by Theresa Weir
As he headed out of town on I-94, he glanced at his phone one final time hoping for a message from Molly. Nothing. He hadn’t heard from her since he’d given her the box. He’d been tempted to try to contact her, but had restrained himself. If she wanted to talk to him she’d call. She’d text.
But as he drove, as he put more distance between himself and Molly, a weird and irrational feeling came over him. Anxiety. Worry. And this bleakness, this hollow sensation deep in his chest that was like nothing he’d ever experienced.
Coming to a quick decision he took the next exit, made a left on the overpass and got back on I-94, this time heading east.
He drove straight to Molly’s house.
No sign of life, but he knocked on the door anyway. After a couple of minutes he headed for the café, letting out his breath when he saw spotted her blue bike chained to the rack out front. His heart settled down. That was weird. He didn’t even know where to put what just happened. Panic attack?
He parked the van, pulled out his phone, and called the lawyer. “Have you contacted Molly yet?” Ian asked when Mr. Stinson answered. He didn’t want to drop in to see how she was if she’d heard about the money. He wanted to be out of town when she got the news.
“Plan to in a couple of days once I get everything straightened out.”
“That’s cool. Just checking.”
Chapter 31
Rose checked to see who’d just come into the café. “I think you might want to get this one.”
I looked over the top of the swinging doors to see Ian taking a seat at the table by the window. My heart actually moved, and I imagined those cartoons where the character’s big red heart protrudes, boing, boing, and then goes back into the chest.
I approached his table and clicked the end of my pen, order tablet in hand. I was shaking inside, but outside? Cool. “What’ll it be?”
He fiddled with the menu, then tossed it aside. He looked up at me, his eyes asking how I was. He looked tired and kind of frazzled. Gray hoodie, bed head, needing to shave. In other words, he looked wonderful.
“Coffee,” he said. “To go.”
“Oh.” Pretty sure I failed to keep the disappointment from my voice.
He ran fingers through his hair, trying to tame it. Not possible. The curse of curly hair. “I’m heading out and just wanted to stop by and make sure you were doing okay.”
“I’m fine.”
He nodded and pressed his lips together. “That’s good.”
“Want any food for the road? My treat.”
“I’ve got snacks.”
“Gummy Worms?”
“Gummy Bears.”
“I like the worms.”
“They don’t travel as well. Hot car and all that. But bears… Bears love the road.”
I brought him his coffee. “On me.”
He wrapped his hand around the carryout cup and looked up. “You should come with me.”
Not at all what I’d expected to hear. “What?”
“Yeah.” He straightened, seeming pleased with the idea. “You should just grab your coat and come with me.”
“Right now?”
“Why not?”
“Well…”
“What’s keeping you here? You withdrew from school. And you’re sleeping on Rose’s couch.”
“My job.”
That didn’t seem to carry much weight with Ian. “We’ll go someplace new to both of us. Not Berkeley, and not Minneapolis. Not California and not Minnesota. Let’s do it. Right now.”
In my mind I thought Montana. We could go to Montana. We could find my mother’s sister. “I’m in the middle of a shift.”
He smiled because he knew I was considering it. And my God, that smile.
“I’d have to go to Rose’s,” I said. “Pack. Get my things.”
I’ve heard people bemoaning college, saying it’s a waste of time and money. That might or might not be true, but I’m thinking you really never know when those four years will kick in. The payoff might not be a job in your field. Instead, the benefit could surface in a real-life situation. Like this.
Ian’s next words had all the power of a psychology degree behind them. And like a degree, it was impossible to say if his education had anything at all to do with them. “Just come as you are.”
Come as you are.
A brilliant choice of words. A perfect choice of words, because he knew I’d have a hard time saying no. And what did I have at Rose’s? Just stuff. Nothing I couldn’t live without. And after three moves my possessions had dwindled to not much more than a few boxes.
“Be back a minute.”
In a daze, I returned to the kitchen. I must have had a weird look on my face because Rose immediately touched my arm in concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Ian just asked me to leave with him. And he wants me to come right now.”
Her eyes widened, and she got a grin on her face. “Well?”
“I don’t want to desert you.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll cover your shifts until we get somebody else. We have a stack of applications.”
True. A lot of people wanted to work at Mean Waitress. I guess a lot of people wanted to be mean to customers.
I reached behind my back, untied my apron, and dropped it on the counter. Then I grabbed my coat from the hook and slipped it on. Then my backpack with my computer. I removed Rose’s house key from my key ring and handed it to her. That was followed by my bike key. “Keep it for me. Ride it. I’ll come back to get it someday.”
Rose was still grinning. “I love you. You know that, right?”
“I know.” I did know it. I loved her too. We hugged. Tightly. And sniffled a little.
