Page 9 of Nomad

“Stayin’ out of the rain, sugar.”

Cannon pulled out a credit card and bought a three-year-old cargo van. He had them take the seats out and mount a ramp so he could get his bike inside. After they’d secured the motorcycle so that it wouldn’t tip over, no matter what, they climbed into the cab and drove away.

“That’s a lot of money to protect your bike from rain,” she said.

“It’s not the bike I’m trying to keep dry.”

She looked out the window when she took his meaning. She didn’t want to get attached to the big gruff biker, but knowing that he’d gone to such trouble and expense to take care of her left her heart lodged in her throat.

“If we do drive-through, eat in the car, we’ll be there by seven tonight.”

She said, “Okay,” but her mind was racing. She had four hundred and two dollars to last until she could find a job and get paid. She couldn’t figure out what the next step might be until she got where she was going and looked at the options one hour at a time. The only thing she knew for sure was that she couldn’t let her father find her until she turned eighteen.

She woke up to find that they were pulling into a fast food drive-through lane.

“Last Burger King you’re gonna see for a while. What’ll you have?” Cann said.

“Um, big fish sandwich. And a coke.”

“No.”

“No? What do you mean, no?”

“Nobody eats big fish sandwiches. It’s a rule. This is not Fish King. It’sBurgerKing.”

“The baby likes fish.”

He raised an eyebrow. “That’s the story you’re goin’ with?”

She smiled. “Will that work?”

Cann turned back to the lighted menu board. “Yeah. That’ll work.”

When the voice prompted Cann to order, he rolled down his window and yelled at the microphone. “Double Whopper with cheese, a big fish sandwich, two large onion rings…” To Bud, he said, “You want French fries?” She nodded. “A regular fry, small coke and a bottled water.” He looked at Bud then turned back to the mic. “Cancel that coke order and make it two bottled waters.”

“Hey,” Bud said.

“You don’t need all that sugar when you’re pregnant.”

She pretended to pout, but secretly loved that he cared whether she was taking care of herself and the baby, or not.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” she said.

“Okay. You hop out and run around to the other side of the building. I’ll get the food and pick you up over there.”

He watched as she turned the corner and jogged out of sight.

After shoving cash through the window, Cann stowed the piping hot sack on the console and set the water bottles in the two drink holders, and drove around to the pedestrian entrance on the opposite side. He parked close to the door and left the car running, but only had to wait a couple of minutes before she was swinging back up into the van.

“That smells so good.” She smiled.

As he backed out, he said, “You sort out who gets what while I get us back on the road.”

“Again.”

“What?”

“On the road again. You can’t just say on the road. You have to say on the roadagain.”

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