Page 50 of Hot Shot
“Well, here’s the deal, Branton Lattimer. I don’t want to live hidden away in the woods. I want to live every minute of every day and make the Rogues a success. So if you want to be with me, if you’re serious about us as a couple, you have to leave your safe place and find a new one. One that lets you live.”
“That’s you.”
“What?”
“You.You’remy safe place. I barely got through the day before you turned up in my living room. Now I’m bounding out of bed each morning ready to hang out, go for a hike, explore Parry Sound. Whatever you want to do, I want to do. Without you, none of that enthusiasm exists. You’re my reason for living.”
Branton
Seven days.
So much has changed in a week.
Last week I was in Parry Sound willingly spending my days alone with no inclination to leave. And now, my bags are packed and in the back of a rented SUV heading down the highway, Blake in the passenger seat beside me as we drive toward her parents’ place.
After our talk yesterday, Blake said we weren’t waiting any longer to get my life back. She’d had enough of letting me decide when we left Gannon’s place. She was taking charge.
I don’t know how she did it, but when we woke this morning there was a car in the driveway, keys under the front door mat, and after packing up and locking down the house, we were on the road, our route plotted, less than three hours later.
That was two hours ago.
“You want to stop for lunch or keep going?” I ask as a sign for the next exit flies by.
“If we keep going, we’ll get to Mom and Dad’s well before dinner.” Twisting around, she reaches into the backseat and comes back with a bag of trail mix. “I’ve got this to keep us going but maybe we can swing through a drive thru somewhere and get food to eat along the way. If you’re hungry.”
“I’m not hungry. The bacon and egg sandwiches you made us before we left the house are still clinging to my ribs.” Blake packed them to go, and I ate three and a half of them in the first fifteen minutes of our journey. This new life I’m going after has me ravenous but once again, Blake came through for me.
“Me too. And I ate less than you.”
“Half of one doesn’t really count as less.”
“Of course it does. Besides, when I talked to Mom last night, she said Dad would be grilling steaks on the barbecue for dinner tonight and we were welcome to share if we didn’t dawdle.”
The mention of her parents has my stomach clenching. I can’t wait to see them. It’s been years, and excitement at seeing the two people who mean as much to me as my own mother fills my chest.
Except I can’t deny the layer of trepidation that has a choke hold on my heart.
I let them down.
I let everyone down.
If my mom was alive, she’d slap me upside the head and call me a dumbass for the way I behaved. The only saving grace of losing Mom is she didn’t get to witness the biggest mistake of my life unfold.
“So, steak dinner or lunch?”
“That’s not a question. Steak. One hundred percent steak, every time. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner if it’s an option.”
Laughing, Blake tears open the bag of trail mix. “Hold out your hand.”
When I do as asked, she tips a small pile of nuts and dried fruit into my palm. “No cranberries?”
“No. I’m still in the habit of buying our preferred brand.”
“Thanks.”
“For what, liking the same thing as you?”
“No. For not wiping me from your life when I wiped you from mine.”
