental car is returned, I’m pretty sure we’ll have adopted him, too.” She waved toward Gavin as she said those last words.
Then the trucker again stared over to where the car was parked. “A rental?”
They all nodded.
“Y’all got ripped, you know that, right?”
Avery’s mouth felt dry. Her heart pounded in her ears and drowned out Eli’s voice so that he had to repeat himself.
“Mom, let go.”
She released him. Avery hadn’t realized how tightly she’d been squeezing her son.
It wasn’t the trucker’s fault they’d gotten such a horrible car. Yeah, but he hadn’t needed to point it out, either. They were all already under enough pressure as it was.
“We appreciate your help.” Gavin indicated the defrosters and the pile of safety gear the man had heaped on them. The cashier was ringing it up but didn’t have a big enough bag to put it all in. Gavin offered the poor cashier a tired smile. “It’s no problem. Bag it however you can. We’ll be fine.”
The trucker didn’t say much after that, but he waved them off as they pulled out of their parking spot and headed toward the gas pumps.
After Gavin gassed up the car, Avery offered to drive.
“No, that’s okay. I’ve still got plenty of juice in me.” He was willing to say almost anything to keep her out of the driver’s seat.
“I may have gotten pulled over in Amarillo, but that doesn’t mean I’m a bad driver. You’re safe with me behind the wheel.”
“It’s not that. I make a better driver than passenger.” Why couldn’t she let the subject drop?
“This is because I was driving when the thermostat died.”
“No, it’s not. Honest.” Come on. Why couldn’t she just give up and get into the passenger seat?
Hands on her hips, she squinted at him. “Then it’s because I was driving when the windshield wipers came off.”
Gavin shook his head and moved to the passenger side of the car. “Have it your way, Avery. Go ahead. Get in.”
Just tell her already.
He ignored his inner voice and watched as Avery settled into the driver’s seat. The seat was reclined so far back, she was more or less looking straight up. Never mind reaching the pedals, they were way beyond where her toes could stretch.
Avery pulled herself out of the car and began running her hands under the edge of the seat and along the back. Once she found it, she yanked downward on an adjustment lever, but nothing happened. She tried again, this time tugging at the seat-back with her other hand. “Push it forward, Eli.”
Eli pushed, grunting with the effort, but the seat-back refused to be moved.
Squatting on the cold cement next to the car, which was still parked by the gas pump, Avery eyed Gavin, who was now sitting in the passenger seat. “It’s stuck.”
He nodded.
“You knew it was stuck.”
He again moved his head in the affirmative.
“Were you at any point going to tell me about this?”
“Not so much, no. I thought I’d keep driving, and you wouldn’t need to know.”
Avery shook her head and returned to the passenger side of the hatchback. “I suppose you can drive then.”
Gavin happily climbed out of the seat he’d been keeping warm and moved back to the other side of the car.
“When did it get stuck?” Avery wasn’t going to let it go. She was like a dog with a bone. A pretty dog. Gavin shook his head. Thank goodness that thought had stayed in his head and not spilled out of his mouth. Avery was nothing like a dog. Except for her tenacity. But still… She wouldn’t appreciate the comparison.
“Not a clue. I first noticed it in Clarendon after I got the window up, but I don’t know if that’s when it started or not.”
“Why didn’t you want to tell me?”
Gavin gave an exasperated shrug. “It seems silly now, but so many things have gone wrong. I didn’t want to add another one to the list.”
Avery smiled at him and said. “You’re right. It is silly. But thoughtful. In a weird, trying-to-protect-the-damsel kind of way.”
Watching the road, Gavin still couldn’t help but smile. So, in Avery’s world, rescuing a damsel was considered weird. That bit of information might prove useful someday.
He’d watched her in the truck stop and had taken note of the way she’d handled herself. When the trucker first approached them, she’d been scared. She’d blinked rapidly and backed up when the large man had come close. By the time the trucker got around to saying something about her family, she’d gotten over her fear and had passed straight on through to defensive. As soon as the words about them not being family had left the trucker’s mouth, her chin had gone up, and her eyes had dared the giant of a man to disagree with anything she’d said.
Adopted.
What would it be like to get adopted by Avery and Eli? To be a part of their lives on a regular basis? To spend time with them that wasn’t in a car they’d all been forced into?
“Do you ever wonder how different this trip might have gone if you’d gotten the original SUV you were supposed to get?”
His question hung in the air between them for a little while before she answered. “Having seen the rental lot, I’m not sure it would have turned out much differently than it has, except repairs would be more expensive, I suppose.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
She shrugged. “You mean, if we were all comfy and in a vehicle big enough where we could each have an entire bench seat to ourselves?”
