Page 37 of Stolen Goods
“Sibling relationships can be tough,” he said and took a bite, shutting the conversation down.Thank you, she wanted to say. Siblings, especially sisters,couldbe tough, and it was way more than she wanted to get into right now. He swallowed and looked back up. “Did you go to school?”
“Huh? Of course I went to school. Everyone goes to school…” Addy stared at him, confused, and then she got it. “Oh, you mean did I go to college?”
The edges of his lips quirked despite his full cheeks packed with food, and he nodded.
“Um, sort of.” Addy shrugged. Thad furrowed his brows, not understanding, which propelled her into a long-winded and probably overly share-y response as she swirled her spoon through her tomato soup, not meeting his eyes. She hadn’t been on a date in a long time—not that this was a date. It wasn’t! But, well, her nerves were having a difficult time differentiating. “I mean, not in the traditional sense. I was never much for school. I loved English, but that was about it. Once I started working with Edie in her bakery, I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I didn’t want to waste the money on school and I didn’t want to move too far from home because my grandpa was sick at the time, so I did a one-year program that specialized in pastries at a culinary institute in Charleston, and then Edie taught me everything else. She has a bachelor’s degree in baking, so learning from her was like a private education. And yeah…” She swallowed and broke off a corner of her grilled cheese. “That was school.”
And my life story… Why can’t I be more normal?
To her surprise, Thad didn’t laugh. Instead, he said, “Cool. I went to a fine arts college, so I get it. Why waste your life in classes you’re never going to use, when you can study something you love instead?”
Her head jerked up of its own accord. “Exactly. Most people don’t understand. My parents definitely didn’t when I first told them.”
“You want to know something?” Thad murmured, holding her gaze, confidence oozing in a way that made her want to reach out and snatch some for herself. “Most people are afraid. They either don’t know what it’s like to have a passion or they’re too scared to pursue it. They’re content to do what everybody else does because it’s safe. But taking a risk for something you love? That’s brave.” He shrugged. “You’re brave.”
Addy scoffed, shaking her head. “I’m not brave.”
She was probably the most frightened person she knew. There was no reason for it, far as she could tell. No deep dark secret. No broken past. Her parents had been loving. They’d raised her the very best way they could, and they made sure she had every opportunity. Addy’s life had always been full of possibility, of hope, of so many dreams. Too many dreams, if anything. She lived in the clouds, afraid that if she came down to earth, nothing would be as bright or happy or wonderful as the world alive inside her head.
“Sure you are,” Thad countered, an easy smile rising to his lips. “You’re here with me, aren’t you?”
“Here with you is the only place I’ve ever been,” Addy drawled. She didn’t realize how true the words were until they spilled from her lips, making her gut clench. “You know who’s brave? My sister. Lee.” And for the first time in a while, there was no snark when she said her name, no eye roll. There was honesty and love. Because her sister was everything she wasn’t, everything she’d always been too scared to be, and maybe that was why she’d pushed her away—good old-fashioned jealousy. “She’s brave. She’s been all over the world. She’s going to law school. She’s not afraid to fight for what she believes in. And if she were here with you, she sure as heck would’ve called the police by now. Or”—Addy paused, glancing around the tabletop—“I don’t know, stabbed this fork in your eye and run.”
Thad frowned and immediately reached across the table, sliding the silverware out of her reach. “Then thank God I got stuck with you.”
Addy rolled her eyes and released a heavy breath. “I’m touched.”
“And I’m serious,” Thad said, reaching back across the table, but this time it was for her hand. The moment their fingers touched, her heart skipped a beat, then ran in fast-forward, fluttering like a hummingbird inside her chest. “Sure, it’s brave to travel, to want to save the world and all that jazz. But that’s not the only sort of bravery there is. Trusting people? Taking a chance on people? That requires a special kind of bravery.” He squeezed her hand and then let go, slouching against his seat, mumbling, “The kind that’s always terrified me.”
