by Melissa Haag
“Doesn’t matter,” I said as I drifted again.
Aden pressed against my side. I felt him reach over and run his fingers through my hair, his security blanket.
For the next few hours, I lightly dozed. Each time I surfaced, I heard Emmitt talking to the boys. Mostly he played I-spy with them or talked about things like favorite foods. Despite his efforts, the boys remained quiet. The sound of his calm voice and Aden’s hand in my hair reassured me enough so I could sink into a light doze again.
When we stopped moving, my still gritty eyes popped open. We sat in the parking lot of a motel. The sun hung low on the horizon, casting long shadows everywhere.
“Michelle, the kids could use a break, and I think you’d benefit from some real sleep,” he said.
I liked his smooth voice but didn’t care for his suggestion. Stopping at a motel with a strange man? Bad idea.
“How about I get the three of you a room while I stay with the truck?”
Oh. Well, that didn’t sound so bad. But I still cast a worried glance at the keys. If he took off while we slept, we would be screwed. I didn’t have enough cash to buy a new car. When I looked back at him, he was studying me.
“You can hang onto the truck keys, of course,” he said.
The idea of a bed called to me. Just three or four hours. Then we could move again. I grudgingly nodded my acceptance.
He told the boys to keep an eye on me as he opened his door and stepped out. Before he closed it, he pressed the lock down. I reached over to lock mine, but it already was. I didn’t remember doing it.
I glanced at the boys who gazed after Emmitt, tracking his purposeful stride across the blacktop to the office. They looked a little curious.
“How did it go while I was sleeping?” I asked them.
“He’s nice,” Liam said quietly. “He played games with us like you do. He stopped because Aden has to go.”
I looked over at Aden who nodded. We’d driven a long time, again, especially since they’d each had a large apple juice at the last stop.
“Sorry, buddy. You could have woken me.”
“Emmitt said you were tired. He said we could wake you up if we were scared but should try not to,” Liam said.
I thoughtfully studied the motel, a single story structure with russet wood siding. It looked like something from the seventies but seemed well maintained on the outside. Emmitt really seemed to be trying to help us. He was doing way more than what just some guy who’d been in the right place at the right time would do. But why?
He came out with a room key just then. He held it up and smiled at the boys. His gaze met mine briefly, and my heart fluttered. Troubled, I looked away. I needed sleep. My emotions were all over the place. He was just being nice and didn’t need some silly teen constantly staring at him because she didn’t have her head on straight.
Climbing back into the cab, he apologized to Aden for taking so long then moved the truck to park it directly in front of the room’s window. With a small smile, he handed me the room key and the truck key then quickly got out to open the door for me.
I didn’t know who he was beyond his first name, or why he wanted to help, but I wasn’t ready to question him. I wearily climbed out of the truck and helped lift the boys down.
He waited by the truck as I tried to unlock the door. When I failed the second attempt, he came over and held out his hand. I willingly surrendered the key and backed up a step to give him room. He slid the key into the lock, and the door immediately clicked open.
“If you need anything, I’ll be right here. Yell, and I promise I’ll hear you.” He moved aside to let us into the room.
Before I could walk passed him, he caught my hand. I turned in surprise. He lifted my hand, placed the key in my palm, and wrapped my fingers around it. I realized I would have walked into the room without asking for the key back.
Trying not to dwell on his warm touch, I nodded, stepped into the room, and closed the door. I watched through the peephole as he went back to the truck and got comfortable. He didn’t lock the doors for himself as he had for us. He closed his eyes and appeared to sleep right away.
I clicked the bolt into place and tiredly turned around. Aden and Liam stood beside me, watching.
“Both of you use the bathroom,” I said, bending to kiss their foreheads.
Aden made a beeline for the toilet, and I shook my head. Poor guy.
I looked around the room. It appeared clean enough with a queen-sized bed, television, and small table for eating. Honestly, it could have been a cave with a pile of straw in a corner, and I would have found it inviting.
