Chapter 9

Chapter

Nine

We spend the next twenty-four hours at the Best Western Hotel, which Brendan says is a perfectly normal mid-range hotel. He makes some calls and finds a service center that will tow the RV from the Seattle Plaza parking lot and then change the tires. That way he doesn't have to show up in person and avoids the risk of running into Ethan. He also tells the man on the phone not to give anyone any information about him or his motorhome. Then he goes to the pharmacy for bandages and disinfectant, and proceeds to treat my foot.

I'm sitting on the hotel bed with my legs dangling and he's kneeling in front of me shirtless because of the heat in the room, only wearing cargo pants. "You're completely insane, Lou. Jumping from the second floor—you could have broken your bones. I should put you over my knee for that alone."

I watch him as he wraps the bandage around my ankle with nimble fingers. The gentleness of his movements touches me. "I should—well—you better do it, then. Or does that fall into the dirty and inappropriate category?"

He laughs harshly. "Guess the injury is punishment enough. Your ankle will hurt even longer, especially since it was sprained before. Six weeks, maybe ten. It'll remind you not to do anything stupid."

"I did that stupid thing because of you, but that wasn't an actual answer to my question."

Bren gets up and puts the sanitizing spray and the rest of the gauze bandages back into the first-aid kit.

"Hey, answer me."

He comes toward me, a dark gleam in his eyes that makes my chest crackle. He stops in front of me, takes my head in his hands, and kisses me like it's the first and last time. I feel a tingle like midnight-blue frost flowers on my skin, the longing for him that seems unquenchable even when he's with me. I want more of his kisses, to hold him tight, but he pulls away and packs up the other bandages with stoic composure.

"The cut looks good. If you're lucky, it won't get infected," he says without interrupting his work.

"Yeah, wouldn't that be something if I got blood poisoning because of some thoughtless brute." I guess Bren will never tell me what he considers dirty and inappropriate. I sigh while the kiss still hangs like sweet balm on my lips. "Avy had blood poisoning once, I remember that," I say as my gaze falls on the Band-Aid sticking out slightly from under the bandage on the sole of my foot. "He cut himself on Mr. Goodman's fence. I'll never forget the red line crawling up his calf. Looks like a big red tapeworm under the skin, Jay joked at the time." Only after Avy got better, of course.

"You should be glad I keep antibiotics in the RV. If left untreated, the risk of death from blood poisoning increases by one percent per hour."

I grimace and wrap my hand around my bandaged ankle. "How do you always know everything? No one knows the percentage that the risk of death from blood poisoning increases per hour. Surely, not even a doctor knows off the top of their head! It's creepy, Bren."

"You find me creepy?" He raises an eyebrow and a smile flashes in his eyes.

"Sometimes, but never when you kiss me," I answer honestly. "In any case, you're something of a nerd when it comes to the outdoors."

"Never when you kiss me?" Bren repeats as if that's all I said. "I guess I should do that more often." He approaches me again, his dark shimmering gaze crawling over my skin like a sweet warning. A pleasant forewarning that he's about to make me tremble, completely possessing me, making me forget everything.

But instead of kissing me, Bren sits on the edge of the bed next to me and takes my hand. "Lou, we wanted to talk about how to proceed."

Suddenly, the magic of his gaze sinks into me like a stone, allowing old trepidation to escape through a crack inside me. "Okay," I say. I would prefer to avoid the topic altogether, but at some point, we have to decide where we want to go.

"What do you think of Faro?" Bren asks, not taking his eyes off me.

I think I misheard. "Faro?" I echo in disbelief, my heart skipping a beat. "The place where you did your therapy? Are you being serious?"

He smiles for a moment as if enjoying my enthusiasm. "A house on the edge of the forest with an old neighbor who likes to cook elk goulash with chestnuts and juniper berries. We would be on our own, but not completely cut off. There are doctors, a psychologist, and even a small shopping center. And it's a place your brothers don't know about."

He wants to go to Faro with me, he actually wants to try! He trusts me not to run away at the first opportunity. I'm so happy, the thought makes tears well up in my eyes.

Bren sees it and squeezes my fingers. "After the incident in the park… I could continue to see India Lee. Once the summer is over, you could go to school and graduate. Granted, in the Yukon, you're also not of legal age until you're nineteen, but we can make you a year older so there won't be any custody issues. I could draw, maybe sell some of the drawings…how does that sound?"