Addy wanted to hear him. The tone of his voice made her confident there was some hidden message behind the words, something important, something he couldn’t say out loud. But in the back of her mind, the wheels were spinning, unhinged in a way they never had been before. Suddenly it hit her—really hit her—that she could have died last night. She could have died and her eulogy would’ve been a few dozen words. Because she’d never gone anywhere. Or done anything. Or taken any chances chasing after the things she wanted—a bakery of her own, a man who loved her, a family. All this time, she’d coasted through life, living in her imagination, afraid of what? Disappointment? Heartbreak? But last night two men busted into her shop with guns, shooting bullets at her head, and now those concepts didn’t seem as frightening. Looking death in the face, she finally understood she’d never truly lived.
“I want to go to Paris,” Addy blurted.
Thad cocked his head, staring at her for a moment as though considering. “Now?”
“Not now.” Addy rolled her eyes, but then stopped, wondering for a moment what it must be like to live the way he did—to live a life where spontaneously traveling to a foreign country was not only doable, but dare she say it, blasé? This man before her was a wanted criminal, was being chased by the Russian mafia, had everything in the world to fear, and yet, not an ounce of him seemed afraid. Not one little ounce.Now? Now! What would he have done if I’d said yes?“I mean, after all of this is over, and I’m safe and free and my life is back to normal, I want to go to Paris.”
“You should.” He popped one last fry into his mouth, totally at ease. “It’s beautiful.”
“You’ve been?” Addy inhaled sharply, leaning forward as though if she moved close enough, his experience might ooze into her psyche through osmosis.
“What self-respecting art thief hasn’t?” he teased, dimple digging into his cheek. Then his lips smoothed and his face turned more serious. “But really, you should. Paris is… Well, there’s no place like it in the world. The art. The culture. The food. Everyone says to go to the Louvre, and you have to, but I prefer the Musée d'Orsay, speaks to the impressionist in me. And you’d love the pastries. Jo was obsessed. Every time I turned around she was stuffing something in her mouth, I don’t even remember what. But I do remember she wouldn’t shut up about the crepes. She just went on and on and on…” He rolled his eyes, but it was impossible to miss the affection in his voice, the love. “Typical Jo.”
“Yeah,” Addy murmured, trying to ignore the green-eyed monster scratching at her skin. Her unruly voice had other plans. “Why were you two there?”
“Oh.” Thad looked away with a cough, straightening his spine. “You know, business. Speaking of, I should go pay this. We should get on the road. I’m sort of amazed the story hasn’t broken yet, but we should take advantage of the extra time.”
Business!Relief flooded through her. Then she remembered what his business was—art theft—and she swallowed the feeling back down. But a little bit remained, burning at the corner of her thoughts like the devil on her shoulder, an annoying little beast she couldn’t push away.
“We should find a gas station,” Thad said once they were back in the car. “Pick up a map, refill the tank, and then get back on the highway and go.”
Addy nodded, turning toward the window, unable to talk because her thoughts were still spinning, circling around and around the roads not taken. The first boy she’d been in love with was her childhood best friend, but she’d never told him how she felt for fear of ruining what they had. Then he got his first girlfriend, they stopped hanging out, and she lost him anyway. When she first decided to forgo college to pursue baking, she sent an application to her dream culinary school in New York, never expecting to get in. Then she did get in, but she never told anyone, because she was too afraid they would force her to actually go. What would she have done in a big city like New York all by herself? Get mugged? Killed? A city like that would eat her alive. So she stayed home, where it was comfortable, never expecting that her safe little hometown would be the place where she would be kidnapped and nearly killed.
The list went on. Boys she’d broken up with before they had a chance to break her. Men she’d turned away because they didn’t align with the perfect checklist she’d drawn up. Opportunities she’d missed out on because they were risky or didn’t match the image in her head. Addy could’ve gone to visit Gracie when she was studying abroad in France, but she’d been wrapped up in visions of romance that didn’t involve her sister. She stayed home and missed her chance and pushed her only sibling a little further away in the process.
“I’m going to run in and see if they have some cross-country maps. I’ll be right back. Can you fill the tank?”
“Huh?” Addy murmured, but he was already gone. They were stopped at a gas station and she didn’t even remember pulling in.Yet another thing I’ve missed!
