“Oh? Which school?” I asked.
“University of Pudget Sound.” He ran a hand through his hair, and then replaced it on the handlebar.
“UPS? That’s where my friend Katie went.” I glanced at Jeff. “Liberal arts school, right?”
He nodded.
I rolled my eyes, frustrated by his lack of willingness to give details. “So, what did you major in?” Some people just don’t know how to communicate.
“Social sciences.” His barely audible reply was delivered while he stared at the ground in front of him.
I blinked. “Social—”
“Yeah.” Gina’s scornful voice cut in. “Social sciences. Jeff wanted to be a substance abuse counselor.”
Ashley and I shared confused glances. “Is that a bad thing?” I asked.
Gina turned her glare toward me. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” She turned back around to Connor and they continued their conversation while I gaped at her back.
Did she just—?
“Liberty.” Jeff interrupted my fuming. “It’s alright.”
He slumped over his bike. Just like that Gina had crushed his Jason Bourne confidence.
“Why do you let her do that to you?” I glared at the back of Gina’s head.
Jeff shrugged. “She’s my big sister. And she’s … Gina.”
I sighed. “Yeah, well she’s not that pretty.”
Moments later, Connor called us to a stop beside a small spring. He slid his bike under a bush on the side of the road, and walked back to us as Gina hid her bike.
He glanced from Jeff to me and spoke. “I need the ducks.”
Straddling my bike I blinked like a simpleton.
“I’m going to cook the ducks,” he said. “I need them.”
I wondered if I should start drooling to complete my idiot guise. If he could be rude, I could pretend to be stupid. When he finally caught on and added a “please” to his request, I responded.
“You’re going to cook them?” I pulled my pack off my shoulders and unzipped it. “You?” I handed him the birds.
“Of course.” He motioned for Ashley to follow him. “Bring the pan and come on.”
Ashley looked at me, shrugged, stashed her bike and followed Connor.
Jeff chuckled. “Nice guy.”
I sighed. “He used to be. But I guess that was just part of the game. New players, new rules now.”
“You know …” Jeff said, leaning closer to me. “We could just keep riding. We’d probably be a few miles down the road before they even missed us.”
I paused and stared at him. “You could leave your sister like that?”
Jeff shrugged. “Trust me, Gina can take care of herself. She doesn’t need me.”
My feet ached for the pedals. So help me, I wanted to do it. Life would be a lot less complicated without Connor. I could bike straight to Canada and forget all about the past few weeks. It would be easy. Welcome, even. Then I looked across the clearing and saw Ashley, trailing after Connor with the frying pan in hand. My heartstrings were tied to that kid and I knew there was no way I could leave her behind.
“Ashley,” I replied, knowing that her name would be enough to explain my reluctance.
“She could come with us,” Jeff insisted. “She’d be better off with us than them, I assure you.”
Something about the way Jeff delivered that message told me there was more to his sister than he was willing to diverge. Chewing on my curiosity, I kicked my leg over my bike and my jeans got caught in the chain. The bike wobbled as I jumped on one foot trying to balance my weight and untangle my pants at the same time.
Jeff’s bike hit the ground. He wrapped one arm around my waist and steadied my bike with the other.
Wow, can I not even get off a bike without bruises? “I am the world’s biggest klutz.” My face heated while I kicked until my leg came free.
“Nah.” Jeff took the bike from me and hid it. “You’re just tired.”
I attempted a smile that no doubt looked more like a grimace. “Tired is where I live.”
He was about to reply when Ashley showed up, fists clenched and seething.
“Why is he being such a jerk?” she asked. “I don’t know why I believed him, he hasn’t changed at all!” She turned and noticed Jeff’s proximity. “Uh … sorry.” Her cheeks reddened.
Jeff chuckled. “That’s okay. I don’t like him either.”
I sighed and put my hand on her shoulder. “What’s the prob, kiddo?”
She opened her mouth to say something, and then shut it again.
“What?” I put my hands on my hips.
