Page 63 of Bullseye
“Hey…”
After I shake her gently, she begins to rouse.
“What’s going on?”
Turning the heater up full blast, I’m able to get the defroster to begin clearing the windows. The sound of plows going by makes her sit up.
“It’s morning, and the plows have been clearing the roads for a couple of hours. They’re okay to drive on. We’ll be able to move soon.”
“Oh.” She looks down. “That’s good news.”
“Sen, baby.”
“No.” Reaching out, she places her hand on mine. “Please. Thank you for holding me through my mini-meltdown last night.”
“It’s okay. We all have them.”
She eyes me quizzically. “You have meltdowns?”
“Of course. But when I do, I pump a bunch of holes in a target.”
She barely smiles.
“So, as fun as this has been, how about we get you dressed? Your clothes are at least drier than they were last night. They should be okay for the ride home.”
“Home?”
“To Hoppa.”
“Yeah, of course.” She smiles. “To Hoppa.”
Do you have any other clothes?” I point to her oversized bag on the floor.
“No, no. Just money and my keys and such.” Grabbing her clothes off the dash, she pulls on her bra and panties quickly. Then, she slides into her jeans, tank top, shirt, and jacket. She goes for her chaps.
“As sexy as those are on you, you don’t need them to ride home in the truck. They’ll probably get uncomfortable.”
“Yeah, of course.” She folds them up and puts them on the seat between us.
“How about I go grab us some coffee? I need the restroom, anyway. And the lights just flicked on in the store.” Looking around the parking lot as a few cars and two semis come pulling in, I shift in my seat. This place is obviously busy since it’s the only gas station for miles, and we’re too close to New York for comfort.
“Sounds good.” I want to tell her to be quick, but I don’t want to worry her. “I’ll clean the snow off the truck.”
“Great.”
She goes for her door, but reaching out, I place my hand on her arm, and she freezes. She’s incredibly tense and jumpy this morning. Well, we have a long ride back to Hoppa to talk through all of this and to get to the bottom of whatever is torturing her. And I’d really like to find out why she bolted from the hospital when Seth said he hadn’t tossed the brick.
“Hey, Sen, I had a great time last night. I mean, aside from the you-almost-freezing-to-death incident.”
Nodding, she looks out the windshield and back to me. “Me too. Thank you, Avery.”
“I think it’s thankyou...”
“No, I mean, for coming to find me. I don’t know what would have happened to me if you didn’t come for me.” Her eyes grow glassy.
“Well you don’t have to worry about that, okay? I promise I will always take care of you.”
“Yeah.” Moving away from me, she pushes open the door and jumps down out of the truck.