Pulling back the bed covers, I kicked off my shoes and listened to the boys giggle as they washed. The bed tempted me, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I knew I’d be out. I waited until they finished in the bathroom.
“I like Emmitt,” Liam said softly after taking off his shoes. Aden did the same and nodded.
“I’m glad you like him. I think he might be willing to help us for a while. At least until I get some real sleep.”
They climbed up on the bed. I knew they weren’t tired but would stay close to me while I slept. Thankfully, the room had cable with a cartoon channel. I showed Liam how to turn on the television then went to use the bathroom. As I washed my hands, I saw a plastic-wrapped cup on the bathroom counter. I opened it, filled it with water, and brought it back to the bed with me. Liam watched me set it on the nightstand.
“Use this on my face if you need to wake me up fast,” I said. He looked at me in surprise. “It’s okay, buddy. Use it if you think you need to. I won’t be upset.”
I gave them both tight hugs and planted a kiss on top of each of their heads. No one but me to keep them safe now. I studied them as they watched cartoons. Neither smiled nor laughed. We were such a broken family. Tears gathered in my eyes for them, and I wiped them away quickly. I just needed some sleep.
* * * *
Distantly, I became aware of a wet hand gently tapping my face. Peeling my eyes open, I saw Liam peering down at me. I blinked and focused on his concerned expression. He stood beside the bed, holding the cup of water.
It took several heartbeats for everything to click back into place.
“I’m up,” I said quickly to avoid a soaking. “What’s wrong?” I looked over and saw Aden sitting up in bed, quietly drawing on a piece of motel stationary. They must have been awake awhile.
“Emmitt is knocking on the door. I looked out the window and saw it was him.”
I nodded and pulled back the covers, forcing myself to stand though I still felt tired.
I checked the peephole. Emmitt stood in the dark, illuminated by the outdoor light. My stomach did its strange flutter again. Apparently, my sleep-deprived brain hadn’t imagined how good he looked. He watched the door. It felt like he was looking right at me, but I knew that wasn’t possible.
He had left his jacket off and wore a plain, white tee with his jeans. I blinked slowly and looked at his hands. He held a plastic bag in one hand and a paper bag balanced on top a drink-carrier in the other. Food. I opened the door and stepped back so he could enter. He nodded at me as he stepped in. When he walked past, he seemed to slow, and I couldn’t help but notice he smelled good, too.
The boys perked up and inched toward Emmitt when they saw him enter. He smiled reassuringly and waved them over to the table where he set the paper bag and drinks.
“There’s a fast food place nearby. Since everything’s been quiet, I made a quick run,” he said as I closed and locked the door. When I turned around, he offered me the plastic shopping bag. “I noticed you didn’t have much, so I also picked up a few things.”
I took the bag, opened it, and blinked at the contents: toothbrushes, toothpaste, new socks, and t-shirts for all three of us.
“Thank you,” I murmured, not looking up. Gratitude warred with suspicion. He’d bought us things. He didn’t even know us but saw our need and shopped for us. Instead of trying to
resolve my feelings over his kind gesture, I nudged the boys toward the bathroom.
While the three of us crowded around the sink and brushed our teeth, Emmitt set the food out on the table.
The boys brushed longer than usual to make up for the missed brushings—Liam’s idea. I smiled at them. When they finished, we closed the door so they could change into their new clothes. The best part was the clean socks. Aden’s little feet got so sweaty when he had to wear shoes for an extended period.
Emmitt leaned against the wall near the motel door, looking relaxed with a hand in his pocket as he drank his coffee. Two fast food wrappers already littered the garbage.
The boys settled at the table and tentatively reached for some food. I went straight for the coffee then sat on the edge of the bed. I finally glanced at the bedside clock. I’d slept for five hours. Good enough for now, but it would catch up with me fast. At least I could think better.
Suspicions I should have already considered continued to creep in. Why would a complete stranger want to help me to the extent he had? Was it just chance he’d hung around so long at the diner? Feeling watched, I glanced at Emmitt and met his gaze. Did something lay hidden there? I couldn’t tell anything beyond the intensity in which he watched me.