I nod my head, completely overwhelmed, unable to say anything. It would be a normal life with Bren, which is exactly what I've wanted since last fall. "That would be…almost like a dream," is the only thing I can manage.

Since only the RV's tires have to be replaced, we can leave the following day. Shortly before Vancouver, we pass the unmanned border into British Columbia, Canada, on a nameless road.

I've been feeling like I'm on a high ever since Bren suggested we go to Faro. We finally have a plan, that's why we stopped in Seattle in the first place. Maybe everything happened for a reason: the confrontation with my brothers, my escape, the incident in the park. Now the future is crystal clear to me. Every now and then, when I think about Ethan, I get a strange feeling that's not merely a guilty conscience. Maybe it's fear of what he might do. I turned off my cell phone so he can't reach me, none of my brothers, not even Jay. Until things calm down, family abstinence will definitely be best for all of us.

I guess they're still looking for me. I don't believe they'll return to Ash Springs empty-handed. Ethan isn't going to let me get away. They'll probably check the surrounding campgrounds and hotels. They might pester Jay over the phone for Bren's property information. I wouldn't put it past Ethan to take all of his leave at once just to go to the Yukon.

I pensively run my fingers over the pendants on my necklace and pause at the silver cross. The bad feeling sticks like glue to my hands. Would Ethan go as far as calling the police? I'm shocked for a moment, but then I think about it. What could he tell them other than that I ran away? Or would he also tell them that Bren kidnapped me last year? That's why I invented the story about my running away. Why would Ethan do anything different today than he would have done then? The answer I arrive at is simply because months have passed since then. Besides, he has no evidence at all. The information in the letters could be dismissed as fabrication. Ethan knows that and he knows how I feel about Bren. He's definitely not going to go to the police. He must also be aware that I would never forgive him for taking that step. Never. No, he wouldn't risk that. It might be mean, but it's good he's so attached to me.

"Calm down, Lou," Bren finally pulls me out of my musings.

"What?"

"You've had that Lou-lost-in-thought look again. It rarely means anything good. Plus, you get that tiny crease between your eyebrows."

I smile and run my finger over the bridge of my nose. "Family heirloom, sorry." The steel-blue Pacific stretches out beside us. Vancouver Island juts out of the sea like the back of a sea monster with hundreds of tiny islands spread out in front of it.

Bren nods to his phone, which is on the console. "Better see what you want to do with the house in Faro. You can furnish it to your liking. It's as good as empty."

I consider speaking to him about my concerns for a moment but then dismiss the idea. Bren already worries too much, so happy for the diversion, I grab his phone and search for the photos.

Truly, there is hardly any furniture in the pictures except for a table, a few ancient chairs, and an aging kitchenette. "Is that how you've lived?"

"I don't need much, you know that."

I zoom in on the photos and discover the entire living room is papered with drawings of me. They show the story of last summer. Me in the Yukon. Sometimes anxious, sometimes uncertain, rarely happy.

Something flutters in my throat. "They're beautiful." All masterpieces of disturbing intensity.

"Drawing gave me stability. Also, it was the only way I could tell our story to India Lee. That's it."

The fact that he gives me an explanation when I only said his drawings are beautiful shows how well he can read me.

"I'm glad you don't paint coffins anymore," I reply with a slight smile.

I think of his mom. I have to tell him soon, otherwise, he'll get upset later about why I remained silent for so long. In Faro, I think. That's better than now since he's driving. In Faro, he can immediately work through it with his therapist.

"We could buy white wooden furniture with a vintage look and signs with funny phrases," I pick up on the subject of the house again.

"We could."

"And could we get a pink retro fridge?" I ask, expecting protest.

He glances over at me from the driver's seat. "Anything you want."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously!"

"You're not just doing it to make amends?"

"Because I kidnapped you?" he asks dryly.

"I'm just asking. I don't want you constantly trying to fulfill my wishes. So as…"

"I love you, Lou. That's why I want to fulfill your wishes."

"Bren, I love you too, but there are limits."

"No."

"Yes!"

"Not for me when it comes to you."

"Well, if you started walking around the house naked like a nudist, I wouldn't mind."

"Well, I wouldn't mind if you walked around the house naked." His eyes sparkle.

"Bren!"

