Shroud of doom strikes again.
A sigh left her. She couldn抰 do anything about Jasper now. They were leaving in the morning.
Rita ignored the discomfort in her chest and turned to find Belmont leaning up against the motel wall, arms crossed as if keeping guard. Maybe she couldn抰 do anything about repairing the rift between her and Jasper, but she could try to make the remainder of this road trip better for Belmont.
When she pushed open the door, Rita found Peggy applying night cream in the bathroom. Rita cleared her throat. 揝o卆bout Sage厰
Chapter Eleven
What do you mean it抯 the wrong part??
Rita resisted the urge to whistle under her breath at Aaron抯 tone. She抎 never heard him exhibit such leashed rage before. Usually it just came out in a well-articulated rant or he shook the issue off as unimportant. Now? In this part of the country, she believed they called it fit to be tied.
They were standing outside Stan抯 Auto Body with their luggage, morning sun clear and bright as it beat down on their heads. The Suburban was still tucked safely inside the garage, like a shy dragon hiding from its owners. For Stan抯 part, he appeared to be taking Aaron抯 anger in stride, sipping from a tiny carton of Tropicana while her brother paced.
揥e can抰 be stuck here another day. How does this even happen??Aaron visibly reined himself in, managing a twenty-dollar version of his million-dollar smile. 揘ot that Hurley isn抰 peachy as shit, but we抮e on a tight schedule.?
Peggy flopped down onto Belmont抯 canvas bag. 揟echnically, one day isn抰 going to kill us. You don抰 need to be in Iowa for another week.?
揧es, but I was going to use that time to lay groundwork. I抦 not the only one vying for the adviser position.?
揝o you抮e losing a day,?Rita interjected, really trying hard not to think about how being in Hurley another day seriously upped her chances of running into a certain honky-tonk owner she抎 never expected to see again. The fluttering in her belly was definitely anxiety梟ot excitement. Or relief. Most definitely not. 揥e抣l figure out a way to make up for lost time.?
Aaron massaged the center of his forehead. 揥hat happens when another part blows or an axle bends or棓
Belmont interrupted his brother with a look that said, Please, don抰 try and talk about cars.
揑s there someone who can drive us to the closest used-car lot??Aaron asked Stan. 揃y the time we reach New York we could very well have spent more repairing the Suburban than the damn thing is worth.?
揘ot leaving it,?Belmont said.
Peggy stood, tugging down her jean skirt. 揟he Suburban was Mom抯， Aaron. Remember when we used to ride along with her to catering events, holding everything steady in the backseats??
The reminder of those early days梑efore Miriam Clarkson became a household name梥hut Aaron down for a second, before he recovered. 揥hen she wrote that journal entry, I抦 pretty sure this isn抰 what she had in mind.?
揌ow do you know??Rita asked, without really thinking. 揘one of us knows what she was thinking because we didn抰 ask.?All eyes snapped to hers, all housing identical wariness. She抎 broken the Clarkson rule by bringing up an uncomfortable subject, which could quite possibly lead to undesirable answers and feelings and yuck. Well, over the last couple days, she抎 spoken more to her siblings than she had in a year, and every passing moment made her wonder what the aim of Miriam抯 plan had really been. Maybe it didn抰 have shit to do with diving into a fucking ocean. But she抎 gone about as far as she could with her siblings for now梚t was right there in their posture, how quickly they were about to close themselves off.
Stan shifted in his boots, orange juice carton tapping against his thigh. 揟hey said they could have the correct part driven in by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. I抣l set to work on it right away.?
揟hank you,?Aaron enunciated before snatching up his duffel bag and storming back in the direction they抎 come from. He was followed by Belmont and Peggy, who might as well have been escaping a tsunami梙er. Rita. Weird how she抎 gone her entire life without speaking up and now she couldn抰 seem to keep her trap shut.
Rita stared out across the open expanse of land behind the garage, kind of wishing she smoked so she抎 have an excuse to loiter. So many of her fellow kitchen employees had bonded over smoke breaks throughout the years, but she抎 always abstained, afraid it would affect her sense of taste. Why am I thinking about this?
Probably because she had an entire day to kill now and Jasper Ellis was within walking distance. She抎 lain awake far too long last night replaying their encounter. Over and over, until she抎 finally gotten up in the dark and shaved her legs, since smooth legs against cool sheets always made her sleep better. No dice, though. I came here so you would fuck me. She cringed just thinking about those words leaving her mouth, about the way he抎 expected them. How would she feel if a man said the same thing to her?
Answer: not even remotely good.
It went against the introvert handbook to apologize, but she needed to make amends for her part of last night. Make amends and bail. Like ripping off a Band-Aid.
Now that they were in Hurley for another day, she didn抰 have a single excuse.
Weighed down by resolve, Rita turned from her view of the dusty, open land梐nd ran smack into Jasper.
揌ey.?His smile was strained at both ends, his eyes running over her face as if trying to capture something elusive. 揧ou抮e still here.?
It took Rita a few breaths to get her bearings. Because there he was. Solid and soap-smelling. Big. Capable. A little rough around the edges, hair shaggy around his ears. Hollywood stylists probably toiled for hours to achieve his tumbled-in-bedsheets look. A man who woke up, stretched his flexing biceps over his head, scrubbed a hand down his abs, and grinned before getting up to drink coffee naked in his kitchen. Because why spend one unnecessary moment dressed? And speaking of clothes, the warmth coming off his tucked-in flannel shirt rivaled the sun. She would bet anything that if she sniffed the material curving around his shoulder it would remind her of snuggling into pajamas fresh from the dryer.
揢h厃eah. Still here.?Stop shuffling your feet like a high school student. 揟he wrong part arrived and my family is mere moments from a mutiny.?
揥ow.?His eyebrows lifted. 揟he wrong part, huh??
揧eah.?She tucked both hands in her back pockets. 揟his is starting to feel like Gilligan抯 Island.?
Especially because her siblings were nowhere in sight梠bviously having returned to the motel條eaving her to be captured by one of the natives.
Jasper seemed to deflate with relief, probably because she抎 made a joke instead of sprinting out into the wild blue yonder. 揥hich character does that make you??
A smile tugged at her lips. 揚robably Gilligan, since he抯 the one always screwing up.?She could no longer look at him. 揑抦 sorry about last n棓
揘o. No, no, no.?The toes of his boots met hers. Rita barely managed to contain a gasp at his sudden closeness, the excessive heat he threw off. 揑f you apologize I抦 going to walk right out into that desert and dig a hole for myself.?
She sounded obnoxiously breathless when she said, 揟hat抯 pretty dramatic.?
揑抦 feeling more than a little dramatic over you, Rita.?Those blue eyes were crystal-clear pools, but so much went on behind them. So much she couldn抰 read or understand. 揂nd you抮e a Mary Ann, to be sure. She was always my favorite.?
揑 guess I should thank you for not saying Mrs. Howell.?He was too much up close; she felt so much magnetism and energy she had to back up a few inches. 揇oes your local status make you one of the scary dudes with spears??