“Sorry for waking you up so soon. I could hear the boys saying they were hungry,” he said quietly, shifting his gaze to look at my brothers.
Having his attention diverted brought relief. Perhaps I was just being paranoid, but it felt like he constantly watched me. Maybe he just wanted to figure out what he’d gotten himself into. Or maybe he already knew. The suspicion that he’d been planted at the diner rose in my mind, but I quickly killed it. David had been following me. I’d picked directions at random, never knowing where I wanted to go until I turned. He’d been halfway through his meal when we’d arrived. There was no way he could have been there for me.
I followed his gaze and smiled at the boys. They took huge bites, plowing through their burgers.
“Slow down, you two, or you’re going to choke,” I warned them. I glanced back at Emmitt. “We haven’t been eating right, so it’s good that you woke me. They needed this.”
“And you need more sleep.”
The soft concern in his voice made my stomach do a very large, very crazy spiral, and I decided to change the subject.
“I’m rested enough for you to tell me who you are and why you’re helping me.”
He nodded. “Name’s Emmitt Cole. I was recently discharged from the military. Now, I’m just taking my time seeing the country as I make my way home to Montana. And I’m helping you because, back at the restaurant, you looked like you could use someone on your side.” He paused a long moment. “As long as it wasn’t anything illegal, I had no reason not to help.”
I sipped the coffee in quiet thought, very aware the boys listened as they ate.
“I appreciate what you did. I wasn’t doing anything illegal.” In the parking lot, anyway. “They had no right to take us back with them.”
He studied me and nodded. “I figured as much from what David was saying. I’m guessing you’re running. Going anywhere particular?” His gaze flicked to the boys briefly. “I’d be happy to tag along to make sure you safely get to where you need to be.”
His question brought a pang of guilt, and I waged another silent war with myself. The boys were counting on me. Could I really keep them safe on my own? Blake had changed before my eyes. He wasn’t normal. Didn’t appear human. My hand holding the coffee shook slightly. I wrapped my other hand around the cup, too, trying to steady it and my thoughts. How could I hide from what I didn’t know, from what I didn’t understand? I needed help. But, could I trust a stranger? Even if I did, was it fair to put him in danger, too?
“Emmitt, we could use help, but I don’t think it’d be right to accept it.” I looked at the boys. “There’s a lot going on that I can’t explain.”
He didn’t say anything as he studied me.
I took another sip of coffee then answered his original question. “I didn’t have a place in mind when I left.”
“Can I make a suggestion?”
I nodded. Never hurt to listen.
“Keep moving. As long as you’re awake, get further from the last place they found you. He knows you’re exhausted. He’s going to count on you needing to stop. If I were him, judging from how rundown you looked, I’d bet you would crash hard, too. He’s going to start checking likely places where you might have stopped, calling and asking for you by name.”
I realized then that Emmitt had booked and paid for our room. I’d been too tired before to notice. He’d known what he was doing.
“If he can’t find you still sleeping, he’ll at least look for a trail to follow. Switching vehicles was a good start, but they’ll have found the dealer by now and gotten a description of the new one. It’s only a matter of time,” he said slowly, meeting my eyes. “Unless you can disappear.”
My heart stuttered in fear at his words, and I looked down at my coffee to hide my frown. I’d disappeared four years ago and didn’t want to disappear like that again. I just needed a place to hide. A place where I’d be in control.
“What exactly do you mean?”
“I live on a big spread. No neighbors close by. Plenty of room for you to lay low without feeling like you’re being locked away.”
His words, echoing what I had just thought, continued to pluck a familiar cord of fear. I looked up, met his eyes, and searched for a hint of an ulterior motive.
“What’s in it for you?”
He shook his head slowly and frowned slightly. “Haven’t you ever had anyone help you just to help?”
I sighed. If someone had, it happened in a past I barely remembered. Should I trust again? And a stranger?