She glanced over her shoulder and I followed her gaze to find Connor laughing with Gina.
“He’s … he just … I don’t want to talk about it.” Ashley stormed off leaving Jeff and I staring at her back.
Alrighty then.
We turned to study Connor, and I wondered what he’d done to tick her off this time. His behavior was so out of character. I could see him upgrading me, but Ashley was the best model of kid out there. I knew he loved her. I’d seen the way he looked at her and how happy he was when she started speaking to him again. Surely he wouldn’t throw that way for some floozy with great hair? “What’s his malfunction?” I asked.
Jeff shook his head. “I’m sorry Liberty. It’s always like this with her.”
I don’t know what you’re doing, buck-o, but it better be worth it. “No offense, Jeff, but your sister is a soul-sucking harpy.”
He chuckled. “Yeah.” He frowned as he watched her. “But she saved my life today.”
“Huh?” I asked, completely confused. Moments ago he wanted to run off and leave her, and now he was calling her a life saver?
But my curiosity would have to wait, since Jeff didn’t answer.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
WE MADE CAMP next to a small stream in a wooded area, a few miles past the Monroe airport. Connor slept away from Ashley and me for the first time that night, and his absence was a void we both felt. We huddled close for comfort as well as warmth. Jeff made his bed a few yards away, and Connor and Gina slept beside each other, on the other side of Jeff.
Anger burned in my stomach, making me want to do something stupid like throat-punch Gina. Or better yet, sneak over and cut off Connor’s toes while he slept. I’d been perfectly content to spend my entire life without a man. Then the slime ball slid into my life and mucked up my mind. He’d looked at me and held me in ways that made me consider ideas I’d long ago abandoned. For the first time in a long time, I had allowed myself to consider a relationship.
I shook my head, chuckling as the desire to throw up tickled my throat. I’d been kidding myself. This was Connor Dunstan. Not exactly boyfriend material, and definitely not the man I’d want to meet my momma. In the beginning, I had wisely resisted him, but he played me and I fell for it. As tears burned my eyes I realized how far I had fallen. Stupid! You don’t want Connor. You’re lucky he’s showing his true colors now. I repeated the words until I almost believed them. It doesn’t matter. The plan was always Canada.
Ashley snored beside me, reminding me of the flaw in that plan. I heard Jeff’s voice in my head, reassuring me that the girl would be safer with me than with Connor and Gina. I was still plotting a way to run off and take Ashley when finally overcame me.
* * *
It was early the next evening when we reached a quaint, little town surrounding a large body of water proudly labeled ‘Lake McMurray.’ Dense fog hovered over the calm, cerulean water, giving the area a mysterious and picturesque feel. The serenity of the abandoned town only highlighted the magnificence of God’s creation; not to be depreciated by the near-annihilation of human life. I uselessly wished for a camera to capture the scene.
We stopped to rest our legs. Ashley and I headed for the lake, and the rest of the party went off in separate directions. Out of habit, I picked up a flat stone and skipped it across the water.
Ashley wat
ched as the rock skipped several times then plopped into the deep. “How did you do that?” she asked.
“Well.” I reached down and grabbed another one. “You have to find a flat rock. Like this.” I held it up. “Then you wrap your finger around the edge, like this.” She watched as I curved my index finger around the rock. “Then, you just kinda toss it with your arm to the side, like so.” I released the rock in front of me and it skipped across the water before disappearing into the deep.
She picked up a stone and attempted to mimic my throw. Her toss was too high, and the rock plopped into the water. “Ugh.” Ashley’s shoulders drooped.
“No one gets it their first time.” I handed her another stone. “You have to put more speed on it and keep it lower. You threw too high.”
She tried again, and this time the rock skipped once.
“See, you’re getting the hang of it.” I handed her another one. “Try again.”
Ashley glanced back toward the others, then said, “Jeff’s nice, but I still don’t understand why we had to bring them. We were doing fine on our own.” She threw the rock and it skipped several times. A huge grin spread across her face.
