Coldhearted Boss(56)
“And his truck is full? Even this weekend?”
“Yeah, we’ve even got one more than normal…but if you need a ride, we can shuffle some people around, or maybe see—”
I cut him off, feeling uncomfortable enough as is. I don’t want to be a burden and I don’t want to take anyone else’s spot. “No, no. Don’t worry about that. I’m going to call and see if my mom can swing by and pick me up.”
“All right, but let me know if she can’t and we’ll figure it out.”
Throughout the day—as I run around working—I try to reach my mom. I don’t want to ask Ethan to borrow his phone since he expressly told me I wasn’t allowed to use it anymore. In fact, I’d rather use a carrier pigeon or some kind of smoke signal, but in the end, I don’t have to because I finally reach her in the late afternoon.
Relief swells within me as soon as the call connects. I don’t have time to chitchat though.
“Is there any chance you’ve been able to get the car out of the shop?” I ask, talking a mile a minute, scared our connection will be lost at any moment. “Like maybe the mechanic was wrong and the car doesn’t need any repairs? In fact, it’s in perfect working order and you can come pick me up here tonight?”
“What are you talking about? What’s wrong?” she asks, her voice concerned. “The car’s still in the shop, but if you need me, I’ll find a ride and come get you.” I squeeze my eyes shut as despair fills my veins. “McKenna has a little award ceremony tonight up at the high school for making honor roll, but I could ask Nancy if she’d be willing to let me borrow her car. We’ll have to pay for gas and I’ve already been borrowing it a lot lately—”
“No, no, Mom. It’s okay. Nothing is wrong or anything. I just miss you guys and was wanting to make it back this weekend. Don’t worry about it.”
She sighs as if she’s just as upset about the situation as I am. “We miss you too. I wish things were different.” Her voice picks up, as if she’s trying to have enough hope for the both of us. “And they will be soon. Once I finish up school and get licensed, I’ll make all this up to you. I promise.”
Her kind words are my undoing. Unshed tears burn my eyes and make my throat ache unbearably.
I know I need to go find Max and insist on a ride home. I’ll sit on someone’s lap. I’ll sprawl out in the bed of the truck the whole way home, whatever it takes to get me away from this place.
Unfortunately, it’s later in the afternoon than I realized, and I’m still back at Rose Cabin, getting it cleaned up for Ethan and his friends. I scrubbed the bathroom so it’s spotless and washed every piece of linen I could find in case they need a spare pillow or blanket. I even washed my own in case they want to borrow it. I won’t be here, so it doesn’t matter. After I finish adding water to the bucket of wildflowers on the desk, I make a mad dash back to the camp, heading straight to find Max.
At this time of day, there’s usually still a flurry of activity. Right now, though, the place is deserted. I spot a guy from the crew heading back from the site.
“Hey! Where is everyone?”
He nods toward the entrance to the camp. “Ethan let everyone knock off a little early. They were anxious to get home for the long weekend.”
WHAT?!
I panic and start to hurry away before I realize how rude I’m being and throw a “Thanks! Have a good weekend!” over my shoulder.
The bunkhouses are all but empty. A few stragglers are left, packing up last-minute belongings. I search for Max among them, asking if anyone’s seen him. One guy finally has an answer.
“Nolan was in a rush to leave. They all set off about an hour ago.”
My heart plummets. Max is already gone? He left without seeing if I had a ride or not? I guess I did insist I’d figure it out, but still…
I glance around, taking in the three stragglers I don’t know all that well. I couldn’t even tell you their names if push came to shove. Still, at the moment, they’re my only option.
“Is there any chance you guys are heading west toward Oak Dale?”
The guy closest to me, the one who told me Nolan already left, shakes his head. “We’re going to Louisiana.”
In other words, they’ll be going in the exact opposite direction.
It’s for the best. I probably shouldn’t get into a car with near strangers anyway, even if they are part of Ethan’s crew. But for the record, I would have! I would have gone wherever the hell these guys were going—Oh, wow, what a charming murder shack!—if it meant escaping from here.
I thank them for the information and tell them to have a good weekend, and then I walk with slumped shoulders out of the cabin. I’m defeated. Squashed. It’s the same way I felt that night at the bar—the night I first met Ethan. I’m so close to crying, one wrong glance could push me toward a complete meltdown.
Then voices and laughter carry over the sounds of chirping and humming from the surrounding forest. I glance up just in time to watch a group of people walk past the mess hall with backpacks and luggage. Ethan is among them.
His friends!
I watch them pause for a second and Ethan starts pointing out a few things, directing their attention down to the construction site and the lake, though neither is visible from where we are. He points to the trail that leads toward the cabins and then just before he turns toward the bunkhouses, I jump back inside and try to hide. It’s poor timing, though, because the guys are finished packing and trying to leave. I bump into one of them, my elbow colliding with his stomach, and he grunts. I cringe, praying Ethan and his group haven’t spotted us.