A few minutes later, the boys finished eating and cleared their plates. When Samantha disappeared too, I got up to help Mae with the dishes.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “You’re our guests.”
“I hope we didn’t intrude,” Ransom said.
“Of course not. Besides, you’re paying customers. You wanna take some pumpkin pie for the road?”
Ransom gave her a wide grin. “Wouldn’t feel right turning down pie,” he said. “So if it’s not too much trouble…”
Mae smiled just as wide as Ransom had. “I’ll box it right up for you in one of Mama Mae’s doggie bags.”
Mae moved around the kitchen, pulling a pie out of the refrigerator and sliding out two slices. Once everything was wrapped up, she handed the bag to Ransom.
“Gives me somethin’ to look forward to on our sixteen-hour bus ride.”
“Where y’all headed, anyway?”
“Georgia.” I didn’t like to lie, but the second the truth left my mouth, I regretted it. I didn’t exactly think Mae and her family had any interest in getting involved with a police investigation, and I doubted the authorities would even know we’d been here. Ransom didn’t seem to mind that I’d shared our destination, but I couldn’t help but wonder if I should start being less free with the information.
“That’s nice,” Mae said. “I have some family down there. It’s such a pretty state.”
“It is,” Ransom agreed. “I grew up down there, so we’re going to visit some family.”
“Meeting the parents, huh?” Mae said to me, her raised eyebrows saying more than her words had.
I laughed nervously. “Yeah. Wish me luck.”
“Well, good luck, sweetheart. I’m sure they’ll love you.”
Ransom looked at the time on his phone. “We should probably get going. Thanks again for the meal.”
Mama Mae said goodbye, and her husband grunted something from his recliner that I assumed was directed at us as well, though I had no idea what it could’ve been.
Once we were outside and a little ways from the house, Ransom said, “Well, that was…weird.”
“Weird,” I agreed, “but good. At least we got a home-cooked meal out of it.”
“Definitely. They didn’t have to serve us dinner with the restaurant closed.”
I’d been taking in the scenery—or what I could see of it in the dark—when something in the distance caught my eye. I waited until I got close enough to be sure I was seeing correctly before I pointed it out to Ransom.
“Look at that,” I said, already beginning to laugh.
It took Ransom a moment to realize I’d been talking about something other than the goat sleeping on top of a car. At the end of a driveway, next to a large red mailbox, was a large white wooden sign with black script.
“Jezebel’s Restaurant,” Ransom said. There was an arrow on the sign that pointed to the back of the house. In the dark we could clearly see a large room attached to the farmhouse. Through the large glass windows, we could see people sitting at tables eating. “Oh my God.”
“I know,” I said, both of us frozen in the dark as we watched a server walk over to a table with a bottle of wine. “Did we just pay a random family to eat dinner with them?”
“I think we did.”
“Let’s never mention this again,” he said.
And as we began walking toward the bus station again, I muttered, “Already forgotten.”
Chapter Ten
R A N S O M
God, my neck hurt. And my back. And pretty much every muscle in my body. Being stuck on a bus was no way to spend a night, especially when you’re over six feet. I closed my eyes tightly, rubbing them for a minute before I got up the courage to open them and face the sunlight I could see through my eyelids.
It took me a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, and once they did, I looked beside me. A sleeping Taylor rested her head on me, and I wondered if she’d been like that all night. Despite the uncomfortable position, I didn’t remember really waking up. Looking at my phone, I saw it was ten thirty in the morning. We must’ve been getting close.
Not wanting to wake Taylor, I tried to remain as still as possible. It had been a long night, and I didn’t know how much sleep she’d gotten. I leaned my head on hers as she slept and stared out the window at the scenery as it passed, looking for something I might recognize.
I’d been all over Georgia as a kid, and though I likely wouldn’t remember specific details, I hoped something would remind me of the place I’d been raised, though I had no idea why, considering I had tried so hard to forget it.
Nothing looked familiar, necessarily, but I also hadn’t been anywhere near Decatur County, Georgia, in…well, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been here. The town where I lived with my mom and my sister, Hudson, was as short on money as it was on people. Since there weren’t many job opportunities, and most of the few thousand residents hadn’t had much more than a high school education, the majority had struggled to pay the few bills they had.
Most of my time in foster homes had been in this county, in one small town or another, and I had eventually landed in an after-school program, which was where I’d ended up meeting Melissa. It’d been free, and my foster mom at that time put me in there because she didn’t trust me home on my own.
At first, I hated going. It was just one more place I had to meet new people and make new friends. But Melissa made it easy for me to feel part of the group. And eventually, when the home I’d been living in didn’t work out, she and Matt took me in, and their family of three became four.
I felt Taylor move around a little until eventually she woke up completely.
“Good morning,” she said with a stretch.
“Is it?”
“Is it what?”
“A good morning? Do we know that yet?”
She smiled but said, “You’re such a downer.” Looking out the window, she said, “Georgia’s pretty.”
“Oh, we aren’t in Georgia quite yet,” said a woman across the aisle from us.
