You Had Me At Christmas: A Holiday Anthology(67)

“I’m going to assume Babe will think this is as great of an idea as I do.” If he reached out, success—and Selina coming with him—was close enough he might be able to grab ahold of it and kiss it. “Should we find your mom to tell her, too?”

Hesitation pulled at the corners of her eyes. Crap. Saying that had been a bad tack when he was trying to convince her to come.

“Yes,” she said and then gnawed on her lip. “But I don’t want to tell her in person. She’s guaranteed to think this is a bad idea.”

“Afraid she’ll talk you out of it?” Marc was convinced this idea was great and was certain Babe would see reason, but he didn’t believe Selina’s mom could even find reason in an empty, well-lit room. Otherwise, she’d have done something to protect her daughter from that awful man she’d married.

“I’m afraid she’ll try—or Gary will—and we’ll fight.”

Right. One of the breadwinners was thinking of driving away in the bread truck, and her stepfather seemed like the type who would respond with abuse toward the nearest woman handy rather than getting his own job. “Should she talk you out of it?”

He wanted Selina to come with him. The trip would be better with her in the car. But he didn’t want to be a dick and force her into anything.

Selina gave a vigorous shake of her head. “No. Maybe going with you is a bad idea, but staying here is a bad idea, too. I’ll talk to Babe about it, but . . .” She paused, then nodded, apparently at the thoughts in her own head. “But I think I’m coming.”

Being the best of two bad ideas pricked his ego, but quibbling or objecting wouldn’t help him win Selina’s company.

She waved a hand between them, seeming to dismiss any more objections she wasn’t sharing. “I’ll call my mom from the road. Babe has a detached garage that I can leave my car in. And if I decide to stay in Salt Lake City at the end of the week, I trust her to sell it for me and send me the money.”

“Do you need to go home to pack?” Decision made, Marc’s mind moved to the practicalities of this trip.

“No.” She looked sheepish for a moment. “When I left last night, I took a backpack I’d already had packed in case I never wanted to go back. And I’ve had a suitcase in my car for weeks. Gary has been getting more, uh, persistent, and I wanted to be prepared.”

That he was persistent might be the biggest understatement Marc had ever heard to describe what he didn’t want to imagine had been happening in Selina’s home.

“Well then,” he said, clapping his hands together, “of all the diners in all the towns in all the world, I’m glad I walked in to yours.”

“You’re cute,” she said with a sweet smile, which made his chest swell. If he could keep her smiling with cheesy jokes, they would be A-okay.

He picked up a piece of onion, eager to finish his food and get to Babe’s house. His stir-fry had gotten cold, but it tasted better than any food he’d eaten in the last couple of days, including Babe’s wonderful pancakes.

*

“Selina,” Babe said, her neutral voice a sure indication that she was worried, “let’s go into the kitchen and pack you some food for the car trip.”

Selina dutifully stood and followed Babe out of the living room. They hadn’t even crossed the threshold into the other room when she whipped her body around. “What are you thinking?” her boss and friend hissed.

Selina glanced over her shoulder to where Marc sat on the floral couch under the painting of a craggy mountain, an icy lake, and the clear blue sky of a perfect Idaho summer day. He had to know that they were talking about him, and he could probably guess that Babe was questioning Selina’s judgment. But he wasn’t fidgeting and didn’t otherwise seem nervous. He was just leaning against the back of the couch, his ankle resting on his knee, looking for all the world like a man at complete ease with himself and his situation.

Confident, which of course he had every right to be. Programming his app had probably been hard, but all the work had paid off. Marc had what Selina wanted: the knowledge that effort toward a goal brought results. Not more treading water.

She wasn’t sure where leaving for a spontaneous road trip with a stranger fell in her plans, but it got her out of this town. And that was an accomplishment in and of itself.

She turned back to face Babe’s concerned eyes. “Marc will take me to Salt Lake, and I’ll have a place to live for at least a week while I look for work. This isn’t how I’d planned to get out of Idaho, but it would be stupid to turn down the opportunity.”

Babe blinked several times. “You know nothing about this man. He might be a rapist. Or a murderer. Or worse.”

What could be worse than a rapist or a murder? Selina didn’t ask. She didn’t want to know how Babe would answer.

“Maybe,” she said, instead. “But he’s who he says he is. I’ve read the news articles, and they’re credible sources, too. And I need to be out of town the next time Gary gets drunk enough to forget that he’s supposed to be my stepfather.”

As she said the words, her palms got clammy and fear pounded in her ears. She’d been afraid of Gary before, but last night was the first time she’d felt honest-to-God terrified. Admitting it to herself didn’t calm her body down, but it made her feel better about her decision to run off with Marc. Yes, he was a stranger, and maybe he would snore or his farts would be unbearable, but never once had her gut flickered with fear, especially not for her safety.