Page 84 of The Roads We Follow

“What’s her talent in?” Hattie asks.

“Who?” I ask in a voice pitched so high my vocal chords strain.

“The woman—your main character, I presume? What does she do?”

“Music.” The minute it’s out, I want to retract it. Why couldn’t I have said she was a local delicatessen who specializes in French pastries?

Adele looks up then, confused. “That sounds similar to our parents’ story.”

Sweat drips down my spine as I open my mouth like a caught fish. I feel Micah’s gaze boring into me from the front of the bus as if he’s expecting me to confess right here and now, but I can’t.

Instead, I throw him the most pathetic, pleading look I’ve ever concocted in my life.

Micah flicks his gaze from the road to me one last time before he gives a final disappointed shake of his head. One I’m sure I deserve. But mercifully he announces, “Pit stop in two.”

In a matter of seconds, he swerves the bus for the rest-stop exit while everybody does their best to remain in their seats.

“A little more warning next time would be nice!” Adele hollers before muttering, “So much for no more stops.”

Cheyenne peers out the window. “Looks like it’s just a scenic stop and some restrooms. No mini-mart to tempt Aunt Hattie.” She turns back to me and mouths a silent apology in my direction, but this was in no way her fault. I’m the one writing in plain sight.

I try to catch Micah’s eye once more so I can gauge where his head is at, but he doesn’t glance into the mirror again after he parks the bus at an overlook at the base of the Rockies.

We all file out of Old Goldie. Some of my family head to the stone facility that resembles something that could be found in a life-sizefairy garden, while others stop to take photos of the scenery at the lookout.

But I’m too busy watching Micah to notice.

He’s resting against the stony overlook, his elbows firmly planted while he takes in the epic view of the mountains surrounding us at the base of the Rockies. I know he’s asked for space, but how can I possibly ignore what he just did for me? I owe him a thank you. Truth is, I owe him more than that.

He turns and straightens to face me, as if he’s sensed me behind him, and for a moment, I wish we could go back in time. Because I want to be near him, maybe even need to be near him. If there is anything these last two days have shown me, it’s that.

It’s such a simple revelation, and yet it’s one hundred percent the truth.

A few days ago, Micah was the easiest and best part of this whole trip, and now ... now here we are. Distant. Awkward. Insecure. “Thank you,” I begin. “For what you did back there.”

He blows out a hard breath and then tugs on his neck the same way he did in that bedroom. “You had the perfect opportunity to tell them, Raegan, and you chickened out.”

“I’m going to tell them,” I blurt before I can stop myself. “After the festival, once I have Mama’s blessing.”

“Life very rarely follows our plans.”

“It’s only a few more days.”

“And if it all blows up before that? Then what? I’m living proof that things don’t always go the way we want them to.”

My heart twists at the pain I hear behind his statement and what I did to contribute to it. I can only hope that the steps I’ve taken to finalize things with Tav will give me the opportunity to build a bridge across this chasm.

“I’m sorry you found out about my engagement the way you did. I can see how that felt unfair, but I have thought about what you said, and I’m waiting on a—”

“Raegan! Come take a group photo with us—the lighting is perfect!My kids will love these mountains,” Hattie calls from farther down the rock wall where my family is posed in front of the Rockies. A tourist in a big tweed hat is waiting patiently as the stand-in photographer.

I force a practiced smile on my face and steer my gaze in their direction. “Okay, sure, I’ll be right over.”

But when I turn back to Micah, he’s already halfway to the bus.

23

Micah

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