Page 11 of The Journey That Never Ends

Grandma Cecilia barked out a laugh. “I don’t think so, dear. Not unless you’ve been supporting a dog rescue.”

Elana frown. “A dog rescue? What are we going to do at a dog rescue? Donate funds?”

Grandma nodded slowly. “Among other things. You see, Ethan, the guy who runs the rescue, is a military veteran. When he got out of the military, he got a van and fixed it up. He’s been all over the States.”

Elana frowned. “I still don’t know why we are stopping to see him. And you haven’t told me how you know him.”

Her grandmother took another sip. “I found him online.”

Elana glanced away and muttered under her breath, “You meet many people online.” She cleared her throat. “And you two are friends now?”

The older woman pulled a face. “It’s not like that. He had a YouTube channel where he showed how to make improvements to vans to make them livable. He has a huge following online. He does it not to make money but to help people. People can stay overnight at the dog rescue in exchange for a donation to the charity. I want to see him so he can show us how to make the VW more comfortable for camping.”

Elana wanted more information from her grandmother, but her phone buzzed.

She pulled it out of her back pocket and looked at it.

“Who is it? Your father?” Grandma Cecilia arched a brow.

“How did you know?” Elana arched a brow.

The old woman snorted. “He’s checking up on me. Don’t think I don’t know what he is up to.” She stood and grabbed her cup. “I’m going to the bathroom, and then I’m going to brush my teeth. We can grab breakfast when we fill up with gas. We need to be on the road and beat traffic. I’ll be back.”

Elana watched her grandmother walk to the bathrooms and picked up her phone.

Has Grandma changed her mind yet? Making any headway with her?

She grimaced at her Father’s text.

She sent a quick text back.We are headed to Mississippi today. She’s still determined to go to see her friend. Talk later.

Her father must have been satisfied with her answer because he didn’t text back.

She had to admit it hurt her feelings a little that he hadn’t asked about her and how she was doing.

Sometimes Elana couldn’t help but feel she was born into the wrong family.

CHAPTER7

“Hurry. We need to get to Harland Creek before the sun goes down. I already sent a Facebook message to Ethan that we were spending the night, so he’s expecting us.” Her grandmother glared at her as Elana finished filling up the gas tank.

“I can’t help the fact that we must make so many stops. Maybe you should cut back on all those sodas you drink so we won’t have to make so many bathroom stops.”

Her grandmother glared and shoved her sunglasses back over her eyes.

Elana bit her lip to keep from grinning. There was no way Grandma Cecilia was going to give up her orange sodas.

She finally put the gas pump nozzle back and grabbed her printed receipt.

Sliding into the driver’s seat, she shut the door. “How much farther does it say on Google maps?”

Her grandmother squinted. “Three more hours.”

Elana started the engine, and they were back on the road.

She could almost swear that time seemed to have slowed down the last two hours they were on the road. Since they’d started the road trip, they had listened to three mediocre audiobooks.

Her grandmother wanted to start another, but Elana said she just wanted to listen to music.

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