Page 6 of All I Need

“About finished with that now?”

“Not much left to destroy since some fun hater stopped me from completing the job.”

I bark out a laugh. “I know. I’m such a buzz kill, wanting you to keep your mode of transportation safe, at least for the time being, that is.”

She twists her lips and shakes her head. “I bet you were a tattle tale in grade school. Never let anyone else have any fun.”

“Only when Molly Jensen stole my cupcake in the third grade.”

“Dessert thieving is the worst kind.”

“You get me.”

“I take my desserts very seriously. Especially chocolate cupcakes. Please tell me it wasn’t a chocolate cupcake.”

I nod sadly. “It was. With peanut butter frosting. My mom made them special just for me.”

She clutches her chest. “The horror!”

“Right? So, now that you know I’m not a total fun hater and that I’m actually a pretty cool guy, how about we figure out your next steps.” I nod my head toward the car.

“Like I said earlier, I’m not going back,” she says stubbornly, misinterpreting my meaning.

“Moving forward, I like that. And for the record, I didn’t mean you going back to wherever it is you came from. Where do you want to go? What do you need?”

She looks around and I follow her eye. In the distance, I see my house. Even with the miles between where we’re standing and where it’s sitting, my home is impossible to miss. Not because it’s so big, but because it’s on top of a huge hill.

When my vet clinic became a little more successful, I hired a friend from high school who was down on his luck a bit to help me build my house. It helped him get on his feet and after word-of-mouth spread, he has become quite the successful contractor.

“Quiet,” she murmurs and I can’t figure out if she’s ordering me to be quiet or if it’s something she’s seeking. Her next words, however, clear it right up. “My entire life I’ve been surrounded by loudness. I need quiet, peace and calm.”

That’s all I needed to hear. “Follow me,” I demand and for some reason she doesn’t question me. She simply nods once and bites her bottom lip. Tears well up in her eyes but she sniffs and shudders, seemingly shaking off the emotion that’s taking over.

I resist the urge to reach out to her and hold her hand or, heaven forbid, pull her into my arms, because I’m pretty sure she’d cut off something valuable of mine if I did so. But the desire to comfort Ellie, this beautifully sad woman, is so strong, it feels like going against nature to not follow through.

I walk back across the highway that’s been unusually quiet this entire time, and gesture to Grayson to hop back in the cab of my pickup.

I start it up and pull off the shoulder, waiting for her to do a U-turn in the middle of the highway to get behind me.

“Saving the damsel in distress?”

“You saw her—she’d likely cut off your family jewels if she heard you call her that.”

Grayson laughs but then shifts in his seat and swallows hard.

“That would be unfortunate. I’m pretty sure I’ve got gold stars in there just waiting to make their mark on the world.”

“But not for another fifteen years, yeah?”

He rolls his eyes but grins. “So where we heading? I’m still hungry, you know.”

“Relax. Just getting Ellie settled somewhere safe for the night so she can decide where she needs to be.”

“Miss Polly’s then, huh?”

I look at him out of the corner of my eye but he’s just staring out the windshield, an elbow resting on the door. He knows as well as anyone in this town how safe Miss Polly’s is.

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