“That was awesome.” I nodded toward the water. “And I wasn’t included in the decision, remember?” I tried not to grind my teeth.
“She’s gonna screw up everything. We don’t need her.” Ashley released another rock.
“We haven’t given her much of a chance.” I shrugged. “She’s probably not that bad.”
“How can you say that?” The opened mouth look she gave me made me chuckle.
“Wishful thinking?” My mind was still puzzling out how to get Ashley away from Connor and Gina, but I didn’t want to let that bit of information escape. Kids were notorious about accidentally telling the world the best secrets and it was best not to tempt fate.
“And what if she starts dating my fa—my uncle?” she stopped and looked at me, like the child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
Father? She knows?! I raised my eyebrow and studied her long enough to intimidate the truth from a hardened criminal. It was a skill I’d learned from my mother, and she had wielded it like a sword; slashing lying children into submission. “Spill it.”
“What do you mean?” She flashed me a crooked smile.
I winced. “You don’t think I’m stupid, do you?”
Ashley shook her head.
“Start talking. What do you know?”
She collapsed on the grass dramatically and stared at the sky. “Everything.”
I nodded and waited for her to continue.
“Mom let it slip last year. She told me that when I’m being impossible my eyes look just like my father’s. Well, dad has blue eyes that never looked like mine. So I bugged Mom until she told me the truth. She made me promise not to tell them—said it would destroy daddy, and scare the heck out of Connor.”
I nodded. “Sound advice. Your mom must have been a pretty great person.”
“Yeah, you would have liked her.” Ashley sat up and wrapped her arms around herself. “I miss her so much.”
I sat next to Ashley and gave her a sideways hug. “I’m sure she’s up there—” I glanced toward the sky, “—watching you like a hawk.”
Ashley’s eyes started misting over. She wiped away the evidence and stared at me. “Really? You think she watches me?”
“Of course. If I left a child with Connor, I’d never be able to sleep.” I messed up her hair. “Your mom’s probably so worried, she never takes her eyes of you.”
The conversation between Ashley and me was cut short by the return of our three traveling companions. Jeff came and skipped rocks with Ashley and me, while Connor and Gina continued their conversation apart from the group.
I was handing Ashley another rock when Jeff eyed the markings on my left wrist.
“What happened?” he asked.
I turned my arm over and pushed up the sleeve of my shirt, exposing the letters.
“WWL?” He cocked his head to the side.
“Watch. Wait. Listen.” I frowned at my wrist. “It’s stupid. I did it out of frustration and anger at myself.”
Jeff sat next to me. “You’ll have to tell me what that’s like, because I’ve never done anything stupid before.”
I laughed and gave him a light shove. “Sure. Well, I was in Centralia heading for Olympia to find my sister. It was early evening and I came across a woman who was crying on the porch of a house. I didn’t really pay attention to my surroundings, and approached her, thinking I’d found a friend and maybe we could help each other.” I paused, remembering the girl. “She was thin and short; about twenty, with long, dark hair. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed.”
My attention drifted to a bird hovering over the lake. It swooped and dove into the water. I jealously wished for the bird's wings so I could fly away from my troubles and this conversation. Reliving stories of my stupidity weren't high on my list of priorities. But Jeff watched me, his gaze urging me to continue.
“When I approached, she grabbed my wrists and held me. A man attacked me from behind. The last thing I saw was his face. Knocked me out cold. When I awoke all my food was gone, but for some reason left me alive.” I ran my thumb over the carved letters. “So I cut myself as a reminder of my stupidity. I should have been paying attention—should have recognized the trap.” I shrugged. “I make careless mistakes when I’m impatient.”
Jeff studied my wrist for a moment, and then ran his index finger over it. The sensation was odd; not creepy, just uncomfortable.
I slowly pulled my wrist away and placed my palm on the ground. “I guess I did it to remind myself of what I needed to change.”
His expression was skeptical. “You can’t change the fact that you make mistakes.”
