Page 4 of Nomad

“Well, it’s just like that. Not hard. Just get on behind me, put your feet there, not there,” he pointed as he gave instructions, “and hold onto me. We’ll find a café open.” She straddled the bike behind him. “Like it or not, you have to hold on or you’ll fall the hell off.”

“Okay.” She tentatively put her arms around him, liking the warmth, but not the closeness.

He fired the machine to life and, when he accelerated, she held on tighter. They found a café in the dilapidated two blocks that had once been called downtown. A few pickup trucks were parked outside.

Cannon parked the bike across the street where he could keep an eye on it.

The locals gave the two of them a good long once-over when they entered, but went back to their business after they’d looked their fill.

Cannon held up two fingers.

“Sit wherever you want,” said a woman as she passed by with a plate of food in one hand and a coffee carafe in the other.

Bud looked up at Cannon. He motioned for her to pick a spot. She walked to the furthest booth in the back and slid into the seat facing away from the rest of the café. That left Cannon with his back to the wall, able to see everything that happened in the fine establishment, just the spot he would have chosen for himself.

Sitting across the table, it was the first time he’d felt like he had permission to openly stare at the girl who’d spent the night in his room. She was just as beautiful as he’d originally thought. Maybe more so. But the haunted look tugged at his heart.

He had a lot of questions, more than he should. Before he could decide where to start, the waitress set down two mugs and poured coffee without asking if they wanted any or not.

“Mornin’ folks,” she said as she set two menus down. “Back in a minute.”

“Breakfast is on me,” Cannon said. “Have whatever you want. Steak and eggs maybe? After last night’s dinner we both need real food.”

“Thank you,” she said. “That’s very nice of you.”

He watched her study the menu like there was going to be an exam. They gave their orders when the waitress came back.

He turned his mug around a few times before saying, “You want to tell me how you ended up crouching behind a Mountain Dew machine?” She shook her head. “You want to tell me where you’re goin’?”

“Haven’t decided yet.”

“I see. You from around here?”

“No. Are you?”

Her volley question caught him off guard enough to make him smile a little. She saw that he looked a lot younger when he smiled. “I’m the one askin’ the questions.“

She cocked her head. “Did I agree to that?”

“You did. When you accepted a free bed, shower, and breakfast.”

“You didn’t say there was a charge.”

For a second he was distracted by the unusual color of her eyes and the fact that she didn’t look away like most people did when he gave them a full-on stare down.

“What are you doin’ after breakfast?”

“Haven’t decided yet. How about you?”

“I’m gonna finish the trip I started. Goin’ home.”

“Where’s that?”

“Austin.”

“Austin,” she repeated. “I’ve been there. When I was a kid.”

He chuckled. “When you were a kid, huh? What is it that you think you are now?”

---