Page 56 of Infinite as They Come
“I did have a lot of fun talking to Mr. Travis,” I said. Reaching behind me, I felt around for my notebook that I had kept hidden from water under Clara’s fluffy floral purple towel. Dragging that and my pen to my lap, I looked over at Clara. “Wait, is it okay with you? Maybe I could talk to the both of you?”
She shrugged. “Be my guest. We’ll both get to feel a little famous.”
I quickly got to learn that Clara had lived in Texas all her life. She was originally from Waco and then moved to Austin, then to Dallas, then back to Austin again when she got pregnant with Tommy.
“I never meant for this to be permanent,” she said. “It was supposed to be more of a pit stop, you know? Just somewhere temporary until I could get back on my feet, but then Tommy started going to school here and he really liked it, and I got my job at the diner, and this place started to feel more and more like home. We’re happy here.”
“Real happy,” Tommy said.
“I had to stop thinking about the future so much eventually,” Clara said. “There’s not a lot you can control, especially when you don’t have the funds, so sometimes you just have to… stop and let whatever happen just happen. I used to spend all my days worrying about my next move, my next choice, but after being here for a while I just sort of stopped fretting over what was going to come around the corner. It’s not about what happens next.” She sent me a teasing smile, giving my knee a little pat. “I guess a girl like you isn’t really used to that.”
My pen tapped against the notebook, heat sweeping across my cheeks. “I suppose not. I’m not used to…”
“Standing still?”
“I guess I haven’t ever really had the chance to do that,” I said with a sheepish laugh, eyes lowering to the water, the little ripples capturing my attention.
“I bet you miss your fancy Manhattan penthouse now.” She grinned. “But you know what? I’d pick this place over anything like that. This place feels like home. The town, the people, the closeness. I’d never want some big mansion when I could have this.”
Tommy gasped suddenly, eyes all big as he stared at me. “You live in a mansion?”
“Uh…” I chuckled uncomfortably. “You know what? Your mom’s right. There’s something special about this place.”
Tommy grinned. “I know how to shake the vending machine just right to give me two Cokes.”
“And what more could you want outta life?” Clara asked.
I chuckled and continued on with my questions. Tommy wanted to be a wrestler when he grew up and swore he’d make enough money to buy the whole motel so he could live there with his mom and his friends forever. Clara was thinking of studying at the local community college—maybe something with food since she liked making meals at the diner, but Tommy insisted she wouldn’t need any of that when he was old enough to wrestle and take care of her.
It was a fun afternoon that let me learn a lot more about them. Clara and Tommy were sweet and I hoped with everything in me that all their dreams came true. It made me think of Sawyer. How much he had taught me, how much he had given me. I never really got to enjoy the simple things until he came along. Every gesture from him was so genuine, so pure, so drenched withhim. It was the kind of love I wouldn’t have been able to get from anyone else but Sawyer Westbrook. The boys I had always beensurrounded with were all about the shallow, flashy signs of affection. But Sawyer? Sawyer knew how to show me love in a way no one else could. In a way that reached right into my heart, holding it tight, making me feel warm all over.
It was getting hotter and hotter, and I didn’t really feel like going for a swim, so I bid farewell to Clara and Tommy who were going to hang out at the pool for a little while longer.
Pushing open the motel door, I gasped softly when I came face to face with Sawyer. “You scared me,” I said, hand on my chest. “I thought you’d be back later.” Where he had been, I had no clue. I had no clue where he had been going the last couple weeks, really. All I knew was that space was what he needed sometimes, and if there was ever a time he needed that space, it was now.
“I…” His voice trailed off, a too deep sigh leaving his lips. The stress was there on his face, clear as day. Furrowed brows, jaw tight, lips pressed together. And those forest green eyes looking all dark, like they were masking something. “I love you, Holly.”
My foot kicked the door shut behind me before I tossed the notebook and pen to the little chair by the door. The room got quieter as we locked eyes, the only noise coming from the little old radio in the corner of the room that I must have forgotten to switch off before I left. The sound came out all crackly and the only stations that worked played nothing but songs from so long ago I was pretty sure they were a good hundred years old, but there was something charming about them.
“I love you too,” I whispered, watching as he closed the small gap between us. One of his hands found mine, our fingers lacing together. With a gentle tug, I was right there in my favorite place to be: my body flushed against his. Chests pressed together, lips brushing against mine so softly, his other hand moving to the small of my back. “Are you okay?”
He stayed quiet, lips pressed together and eyes all clouded with confusion. I hated seeing him that way, all in his head and overwhelmed. He deserved better than that.
“Spencer got hurt,” he finally said.
My eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“Some kids. I don’t know. I guess those same ones who like giving him a hard time. They broke his glasses.”
“Oh my God, is he okay?”
“He…” His brows pulled together. “He seems pretty happy, actually.”
“Happy?”
“He’s a little bruised. I’ve never seen someone so happy after taking a punch. Kid was excited as hell.”
My head shook. I couldn’t imagine sweet, little, soft-spoken Spencer reacting that way. “But he’s alright? He’s okay?”