Back in the dining area Ian looked up and saw my coat. Without a word he got to his feet, coffee forgotten, and stared at me in cautious disbelief. He was afraid I was just messing with him.
I laughed and grabbed his hand and together we ran out the door.
The air was cold and brittle and a few snowflakes swirled, coming from some mysterious place because the sky was clear. We kept running, hand-in-hand, toward his parked van. And this time I wasn’t running away. I was running toward something. Tomorrow maybe.
About the Author
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Theresa Weir (a.k.a. Anne Frasier) is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-four books and numerous short stories that have spanned the genres of suspense, mystery, thriller, romantic suspense, paranormal, and memoir. Her titles have been printed in both hardcover and paperback and translated into twenty languages. Her first memoir, THE ORCHARD, was a 2011 Oprah Magazine Fall Pick, Number Two on the Indie Next list, a featured B+ review in Entertainment Weekly, and a Librarians’ Best Books of 2011. Her second memoir, THE MAN WHO LEFT, was an New York Times bestseller. Going back to 1988, Weir’s debut title was the cult phenomenon AMAZON LILY, initially published by Pocket Books and later reissued by Bantam Books. Writing as Theresa Weir she won a RITA for romantic suspense (COOL SHADE), and a year later the Daphne du Maurier for paranormal romance (BAD KARMA). In her more recent Anne Frasier career, her thriller and suspense titles hit the USA Today list (HUSH, SLEEP TIGHT, PLAY DEAD) and were featured in Mystery Guild, Literary Guild, and Book of the Month Club. HUSH was both a RITA and Daphne du Maurier finalist. Well-known in the mystery community, she served as hardcover judge for the Thriller presented by International Thriller Writers, and was guest of honor at the Diversicon 16 mystery/science fiction conference held in Minneapolis in 2008. Frasier books have received high praise from print publications such as Publishers Weekly, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Crimespree, as well as online praise from Spinetingler, Book Loons, Armchair Interviews, Sarah Weinman’s Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, and Ali Karim’s Shots Magazine. Her b
ooks have featured cover quotes from Lisa Gardner, Jane Ann Krentz, Linda Howard, Kay Hooper, and J.A. Konrath. Her short stories and poetry can be found in DISCOUNT NOIR, ONCE UPON A CRIME, and THE LINEUP, POEMS ON CRIME. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers.
The Orchard
An Oprah Magazine Fall Pick
Featured Review in Entertainment Weekly
Number Two on October Indie Next List
BJ’s Book Club Spotlight
LIbrarians’ Best Books of 2011
Maclean’s Top Books of 2011
On Point (NPR) Best Books of 2011
Abrams Best of 2011
Publishers Lunch (Publishers Weekly) Favorite Books of 2011
Eighth Annual One Book, One Community 2012, Excelsior, Minnesota
Target Book Club Pick, September 2012
Title List
Writing as Anne Frasier
Hush, USA Today bestseller, RITA finalist, Daphne du Maurier finalist (2002)
Sleep Tight, USA Today bestseller (2003)
Play Dead, USA Today Bestseller (2004)
Before I Wake (2005)
Pale Immortal (2006)
Garden of Darkness, RITA finalist (2007)
Once Upon a Crime anthology, Santa’s Little Helper (2009)
The Lineup, Poems on Crime, Home (2010)
Discount Noir anthology, Crack House (2010)
Deadly Treats Halloween anthology, editor and contributor, The Replacement (September 2011)
Once Upon a Crime anthology, Red Cadillac (April 2012)
Woman in a Black Veil (July 2012)
Dark: Volume 1 (short stories, July 2012)
Dark: Volume 2 (short stories, July 2012)
Black Tupelo (short-story collection July 2012)
Girls from the North Country (short story, August 2012)
Made of Stars (short story, August 2012)
Stars (short story collection, August 2012)
Stay Dead (April 2014)
Writing as Theresa Weir
The Forever Man (1988)
Amazon Lily, RITA finalist, Best New Adventure Writer award, Romantic Times (1988)
Loving Jenny (1989)
Pictures of Emily (1990)
Iguana Bay (1990)
Forever (1991)
Last Summer (1992)
One Fine Day (1994)
Long Night Moon, Reviewer’s Choice Award, Romantic Times (1995)
American Dreamer (1997)
Some Kind of Magic (1998)
Cool Shade RITA winner, romantic suspense (1998)
Bad Karma, Daphne du Maurier award, paranormal (1999)
Max Under the Stars, short story (2010)
The Orchard, a memoir (September 2011)
The Man Who Left , a memoir (April 2012)
The Girl with the Cat Tattoo (June 2012)
Made of Stars (August 2012)
Come as Your Are (October 2013)
The Geek with the Cat Tattoo (2014)
Table of Contents
Come As You Are
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
About the Author