Emily slipped into her flannel nightgown. Her life was a mess. Connor needed stability, a place to stay and call their own. This constant running needed to stop.
If only she hadn’t killed William, then none of this would have happened.
***
Steven stood, waiting for the balding man behind the hotel counter. The man seemed to be a walking advertisement for how one should look when needing a room at the Sleepy Time Inn. He punched some keys on the computer. “Do you have your key card?”
Steven flipped it onto the counter. “I’d like to pay for room two-fifteen also.”
The man scowled, and punched some more keys on the computer. “That room is already paid for.”
“Then when she checks out you’ll have to tell her there was a mix up in the computer, and that you have to give her a refund.” He smiled and added, “And you can keep this for your trouble.” He pushed several bills at him and left before there were any more arguments.
The September sun wasn’t up when Steven slipped into his new truck. As he left Mesquite, Nevada and crossed the border into Arizona, he marveled at the beauty of the land. The rising sun danced off the vast open desert as it peeked above the mountains. Splashes of color changed before his eyes as the day began. Starting to feel renewed, he stretched back, glad that he had decided to do this.
Not that he had been planning to get away. It was actually a spur of the moment decision. After his Friday meeting in LA, he told his pilot that he wouldn’t need him for the return trip. A quick call to his mother to say he was going on a vacation, and he turned off his cell phone and split.
He probably wouldn’t have felt the need to get away if it weren’t for the last few gala events that he had been forced to attend. The women clung to him, babbling on about senseless things. Since when had his life become an endless sea of socialite cocktail parties and fundraisers which had little to do with saving the dolphins or AIDS research? He was so tired of being used.
Desperate for a break, he had decided to leave, to go where no one would recognize him. Where there were no social elite, where everyone just left you alone. He wanted to have a conversation with someone without wondering if they would be talking to him if he weren’t Steven Ashton the billionaire.
He used to visit his great aunt in the small town of Huntington, Nebraska when he was young. He had fond memories of the town. He figured it would be the perfect place to go.
***
The small cramped car, filled with everything they owned, radiated heat. Emily sat in the back seat with Connor while Richard drove, smoking a cigarette and flicking the ashes out the window. She had no idea where they were going, nor did she care. The only thing in the world she cared about was her son. She caressed his cheek with one finger while he played with his toy dinosaur.
Richard turned off the highway, following a road into a small town. Emily watched the scenery change from the outskirts of town, to the business district. Richard stopped in front of a pawn shop. He left the motor running. “Stay in the car.” He grabbed a duffle bag from the front seat and left.
Emily closed her eyes, and pretended she didn’t know what he was doing. He never took her and Connor on the jobs with him, but sometimes they were with him when he unloaded the merchandise.
What a life she was subjecting her son to. Pain washed over her as she thought of his innocence. He would be old enough for kindergarten soon. What would she do then? Richard would never allow him to go to school.
She would have to get some money somehow, and leave Richard soon.
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The Practice Date
Books by Victorine E. Lieske:
Sneak peek at Not What She Seems:
The Practice Date - (Young Adult Romance) Page 5