I smiled at him. “Unfortunately. But the letters remind me that I need to think—to watch, wait, and listen—before I act.”
“Hmm.” His brows bunched together and he stared at the water for a minute.
I pushed his shoulder playfully. “Hm? What’s that about? Don’t tell me there isn’t anything you’d change about yourself.”
Sad, blue eyes searched my face, and then turned toward his sister and Connor.
“Everyone screws up.” I put my hand on his shoulder, forcing his attention back onto me. “You don’t know me, but I’m not exactly a saint.” I attempted a smile. “If my momma knew half the stuff I did, she’d tan my hide.”
The side of his mouth turned up, and then his eyes locked on mine.
Broken. Hurting. Oh God, he’s so lost. Help him. Tell me what to say. I want to help! My eyes were drying out, but I refused to blink.
“Jeff, I need you!” Gina’s shrill demand broke the trance.
My hand slipped off his shoulder and he leaned toward me, adjusting his feet to stand.
“You can’t change who you are,” he whispered before he walked away.
I watched him go, wondering who Jeff really was and if there was anything I could do to help him wage war on his demons.
* * *
After a brief rest at the lake we biked north on Highway 9 until we found a safe spot to set up camp. Connor unrolled Princess Gina’s sleeping bag as her highness made doe eyes at him.
Ashley huffed, grabbed my hand and led me away from the camp. When we were out of earshot from the others she started talking.
“You’re really going to sit back and watch this?” She gestured toward the rest of our party.
“What?” I shrugged. “Connor and Gina? Their relationship isn’t any of my business.” I glanced over my shoulder in time to see Gina scoot closer to him. Since that was nothing I wanted to watch I turned back to Ashley. “What do you think I should do?” I stared into her dark, naive eyes. I didn’t like Gina either, but it wasn’t like I had any claim on Connor. Not like I even wanted a claim on the man. But Ashley continued to watch me, as if waiting for me to go club Connor over the head and drag him away from Gina.
> Oh crap. I did a mental head-palm. “Oh. Oh, Ash. You’re still trying to play matchmaker, aren’t you?” I sighed. “I wish things were that easy, kiddo, but unfortunately they never are.” I sat down, gesturing for her to do the same. “Connor will make his own decisions. He’ll be with whoever he wants.” An unsettling mental picture of his arms wrapped around Gina popped into my head. I placed my hands on the ground and braced myself to keep from shuddering.
Ashley pouted. “He doesn’t really like Gina.”
I raised an eyebrow. “He told you this?”
“Not exactly.” She shrugged.
“Ash, what exactly did he say?”
She fidgeted, pulling the leaves off the bush she stood next to. “Well, we haven’t actually spoken since we picked them up, but I know that’s how he feels.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if my own childhood observations had been so implausibly sightless. “Ashley, what do you want me to do?”
“I want you to fight for him. You’re so much better for him than she is. He can’t possibly like her.”
“Fight for him?” I chuckled. “And what would I do with him if I won? In case you haven’t noticed, all the planets must be in perfect alignment before Connor and I can even manage a full conversation without yelling at each other. We’re like two puzzle pieces that don’t fit together. We’re on opposite sides of the picture even.”
Her stubborn jaw jutted outward. “Mom said relationships are hard. You have to work at them.”
My chest tightened. I wanted to make her happy. She’d had a rough life and she didn’t ask for much, but this order was beyond my ability to fill. Even if I was interested in him—which I almost definitely wasn’t—he no longer even acknowledged my existence. “He hasn’t even looked my direction since Gina showed up.” I shrugged. “I’m obviously not what he wants. And you know what? I’m glad we ran into her. It gave me a chance to see the type of woman Connor is attracted to. And it’s not me, Ash.”
She frowned. “He asked me to help him get to know you. He said he wanted to spend time with you.” Her eyes glistened. “Why would he say those things if he didn’t mean them?”
Rescuing Liberty: Perseverance Book 1 Page 16