“Yeah, something along that line.”
“I don’t know…” He deserved at least a little teasing, didn’t he? “You thought I was a man, and you were pretty determined to dislike me for being a woman. Would you have been able to get over it?”
He laughed. “Talking is one of the things I do best. I would have tried to engage you in conversation to get to know you better. Or, if I foolishly still didn’t care for you because you’re a woman, I would have tried to talk to Eli.”
“You’re good at that.”
His heart warmed at the compliment. “My mom taught me years ago to look behind the person to the story.”
“I’m a journalist. I look for the story.”
He shook his head. “It’s not the same. Journalists tend to look for the story, but they often miss the people. Photographers can get so preoccupied with the people that they miss the story.”
“But a good photojournalist sees both.”
Gavin gave her a quick nod. “I’ve talked to people all over the world. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they’re from, has a story. They may not all want to share it, but they all have one. You show a little genuine interest in that story, and most people will open up to you and bend over backward to lend you a hand if you need it.”
He glanced over and caught the puzzled on her face. No, not puzzled. Contemplative, maybe. “You disagree?”
She bit her bottom lip before answering. “No, not so much. I think ‘genuine’ is the key word. It’s not something you can fake. If you try to engage someone in conversation because you want to get something out of them, it won’t get you anywhere.”
She’d caught on to the main point. Not that he’d doubted she would. “Whether they recognize it or not, most people instinctively know when they’re being played. Try to schmooze someone because you want something, and you’re no better than a used car salesman. People know that.”
“Schmooze?” Eli piped up to ask. “What, is this an eighties’ movie now, or something?”
Avery turned toward the backseat. “How do you know that word’s from the eighties?”
“Well, it’s definitely not from this century, and I don’t think even the nineties would have wanted it, so…”
Gavin stepped in before the teen called his mom a dinosaur. “So, Eli, do you think we’d all be getting along this well if we’d had a nice big comfortable vehicle to drive in?”
Eli leaned forward as far as his seatbelt would allow and got his head up close to his mom’s ear. “Mom’s a tough nut to crack, so I don’t know. I’ve been telling her forever now that she needs to start dating again. The way I see it, all this close togetherness with someone of the opposite sex is good practice for her. It’ll help her get back into shape so she doesn’t embarrass herself when I do finally convince her to accept a date with a real live man.”
Gavin kept his eyes smartly locked onto the pavement in front of him. Avery, yet again a victim to Eli’s perfect timing, was choking on her water. Eli sat back in his seat, popped his earbuds into place, and winked at Gavin in the rearview mirror.
A smile started to stretch across Gavin’s mouth, but he schooled his features as soon as Avery looked his way. He didn’t think she was ready yet to know how much he agreed with young Eli.
Chapter Fourteen
Altus, OK
December 24, 8:00 p.m.
“Altus looks like a nice town.”
Gavin glanced over at Avery. She didn’t usually volunteer to make conversation.
“It might be interesting to visit here sometime. In the daylight. When it’s not the middle of winter.”
In fact, up to that point, she’d only really gotten chatty when she’d been embarrassed or uncomfortable. So, why the sudden interest in chatting about a random town?
Gavin kept his foot on the accelerator. “We are passing straight on through. We’ve got about another ninety minutes, two hours tops, before we get to Nowhere.”
“I haven’t seen any signs for it. Have you?”
He shook his head. “Must not be big enough to warrant listing on a highway sign.”
“I want to get to Nowhere, get a hotel room, fall into a big, soft, comfy bed and order room service.”
“On Mitchell’s dime, of course.” Gavin was looking forward to that big, soft, comfy bed too. “Or at Corporate’s expense, actually. I hope they’re the ones who end up footing the bill.”
Avery twisted around to better see him. “Have you heard back from him? Did he reply to any of your texts?”
Gavin shook his head. “I lost cell service again and haven’t regained it. If he’s texted me, I haven’t gotten them yet. Have you heard from him?”
Avery took her phone out and frowned at it. “Dead battery. Guess I forgot to charge it when we stopped at the hotel earlier.”
“What about you, Eli?” Gavin glanced at the teen in the rearview mirror. “Any cell service?”
Eli gazed blankly at his phone then shrugged. “No service, but as long as I have my music, I don’t care. I have a DC-powered charger.” He nudged his mom’s shoulder. “It might fit your phone.”
She shook her head. “With our portable defroster plugged in, we can’t charge anything
“Oh well.” Gavin shrugged. “It won’t hurt him too much to stew. We’ll call him as soon as we get there.”
