Page 43 of Trapped: Between Sky And Wind

“I’m just asking. I don’t want you constantly trying to fulfill my wishes. So as…”

“I love you, Lou. That’s why I want to fulfill your wishes.”

“Bren, I love you too, but there are limits.”

“No.”

“Yes!”

“Not for me when it comes to you.”

“Well, if you started walking around the house naked like a nudist, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind if you walked around the house naked.” His eyes sparkle.

“Bren!”

He laughs and flashes me a smile so stunning, it makes my heart flutter like an excited bird. That smile is still like bait that hooks me.

We fill up around noon just past Horseshoe Bay. The gas station has only two pumps and a convenience store, a real one-man operation between the forest and the Pacific. I get out with Bren to buy some candy. The air smells of the nearby ocean, salt, wind, and sand.

I grab a Mars and a Twix bar inside the store and hobble cautiously to the counter. The girl manning the checkout is about my age with a tidy ponytail and apple-red cheeks. She’s also blonder than Lindsay Lohan was in her prime and smells of baby powder even from a distance.

“Hi.” I smile kindly.

“Hi!” The girl smiles back. She reminds me of myself a year ago. “Anything else?” Linda is the name tag on her polo shirt. Her voice sounds as sweet as syrup.

“My boyfriend is still filling up. Number two.” My boyfriend, it feels good and strange to call Bren that.

She glances outside. “You’re driving a huge RV. Where are you headed?”

“Faro,” I reply honestly since there’s no reason to lie. She doesn’t know my brothers.

She nods. “My sister’s friend has an acquaintance with relatives there.”

I have to laugh. “Everyone in North America has distant relatives in the farthest reaches of the earth, right? My brother Avery once had a classmate who had a cousin at the British research station in Antarctica.”

“Wow.” She shakes her head in disbelief, then rants about her own cousin, who’s married for the fifth time despite being only twenty-four. A sad record, which I don’t say out loud.

I’m almost relieved when the tin doorbell jingles and Bren enters.

“Pump two.” He walks toward us down the short corridor.

The girl’s jaw drops instantly. She stares at Bren, but her expression doesn’t reflect the oh my God, sexy as hell, more like she’s seen him somewhere before and is trying to recall where it was. Maybe Hero of the Week?

I think so because she starts to ask him, then she looks away and inputs the prices. In between, she keeps glancing up. Maybe she likes Bren after all. At least the receptionist at the Seattle Plaza checked out Bren slyly.

After swiping the American Express card through the slot, Linda studies it for a moment. “Brendan Connor?” She takes a deep breath, her eyes widening like an owl.

He merely nods, a very minimalist move, but I can feel him stiffen. Something is not right. Also with the girl behind the counter. She hands the card back to Bren but doesn’t look at him.

“Have a good trip!” she murmurs indistinctly and turns away.

“What was that?” I ask as soon as we’re outside.

“Whatever it was, I don’t like it.” Bren frowns as he looks back through the window at the register and I automatically follow his gaze.

Linda is looking straight at us.

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