“Really?” I asked. “How is that possible? We should be like a half hour away or less.”
“We are. Shouldn’t be more than fifteen minutes or so.”
Now I was completely confused. If we were only fifteen minutes away, I couldn’t fathom how we wouldn’t be in Georgia by now when we were headed to the southern border of it. Much like this entire trip so far, none of it made sense.
I heard Taylor mutter an “Oh God” and then saw her dig through her purse frantically. It made me just as anxious as she looked, but when I asked what was wrong, she didn’t answer.
“Taylor, what’s wrong?” I asked again. “What is it?”
She was looking at her phone now and mumbling something about how this couldn’t be right.
“What?” I asked again, this time more sternly. “You’re really freaking me out. Can you please answer me?”
My mind played a sort of slideshow of horrible possibilities. Had she seen someone or something that made her worry the authorities wanted to question us? Had she seen a text come through on her watch from someone back home that worried her? Anything was possible, and if she didn’t tell me what was happening right the fuck now—
“Don’t kill me.”
“First of all, that is a horrible choice of words right now. And second, what the hell are you talking about? Why would I wanna kill you?”
I hoped she was overreacting, but the horrified look on her face as she stared at her phone told me she wasn’t.
“Okay, I’m not sure how this happened, but we’re in Vermont.”
“Vermont,” I repeated. “I don’t… How are we in Vermont?”
Without looking up from her phone, she squeaked out an answer. “Because I evidently bought us tickets there.”
T A Y L O R
The bus pulled out of the long, angled space, cracking the thin sheet of ice that had begun to form over a small puddle and splashing bla
ck water onto the sidewalk of the bus terminal.
“It’s cold,” Ransom said, as if I hadn’t noticed.
Expecting to be heading south and to a slightly warmer climate, neither of us had brought anything heavier than a thin jacket. It was supposed to be close to sixty-five degrees all weekend. In the state of Georgia, at least. The town of Georgia, in Vermont, was a different story.
“I’m sorry,” I said again. I’d immediately apologized once I’d realized my mistake, which, admittedly was a pretty big one. But it’d been an accident—one I’d thought anyone could make. Though Ransom insisted otherwise.
I chanced a glance to my right to look at him. His posture revealed how deflated he felt, and I couldn’t blame him.
“If it sets your mind at ease at all, I’m sure the cops won’t think to look for us here,” I told him.
“That’s not even funny.”
I’d been serious when I’d said it. “Sorry,” I said again.
Ransom dropped the bags he’d been holding and adjusted his baseball cap before resting his hands on his head and letting out a heavy sigh. He looked around at our unfamiliar surroundings, no doubt deciding what to do next. Finally, he picked up the bags again and walked over to a bench in front of the building.
I followed but was too nervous to sit, so I stood instead. “Maybe there’s another bus we can take. If we leave soon, we can probably get there sometime in the middle of the night. We’d still have time to make the reunion.”
Ransom looked up at me slowly. It was the kind of movement you might see someone do in a horror movie when a demon possessed them. “I’m not sitting on a bus for another half a day.”
“Ooh, what about a train? That’d be faster. Or we could rent a car. Then we can stop wherever we want to take a break.”
His silence told me neither of those two ideas thrilled him.
“Okay, so not a car, bus, or train,” I said. “What about a plane?”
Ransom stood suddenly, startling me even though I was sure he didn’t mean to scare me. “Jesus, Taylor. You sound like a Dr. Seuss book. You can’t just name modes of transportation like it’ll fix this.”
I knew it was out of frustration, but his voice had gotten louder, and it made me uncomfortable, mainly because we were still in public. “Don’t yell at me.”
“I’m not yelling,” he said even more loudly. “I just… How do you expect me to react?” He gestured around him. “Look where we are!”
“I think it’s a cute town.”
“I’m not talking about whether or not the town is cute.” He said the word like it offended him. “I’m talking about the fact that you bought us tickets to a place that’s farther from our destination than where we started!”
“I said I’m sorry. It was an accident. You didn’t realize either. I’m sure the sign on the bus said where it was headed.”
He shook his head, and the expression on his face told me I’d hit a nerve that didn’t want to get touched. I couldn’t say I felt bad about it either. If Ransom thought he could talk to me like this, and in public, it’d do him well to learn he’d get the same in return.
“No way,” he said. “You don’t get to blame this on me. You’re the one who bought the tickets. Who doesn’t know the difference between a town and a state? You thought a bus just went to the state of Georgia? Like there was only one station in the whole state?”
“I’m not well-versed in public transportation.”
“Clearly.” He scoffed. “Maybe you’re right. I should’ve known someone who grew up flying first class with her dad’s miles wouldn’t have any idea how to buy a bus ticket.”
I stared at him blankly because I couldn’t decide if I was offended by his assumption or impressed that his assumption was true.
