Page 42 of Return to Me Always

There was another strange pause while I hoped Tyler might mention what he was studying. But he didn't, and I refused to ask him.

"So, Kat, is there some broken-hearted lad pining after you in Phoenix?" Ben asked, taking a big bite of his burger.

I couldn't help but smile at his choice of words, and I could feel two pairs of eyes watching me, waiting for my answer. "I had a boyfriend, but we broke up over the summer."

"Smart lass," Ben said, covering his mouth with one hand. "Don't want to go on this adventure tied down to some sad bloke who's calling you every other second."

"No, I definitely did not." What I didn't admit was that the breakup had been mutual. He didn't want to go off to college with a girlfriend, and I just wasn't that into him anymore. After all, how could anyone compare to the man in my dreams? Or so I had thought at the time.

"What about your family then?" Ben asked. "Have you been in touch with them?"

The burger I had just inhaled suddenly felt like a heavy stone in my stomach. I hadn't really given that much thought to my poor mom.

"Ryder left a message for her mum that we were going into the Highlands and might not have mobile service," Tyler said.

It suddenly occurred to me that Ben probably knew a lot more about our situation. "What have you heard about us anyway? Like are we all over the news? Is there a massive manhunt? Is my mom holding press conferences?"

I held my breath waiting for his answers. My God, why hadn't I asked him earlier? The nausea flooded through me as I realized why. Because Tyler's kiss had distracted me from everything else going on.

"Don't worry," Ben said in a reassuring tone. "I haven't seen anything about your mum on the news."

"Okay. I guess that's good. But what about us? How bad is it?"

His pause told me everything I needed but didn't want to know while the burger threatened to come back up right then.

"It's not that bad," Ben said. "I mean, aye, it's on the news a wee bit."

"Come on, Ben. Please don't sugarcoat it. I can handle it," I pleaded, even though I probably couldn't.

He sighed, wringing his hands together. "Well, maybe I've been paying attention to it more than others because I know Tyler. And so I was shocked to hear the whole thing. So yeah. I've been obsessively reading about it every day to see what news there is."

I held my breath before asking the dreaded question. "So how bad is it?"

Ben's hesitant eyes met mine. "They're comparing you to Bonnie and Clyde."

It was one of those rare times where I was speechless. Bonnie and Clyde? Weren't they robbersandmurderers?

"But—but we didn't rob anyone," I sputtered. Oh, boy, that sounded bad. "I mean, you know what I mean. Obviously, we didn't kill that poor guy. And we certainly didn't rob anyone. So it's just... the comparison doesn't even make sense."

"She's right," Tyler agreed.

"It's the being on the run part that they're so obsessed with," Ben tried to explain. "And they think you're a couple. So that's why—"

"Bloody hell," Tyler muttered.

What on earth did Tyler mean by that? Damn it! I was going crazy, and I couldn't sit there anymore. Jumping up, I walked to the water's edge half-hoping that Nessie's sister would swallow me up.

This was an absolute nightmare.While Tyler and I had been going "off-piste," my whole world had fallen apart. Why had I ever listened to him? I had made the biggest mistake of my life—whatever was left of my life anyway.

Footsteps approached, and I whirled around to face Tyler. But it was Ben who came up to me. "You all right, Kit Kat?"

"Not really. No." I hugged my arms together to keep out the cold. "Sorry."

His frown matched his sympathetic eyes. "What are you sorry about?"

"Just don't mean to bother you with all this." Looking down, I scuffed my shoes against the rocky sand. "It's not your mess."

"It kind ofismy mess. Tyler's one of my best mates, and I'd do anything to help him... and you too now."

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