He laughs and flashes me a smile so stunning, it makes my heart flutter like an excited bird. That smile is still like bait that hooks me.

We fill up around noon just past Horseshoe Bay. The gas station has only two pumps and a convenience store, a real one-man operation between the forest and the Pacific. I get out with Bren to buy some candy. The air smells of the nearby ocean, salt, wind, and sand.

I grab a Mars and a Twix bar inside the store and hobble cautiously to the counter. The girl manning the checkout is about my age with a tidy ponytail and apple-red cheeks. She's also blonder than Lindsay Lohan was in her prime and smells of baby powder even from a distance.

"Hi." I smile kindly.

"Hi!" The girl smiles back. She reminds me of myself a year ago. "Anything else?" Linda is the name tag on her polo shirt. Her voice sounds as sweet as syrup.

"My boyfriend is still filling up. Number two." My boyfriend, it feels good and strange to call Bren that.

She glances outside. "You're driving a huge RV. Where are you headed?"

"Faro," I reply honestly since there's no reason to lie. She doesn't know my brothers.

She nods. "My sister's friend has an acquaintance with relatives there."

I have to laugh. "Everyone in North America has distant relatives in the farthest reaches of the earth, right? My brother Avery once had a classmate who had a cousin at the British research station in Antarctica."

"Wow." She shakes her head in disbelief, then rants about her own cousin, who's married for the fifth time despite being only twenty-four. A sad record, which I don't say out loud.

I'm almost relieved when the tin doorbell jingles and Bren enters.

"Pump two." He walks toward us down the short corridor.

The girl's jaw drops instantly. She stares at Bren, but her expression doesn't reflect the oh my God, sexy as hell, more like she's seen him somewhere before and is trying to recall where it was. Maybe Hero of the Week?

I think so because she starts to ask him, then she looks away and inputs the prices. In between, she keeps glancing up. Maybe she likes Bren after all. At least the receptionist at the Seattle Plaza checked out Bren slyly.

After swiping the American Express card through the slot, Linda studies it for a moment. "Brendan Connor?" She takes a deep breath, her eyes widening like an owl.

He merely nods, a very minimalist move, but I can feel him stiffen. Something is not right. Also with the girl behind the counter. She hands the card back to Bren but doesn't look at him.

"Have a good trip!" she murmurs indistinctly and turns away.

"What was that?" I ask as soon as we're outside.

"Whatever it was, I don't like it." Bren frowns as he looks back through the window at the register and I automatically follow his gaze.

Linda is looking straight at us.

"Do you think there's something wrong with your credit card?"

Bren purses his lips and shakes his head. "The card's all right." He takes my hand. "Come on, come with me!"

He runs rather than walks, ruthlessly dragging me behind him. My ankle is throbbing, but I don't say anything. "Quick, hurry up!"

Bren accelerates before I'm even buckled up. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

Bren takes the corner a tad too sharply and the RV lurches. I scream and grab the handlebar. Grey slides over to the other side on his blanket and starts barking.

"Quiet!" Bren growls at him roughly.

"Bren, what is it?" I snap my seat belt quickly.

Grey is still barking as if sensing the sudden tension.

Bren looks grimly at the road ahead. "I don't know. But I'm sure we'll find out soon." He suddenly gives the steering wheel a hard smack. "Grey! Quiet, I said!"

I look at Grey pityingly. "He doesn't mean it," I mouth, but I can't stop my heart from beating faster. A dull foreboding winds its way into my consciousness.

"Check on your cell phone."

"Wha…"

"Please, just do it!" Bren's voice is tight but controlled.

I'm too upset to ask why, so I dig into the glove box for my phone and turn it on.

"I have about a hundred messages from Ethan. Should I read them?"

"I meant check the news."

"Oh." Ignoring Ethan's messages, I google The Daily World Washington and scan the lurid headlines and colorful images from around the world. Most of the articles are about politics, flashpoints in the Middle East, and American football. "Oh, the Tennessee Titans beat the Buffalo Bills," I read.

Bren looks at me disapprovingly but can't suppress a smile. "Check another site." He glances in the rearview mirror and takes a deep breath.

"CNN?"

"That's fine. Or something local from the area."

I'm looking for an online service from British Columbia and find The Chief, Squamish's news service.

Bren peers into the rearview mirror again.

I scroll down the news bar, seeing some of the same articles as The Daily World, but suddenly my breath catches.