He blew out a deep breath and massaged his temples. “I’m sorry. I know you were just trying to help. It’s been a long couple of days, and being mad doesn’t make things any better,” he said quietly when I hadn’t spoken after a few seconds. “And I shouldn’t have said that. If anyone should know you can’t control what happens to you in your childhood, it’s me. If kids aren’t responsible for the bad things that happen to them, they shouldn’t be responsible for the good ones either.”
I chose not to comment on anything he’d just said, figuring it was better just to move forward. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Maybe it’s a sign.”
“What do you mean, a sign?”
“I don’t know. Like…the universe is telling us…or me that it’s a bad idea to try to reconnect with my family.”
Hoping to convey my skepticism, I raised my eyebrows at him. “So the universe had me buy a bus ticket to the wrong state?”
I was glad when he laughed at that so I could too.
“Seriously,” I said. “You can’t believe that. We’re in Georgia, Vermont, because this is the kind of shit we get ourselves into, not because the universe wanted to tell you how to deal with a family reunion.”
“You’re right. I shouldn’t blame the universe. We’re in Vermont because you can’t read.”
Ransom tried to keep a straight face, but he failed miserably, and before we knew it, both of us were trying to catch our breaths from laughter.
When we finally managed to calm down, I pulled out my phone. “I was serious about the plane suggestion, though. I know it’s not the best idea to buy a plane ticket with our names on them, but if we want to make it to the reunion, it’s probably our only real shot to get there in time.”
He sighed like he didn’t want to accept that was our only option but knew he’d probably have to. “Full disclosure? Flying scares me a little. I was glad when we realized it wouldn’t be a smart plan.”
I took the opportunity to wrap my arms around him, and then he did the same. It always amazed me how small I felt against him.
“I’ll protect you,” I told him, looking up with a smile.
“It’s a nice gesture, but unless you brought your Iron Man suit with you, I doubt you can stop a 747 from crashing to the ground.”
My eyes grew hooded, and I did my best to sound as seductive as I could standing outside the bus station of an unfamiliar town in the cold. “Oh, you have no idea what kinds of outfits I brought with me on this little trip, and if we don’t get to a hotel soon, you may never get to find out.”
“I feel like you’re trying to be sexy, but now I’m imagining a Captain America mask in there or something,” Ransom teased.
“Um…Captain America is sexy.”
Ransom shook his head at me. “What am I gonna do with you?”
“Let me get us two plane tickets to Wherever You’re From, Georgia?”
“Ha!” he laughed. “Like I’d ever let you book our flight. I’m not even trusting you to make dinner plans from now on.”
I groaned. “Are you ever gonna let this go?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say probably not.”
R A N S O M
By some miracle, we were able to get a flight from Burlington, Vermont, to the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport, which was the closest one to the location of the reunion. Even more of a miracle was that the flight went fairly smoothly other than having a connecting flight in Atlanta. And even though the second plane was delayed by a little over an hour, we still arrived in Albany, Georgia, before midnight.
I was just happy we’d gotten here safely and I hadn’t felt sick on the plane. The realization that traveling would’ve been a large part of my life had I become a professional football player almost made me thankful my career had changed course. Almost.
We just had to pick up our rental car and head to the hotel we’d booked, which was about an hour from the airport. And since the reunion didn’t begin until eleven the next morning and the hotel was only a few minutes away from it, we’d have plenty of time to sleep in and eat before getting ready.
“You sure we’re not in New York?” Taylor joked, pointing to a sign that said Albany.
&nb
sp; “Oh. Maybe,” I said dryly as we walked through the terminal looking for directions to car rentals.
I was glad we hadn’t packed so much that we’d had to check our bags. At least that would save a little time. I was exhausted. I hadn’t slept on the plane since I’d been anxious. I hoped I could sleep once we got to the hotel because I knew my anxiety wouldn’t go away anytime soon with the reunion tomorrow. But at least being in a bed with Taylor would relax me a little.
Though on second thought, access to a bed might mean we wouldn’t be sleeping much.
My phone had dinged with a text, and when I had a second to look at it, I removed it from my pocket. It was from Xander.
Glad you guys landed safely.
I wondered who’d told Xander we’d flown, and I couldn’t figure out what the connection would’ve been because no one else knew about it.
Yeah, thanks. How’d you know we flew?
His text came back almost immediately.
Same way the authorities will.
You’re not helping the situation.
Neither are you.
Fucker. When I saw a sign for baggage claim, I pointed it out, and we followed the directions until we arrived at the baggage carousels.
“The car rentals should be around here somewhere.” I put our bags down near a wall and asked Taylor, “Do you wanna wait here while I find it and check in?”
“It’s fine. I’ll come. I think it’s down there,” she said, pointing behind me.
When I turned around, I saw a counter with the name of the car rental company hanging over it. No wonder we hadn’t spotted it right away; it was completely dark.
“Are they closed?” I heard the defeat in my voice but also the uncertainty. I’d reserved a car online and even put down a time that we’d arrive. Though that time had passed an hour and a half ago thanks to the late departure of our connecting flight.
Let's Not & Say We Did (The Love Game Book 5) Page 9