Chapter 104
“Well… this sucks,” Mist said.
“Yeah--I’m sure there’s nothing in the world you can think of to do without the bike in the back and a couple of hours to kill,” Rain said rolling her eyes.
The cart was still out of the back, too, since they’d gotten it all out at once. It didn’t take Mist long to get a mischievous grin on her face. Realizing what she’d done, Rain let out a sigh and said, “I’m going across the road to sit under that tree--out of hearing range.” A few seconds later, Mist grabbed hold of Walt’s arm and yanked him up into the back of the truck. They closed the tailgate and put the door to the camper down. By then, Rain was across the road, her weapon still in her hand, but not on high alert. She found a seat and made herself comfortable. Adam followed her, sitting down next to her beneath the tree. When the truck began to rock a few moments later, neither of them were shocked. Rain snickered, shaking her head, hoping they didn’t hurt themselves, especially Mist. After her injuries, she really shouldn’t be doing that, but she obviously wasn’t going to listen.
“Is she gonna injure herself?” Adam asked after a few moments where the silence of the lonely road did nothing to stop the noises coming from the truck.
“Probably,” Rain said, shaking her head. “But that hasn’t stopped her from doing it lots of times since I cut that piece of metal out of her.”
Adam snickered and shook his head as well. He was sitting with his ankles crossed, his hands fallen over his knees. Rain tried not to stare at him, tried not to wish his hand was in hers. Something had definitely changed since he’d been back, but she couldn’t quite decipher what it was. Had he become someone different out there on the road, or had she changed while she waited for him? Maybe it was a bit of both. Either way, she didn’t like it.
This was the first chance she’d had to speak to him alone since he’d returned. Lots of questions floated around in her mind, colliding with one another as she tried to understand what was happening between them. One of them needed to break the silence. On the phone, Rain had told him they’d talk about what she’d said right before he left, when they were in Louis City. But they hadn’t, and she didn’t know how to bring it up. So she tried bringing up something else, “So… what was Naomi like?”
“She was… nice,” he said with a nod. “Good with mechanical stuff, obviously. I probably would’ve learned a lot if I had been watching, but… I took a nap instead.”
“I don’t blame you,” Rain said with a nervous laugh. “You had to be exhausted by then. Even with the energy pills.” Seth had taken a few of those with him when he left, and had taken a few earlier in the day since he’d been driving all night. They weren’t foolproof, though. Eventually, a person would get tired, whether they took them or not.
“Yeah, I was.”
Adam didn’t say anything else, and the uncomfortable silence rushed back around them as Rain struggled to come up with something else to say. She wanted to know if Naomi was pretty, if she was married, if there’d been a spark between them. She wanted to know, but she also didn’t want to know.
As Rain struggled with something to say, Adam asked, “What did you do while I was gone? I mean, besides the drive to Louis City.”
Rain thought about it for a moment. She wasn’t sure what she should tell him and what she should keep to herself. Part of her wanted to blurt out that she’d kissed Seth and see how he reacted. The rest of her wanted to keep that secret until the grave. She settled on, “I went to a dance.”
“You went to Seth’s dance?” Adam asked, turning to face her, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “How was that?”
“It was good. I guess.” She thought about it for a moment longer and shrugged. “I tried a nice fruity drink I’d never tasted before.” What was that called again? She could never remember. “Smack, I think?”
“Smack?”
“I can’t remember. Anyway, it was all right. I wasn’t there very long. I basically just drank the… whatever it’s called and danced to one song, and then I left.”
“What song did you dance to?”
“I have no idea,” she admitted.
“Did you dance with Seth?”
Rain tried to read his expression. He looked like he was trying to not care--when he really did. She nodded. “Yes, but then his girlfriend--or whatever she is--came over, and I left.”
“Hannah?” Adam asked, and she nodded again. “I don’t think she’s his girlfriend.”
“You’re probably right, but she seems to think she is his girlfriend. Anyway, I left. And then I ran into that Daniel guy….” She hadn’t meant to include that part because she didn’t want to alarm him. His eyes told her that mentioning Daniel’s name had done just that--alarmed him. “He tried to get fresh with me in the alley, but I made sure he knew better than to ever touch another girl without her permission ever again.”
“How did you do that?” Adam asked, a surprised look on his face.
“With my martial art skills.” She smiled at him, hoping he’d remember when she threatened him the same way.
He did. Adam laughed, and Rain did, too. She’d missed that sound. “Damn, Rain. He’ll be remembering that for a while, I guess.”
“Definitely. Anyway… Seth caught up to me a few seconds after I beat Daniel up, and then Hannah wanted him to walk her home. So I went back to Esther’s and talked to her for a few minutes. Seth got there a little after that.” She skipped the part about him walking in on her while she was changing. “We were talking when you called.” That also wasn’t true. They’d been kissing when Adam called.
“Talking about what?”
The question would’ve been an innocent one if she couldn’t tell by his tone that he was suspicious about something. She hadn’t been acting differently toward Seth, had she? Since Adam had gotten back? She didn’t think so. Still, he seemed to be making some assumptions.
“Uh… actually, Adam….” The need to be honest was overwhelming. “We… kissed.”
“Oh.”
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