Chapter 14

Grace

Iwasn't at all shocked to see Maverick after Sophie and I spent the morning running errands for Mabel and Mrs. P. Hell, I wasn't even mad, not that it mattered if I was anyway. Mabel was his family and he was suspicious of me, so it made sense that he showed up to make sure my trouble didn't touch his family. I respected him for it because in my life it was rare that men did anything that didn't directly impact them.

But he knew I had a past, and I knew he wouldn't stop digging until he had the answers he thought he was owed, which made me uncomfortable. And that meant it was time to leave Steel City behind.

That was the plan, and I was sticking to it. In fact, I'd stayed up all night researching new places to live since I couldn't sleep after our confrontation. My first thought was New Mexico because it made all the top lists of best places to live and it was full of quirky residents who knew how to mind their own business, which was ideal for Sophie and me. The Dakotas were also high on my list since they weren't heavily populated, but that meant if Trent ever caught up with us, no one would hear my screams.

No. Stop it. Just, stop.

I couldn't think about that, not when I had to pick up and start over someplace new. Tonight would be the same as last night, I would put my insomnia to good use and create a list of five possible locations and research the hell out of them. But that was tonight. Right now, my goal was to slowly put together a bunch of readymade meals portioned out for Mabel until Maverick found my replacement. She could pop them in the microwave to avoid forgetting about the stove. I had a list of casseroles and soups to make over the next four or five days that should last her a few weeks, longer if the deep freezer in her garage was working.

It was a good plan, and if I was sad to say goodbye to this town and the kind old woman in the living room, well, that didn't matter. It was the way the world worked. People like me didn't get do overs or happy endings, we got what was left over and learned to live with it.

"Ruby." Maverick's deep voice pulled me out of my self-pity and my hands froze in the middle of chopping an onion.

A shiver of awareness shot down my spine, but I pushed it away and turned to stare at him over my shoulder. "Yes?"

"What's your plan?"

Stupid, stupid girl.That last thread of hope I'd been hanging onto, that I wouldn't have to hightail it out of town in the middle of the night, snapped, and I sighed. "I'm going to keep that to myself."

"You don't trust me?"

I let out a huff of laughter. "I don't know you, but I do know that the fewer people who know about my plans, the safer Sophie and I will be." I would miss Mabel and Mrs. P, but like Maverick pointed out last night, they'd be better off without me. I swallowed down tears and turned my attention back to the onions and then the bell pepper and garlic. "This time next week, we won't be your problem. Mabel will be safe, which means you should probably hurry up and find my replacement." Sophie would be emotional, I knew that, but it was a bridge I'd have to cross later.

"You don't have to go."

"I do." As much as I wanted to believe that he'd had a change of heart, I knew it wasn't true. I didn't believe he wanted me to stay, which meant I couldn't stay. Maverick knew I wasn't who I said I was, knew that Sophie's father was still alive, and the moment he started searching, Trent would find out. And it would be all over for Sophie and me. "Thanks for saying it, though."

"I'm trying to do the right thing here, Ruby."

My head fell forward, and an exhausted sigh escaped. "You've already done the right thing for Mabel. I'll try to be gone sooner, but I'm not sure if that's going to be possible." I could spend some of my savings on motel rooms, but I didn't want to do that if I could avoid it.

"Take as long as you need."

"No. I said a week and I'll be gone by then. I promise." That was my end date. It had to be. "I need to get back to lunch."