“May I see your wallet?” I asked cautiously.
I doubted he had anything to do with Blake, but I still needed to assure myself that he was whom he said and wasn’t trying to hide something.
He didn’t hesitate. A complete stranger reached into his front pocket to hand me his slim bi-fold wallet.
Liam, no longer pretending to eat, watched me closely. Fear had crept into his eyes. I gave him a weak smile, and feeling slightly embarrassed, I opened the wallet.
The name he had given me showed in print on his license, military ID, and library card. I looked at the library card for a long moment. I didn’t own one. I studied the driver’s license. Emmitt Alexander Cole, twenty-six years old and, surprisingly, not an organ donor. He would help a random stranger by fighting off two guys at a diner, but wouldn’t donate? I stared at it for a second before looking at the rest. I pulled out a credit card and eyed the same name. Everything matched.
I found three pictures tucked into the main pocket, along with several large bills. The first picture showed a very attractive woman with blonde hair and eyes that matched his. When I looked at her, I had a vague sense of recognition, but couldn’t place it. The other two photos were of men who bore an obvious resemblance to Emmitt.
“Family?” I asked, indicating the pictures.
“My mom, brother, and dad.” He pushed away from the door and moved closer to look at the pictures with me.
The picture of his mom couldn’t be recent. She looked amazing. I would have guessed sister because of the resemblance. I looked through the rest of his wallet and found a piece of paper with phone numbers, but no names.
“What are these?” I held up the piece of paper, and tilted my head to meet his eyes. The focus I found there made my stomach dip and heat suddenly. I looked back down at the paper.
“The first one is the compliments of my mom,” he said in an affectionate tone that made me miss my own mother. “It’s the number for a friend of the family close to where I was stationed, in case I ran into trouble. The next one is my brother’s number. I left just after he and I moved down here from Canada. I wasn’t sure I’d remember the number.”
“How can you be from Canada
but in US military?”
“My mom’s from the US and insisted both Jim and I be born here. It drove my dad crazy because she didn’t want to leave home until the last minute. He swore it was her sheer determination that kept us from being born on the ‘wrong’ side of the border.” A genuine smile split his face, and I could see his family meant a lot to him.
I looked away and noted we also had Aden’s undivided attention. I smiled at Liam and nodded toward the bathroom. It was a nod Liam knew. He had seen it many times before. Liam seemed more relaxed as he grabbed his brother’s hand. Emmitt’s answers must have passed his muster, too, so far.
They moved into the bathroom to clean up, and I turned back to Emmitt.
“The last number?”
“My parents. I figured if something ever happened to me, those three numbers would be good emergency information.”
It seemed like a normal wallet. I looked at the floor, debating. I hated driving. If we went with him, we were far more likely to arrive at our destination safely just because of that. But I didn’t know him. I thought of Richard and scowled. Did you ever really know someone?
“Is it so hard to trust?” His quiet and curious question penetrated my thoughts.
“You have no idea,” I whispered more to myself than to him. “Tell me more about this big spread.”
He smiled wide. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been there. It’s an old three story with wrap-around porches. Before I left, my brother and I talked about dividing it into six apartments. From what he’s told me, he’s done the dividing and now just needs to complete the finishing work in three more apartments. It also has a huge backyard that’s a pain to mow, according to him,” he said with a slight laugh.
“Just you and your brother, then?”
“No, a friend of our parents, Winifred Lewis, who we call Nana Wini, moved in as soon as he completed the second apartment.”
I really wanted the picture he painted. A quiet secluded home where we could roam outside all day and, finally, in the sun. I wanted that badly. But I needed to think clearly, beyond what I wanted. What were my options? I could cut ties with this man, and the boys and I could try it on our own. With the truck, I might have a chance...if it was just me. I listened to the boys whispering in the bathroom. I couldn’t keep running as I was with them along. They needed a safe place, and if I wanted to give them that, I needed help. Accepting Emmitt’s help sounded nice, but what would be the repercussion?
