Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 22759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
“I am, I am.”
“Then what’s the hold up?”
Georgia, if something happens to me, this is the phone number of the man I was last seen with. 555-4534
Driving home with a coworker due to the storm. See you soon, Cameron.
“Nothing.” I slide my phone into my pocket. “But given our circumstances, I think we should establish some rules for the road before we leave.”
“I’m listening.”
“We should take breaks every one-hundred miles to prevent exhaustion.”
“Two hundred miles,” he counters. “At your rate that’ll add extra hours, and I doubt you want that.”
“Good point. Well, between us, I think we can do ten hours each if we rotate driving at these points, too.”
“What else?”
“No pettiness whatsoever, and no discussions about work,” I say. “Oh, and we’ll need to stop for lunch around three if you’re against stopping for snacks before we hit the highway.”
“There’s some in my black bag.” He looks amused. “Any other rules or suggestions?”
I tap my chin, trying to think of any, but my mind is blank.
“I have a few of my own.” He picks up my suitcase and tosses it into the trunk. “Number one, whoever’s driving controls the radio.”
“But you have terrible taste in music...”
“Number two, no long personal phone calls.” He ignores my comment. “If we get desperate for conversation, we can talk to each other.”
“Fine.”
“Lastly, keep your hands to yourself.” He holds the passenger door open for me. “I know that’ll be the hardest part for you.”
“Seriously?” I roll my eyes and walk to the other side. “Whenever I’m not driving, I’ll be sitting in the backseat.”
“I’d prefer if you sat in the front with me.”
“Give up the radio and I’ll consider it.”
“Go ahead and get comfortable back there then.” He slides behind the wheel, not willing to compromise on that at all.
“I’ll nap until it’s my turn.”
“Good idea,” he says. “I’m sure getting arrested for a felony is exhausting.”
Refusing to let him get under my skin this early, I bite my tongue. I pull out my eye mask and unfold one of his blankets.
He types The Grace Estate into GPS, and I focus on the mile counter: 1,380 miles.
I shut my eyes and lean against the window when he pulls away.
I’ll sleep for the first two hundred miles…
SIX (B)
JAMES
Traveling I-90 East toward Spokane
The last time I took a road trip, I was in my early twenties, and my older brother and I were still best friends. It was two weeks before Christmas, and we’d decided to surprise my mother with a weekend visit.
The road miles flew by so fast it felt like we were flying, unlike now.
How the hell have we only notched fifty?
“Can we please listen to something else?” Taryn sighs from the back seat. “I’m struggling to fall asleep through this.”
“We agreed that the driver controls the radio, Taryn.”
“We also said that we wouldn't be petty.” Her eyes meet mine in the rear-view mirror.
“That went out the window when you decided to sit in the backseat.”
“Fine then.” She narrows her eyes. “But I refuse to believe you're listening to a ‘How to Stay on My Boss's Good Side’ podcast for yourself.”
“Fair enough.” I smile and switch to something else. “Hopefully you’ll like this one better.”
“Hello sweet listener,” a soft voice sifts through the speakers, “and welcome to the How to Keep Your Complaints to Yourself podcast.”
Her face reddens, and she rummages around her purse for her earbuds, but I neglect to tell her I took those out when she first dozed off.
SEVEN
TARYN
Two hours later
Still traveling toward Spokane
Cameron
Hope you’re traveling safely. I just checked into my room at The Grace Estate. Can’t wait to see you in person & start talking life…
I’m starting to think we were always meant to be.
I wait to feel a bout of butterflies, but they never flap their wings. No matter how often I try to get excited about spending my life with Cameron, I only feel confused.
He’s also the last person I want to see when I make it to Colorado.
Ignoring his messages, I pull the blanket from over my face and realize that James and I are no longer on the highway.
We’re coasting down a long backroad where hundred-foot pine trees surround us. We’re also the only car on the road.
I squint at the dashboard.
1,480 miles
What the hell?
“James?” I pinch myself to make sure I’m still in reality.
“Yes?”
“Is there a problem with the mile counter on your dashboard?’
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Then why did it add an extra hundred miles to our trip?”
“I had to take an alternative route once we hit a slow spot,” he says. “I tried to wake you up and tell you, but you sleep like a stone.”
“I do not.”
“You also snore.” He smirks. “There was a two-hour traffic delay ahead and it’s better for us to go this way since we’ll arrive around the same time.”