Page 38 of Return to Me Always

Ben's grin reached from ear to ear as he pulled out a chair at the table that was practically groaning from all the food piled on top. I loaded a plate with mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, corn, and bread, resembling a kid's plate at Thanksgiving. But I didn't care. It all tasted like the most delicious food I had ever eaten.

After I wolfed down half my plate, I paused to thank Ben. "This food is like a feast in heaven. Like seriously the best meal ever."

Ben's face turned red with the compliment, and he cleared his throat. "So Tyler's been catching me up on everything and—"

I interrupted, glaring at Tyler. "Oh, really? He's been telling you everything, has he?" I turned my attention back toward Ben. "Well, maybeyoucould fill me in on what's actually going on."

"Um, er," Ben stammered.

"I didn't tell him everything, Ryder. All right?" Tyler said. "Just enough so he can know a wee bit about our situation."

Ben seemed to recover and added, "He just told me about what happened in London and Glasgow. I'm sorry Malcolm tried to hurt you."

"Thank you, Ben. That's really sweet of you." Poor Ben looked flushed again, and I decided I should change the topic. "So what's the plan now? What should we do? Where are we headed?"

"North," Tyler said.

"Seriously? This again?"

Tyler rolled his eyes at me. "Aye, this again. I don't want to get Ben involved too much."

"Okay. I get that. Well, this time, could we maybe, I don't know, justdrivenorth for a change? Maybe borrow a car or something?" I suggested as I helped myself to more bread.

"Er, I hate to tell you this, guys," Ben said. "But my car is at the mechanic. It won't be done till tomorrow afternoon at the earliest."

My heart sank at this news. But I really couldn't have expected Ben to loan us his car anyway.

"No worries," I said, talking around the food in my mouth. "We couldn't have asked you for that even if itwashere."

"Nah," Tyler agreed. "That's too much."

"Well, maybe we could take a bus or train or something?" I asked, hopeful.

"No," Tyler and Ben said at the same time.

"Why not? You think people might recognize us?" I asked.

They both nodded.

Obviously, there was no easy answer for our awful situation. I continued to eat a moment, pondering the possibilities, then asked, "How about renting a car?"

"We have no money. No IDs. No credit cards," Tyler said after grabbing another helping of potatoes.

"I could hire you a car." Ben's gaze went back and forth between us.

Shaking his head, Tyler chimed in first. "Can't let you do that, mate. You've already done too much already."

"So how are we going to travel north?" I asked, my stomach dropping as I suddenly knew the answer.

Tyler flashed me a smile just before the dreaded words left his mouth. "We hike."

"Are you kidding?" I blurted out. "Do we always have to freaking hike everywhere?"

They both looked at me like I was crazy. "You don't like to hike?" Ben asked.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "You too, Ben? You're Mr. Outdoorsy?"

"Well, not like Tyler here. But aye. I love a good hike. Actually, maybe I'll come along with you for a bit. I've got some free time."

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