Altus was in their rearview mirror by the time Eli spoke up again. “Hey guys, do you think we can stop? I could use a restroom.”
Exasperated, Avery circled toward him. “We just passed through a town. Why didn’t you say anything then?”
“I didn’t have to go then.”
Two minutes passed.
“I really need to go. Pull over, and I’ll find a bush.”
Gavin chuckled at the mortified look on Avery’s face. If it weren’t for his presence, he was pretty sure the teen would be getting a lecture on timing. For the dozenth time. Then again, Gavin had to wonder if his very presence was part of what was motivating Eli to push the limits with his mom.
As the car came to a stop, Eli bolted from his seat, flashlight in hand.
“I’m so sorry.” Avery apologized for her son.
“No problem.” Gavin wasn’t too worried about it. “We all have to go sometime. All in all, Eli’s been a great traveling companion. I haven’t heard him complain. Despite everything that’s happened. And he hasn’t once asked if we’re there yet, which makes him tops in my book.”
After a couple heartbeats, Avery’s mutter reached his ears. “Great.”
Gavin peered at her. “What’s the problem?”
She inhaled deeply and let the breath out slowly. “Now I have to go.”
By the time Avery fished the toilet paper out from its hiding spot in the back seat, Eli had returned.
It was dark out but not quite pitch-black yet. “Come on.” Gavin directed Eli with his arm. “Let’s go take a look at the other side of the road.”
“Why?” The teen pushed his hands deeper into his jacket’s pockets.
“Come with me, and don’t argue about it.”
“Okay.” Eli shrugged. “But only because Mom is frantically waving me in your direction.”
When they got to the opposite side of the road, Gavin swept his arm out to encompass the field in front of them. “Your mom needs to go, too, but there’s not much in the way of shrubs or trees on this stretch of the road. So you and I will enjoy the scenery over here until she’s ready for us to go back over there.”
“Huh.” Eli looked around. “I never would have thought of that.”
Gavin shrugged. “Someday you’ll reach the point where, no matter what you’re doing, you’ll wonder if it’s going to work for a girl or how one would feel about it.”
“You should ask her out on a date when we get back to Albuquerque, you know.”
He took a quick peek at Eli but couldn’t make out much more than the shadow of his face in the early winter night. “Why do you think so?”
Eli held out a hand and began ticking off fingers. “You laugh at her corny jokes. You don’t ignore me. You handle stress pretty well.” Then he paused and said, “Trust me, there’s a lot of stress where my mom’s concerned. Especially if she doesn’t get her coffee
.” Going back to his fingers, he continued ticking off items. “You understand her work. Her voice gets all fuzzy when she talks to you.”
Gavin adjusted his scarf. “I’ll take it under advisement.” The boy’s words made him feel as if he could take on the world, and he was pretty sure he wasn’t doing a good job of hiding that fact from Eli.
“Besides.” Obviously Eli wasn’t done yet. “I’m going to leave for college someday. Who knows where I’ll go or what I’ll do after that.”
“I understand.”
“Maybe you do, maybe you don’t.” Eli’s response was cryptic. “The thing is, I don’t want her to be alone. She needs someone in her life. She won’t admit it, and maybe she doesn’t even realize it, but it’s true.”
He heard Avery’s call from across the road and wheeled around, a feeling of lightness in his chest and limbs. Huh. Dating advice from Eli. And I think I like it.
The two of them took their first step onto the road when a car came out of nowhere, followed by the screaming sound of metal tearing against metal.
Gavin instinctively reached out his arm and threw Eli behind him until the sound stopped. A quick look told him the boy was fine. Then he took off running across the road. “Avery!”
He found her in the snow on the other side of the car. She was dazed but didn’t appear hurt. “Are you okay? Did you get hit?”
She shook her head then winced. “I saw the headlights a second before it hit. I jumped back to avoid it, but I tripped and fell. I think I hit my head.”
Gavin pulled his hands out of his gloves and tenderly felt her head. He could tell where a knot was forming, but the area didn’t feel wet or sticky. “I think you got a good bump, but it doesn’t appear to have broken any skin. It might be a good idea to see a doctor to make sure you didn’t get a concussion.”
Eli joined them then. “Everyone okay?”
“I’m fine.” Avery pushed to her feet. “Did the driver stop?”
“He’s long gone.” The teen shook his head.
“We were all the way over in the emergency lane, weren’t we?” Avery’s words weren’t slurred exactly, but she didn’t sound like herself, either.
