Page 29 of Journey to Cheshire Bay
“Do you always grab a tacky souvenir from your stops?”
“Every single time.”
I snorted and put my hand on my hip. “You didn’t grab one at the airport, or at the motel.”
“Who says I didn’t?” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Not every souvenir needs to be a tacky one.”
My eyes widened, since I was the one who had a dark past. “What did you take?”
“I didn’t steal anything, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He nudged me, and I was relieved to see that sweet smile on his face again. “But I did find this rock behind the car at the motel when I loaded the suitcases.”
From the pocket of his jeans, he retrieved a spotted rock with amber-coloured streaks. It was unlike anything I’d seen before.
“Wow, that’s really pretty.”
He dropped it into my hand, the weight of it surprised me. “I’m a bit of a rock collector, perhaps a tiny little geologist lives in me. Corny, right?”
I shook my head, thinking how unique it was and wondering how big his rock collection had to be. “Not at all.”
We walked out to the rental car, and Holden remotely unlocked it.
“Can you help me find a rock?” I tipped my head to the side and thrust my hands into my pockets.
He bridged the gap between us. “Seriously?”
“Why not? I happen to think it’s a cool tradition. Since I’m starting my life over, now is as good a time as any to pick up a new tradition too. Is there a method to how you choose?” I spotted an outcropping of rocks around a tree trunk and with a spring in my step headed over.
Searching high and low I stumbled across one that fit our impromptu stop perfectly. It was a rounded triangle, like a gnome’s hat, in a faint greyish orange hue. “Does this work? Orange is my favourite colour.”
“It’s perfect.” Holden scooped his own off the ground and lifted the speckled rock up to admire. Without a word, he pocketed it and extended his hand. “Off to Vancouver we go, but first, I’ll call Grandma and update her.”
It was probably a smart idea to text Amber and do the same. At least with her, the text would be quick.
Holden held open the door while I hopped in. “Hey, Grandma.” He carefully closed it and walked around the car, sliding into his space. “Just leaving the Enchanted Forest… Yes, I’m aware how far I still have to go… Yes, I’m know I’m expected to be in tip-top shape on Monday morning at the university, after my night at the observatory.” He rolled his eyes.
At least she cares.
A weary sigh breathed out and he looked my way. “Best guess? Probably not until after midnight. Maybe later… No, don’t wait up… Well, first I need to find out if I fly over or take the ferry. Haven’t figured that out yet… Yes, as soon as I know, you’ll know… Love you too.”
I turned and focused on the blue entrance markers a few feet away, trying in earnest to keep my thoughts from turning selfish.
I wasn’t good enough for him, and the fact of the matter was he knew it too. He pulled back after the kiss, apologized and said it shouldn’t have happened. Even if he got swept away in the moment, since I had been the one to initiate it, maybe he remembered who I was – a homeless, high-school dropout. How could I ever compete with him? He was so smart, he leveled up easily in both school and university, and now has a prestigious job waiting for him at the crack of dawn in something like thirty-six hours. How did someone like me even compete with that?
I couldn’t.
That’s why he apologized.
Chapter Ten
I had to make the best of a tough situation. Regardless of my growing feelings for Holden, it would never happen. We were too different to make it work. Rather than make misery for the remainder of our road trip, I set my feelings aside. For my sanity, I had too. Dissociation was my middle name.
“We’re about an hour outside of Kamloops.” I tossed a gaze over to the gas tank. “Think we’ll make it that far?”
Holden stared at it before flipping his attention back to the road, his lips mumbling as he performed some calculations in his head. “We’ve gone 260 on this tank, and roughly another 100 to go, and we’ve used just over half the tank which is always bigger… Yeah, I think we’ll make it. It’ll be tight but provided we don’t have to slow down for traffic snarls, we should be good.”
“Should we stop outside of Kamloops?”
“Nah, the gas will be more expensive than in the major centre. We’ll keep going. If I think it’s getting dangerously low, then I’ll stop quickly and pump in five or ten bucks to keep us going.”