Nowhere to Run

“I figured you two might be hungry, so I hurried,” he said with a smile. The minute he released the dog, she bounded through the door and jumped onto the bed, trying to kiss her new buddy.

Giggling, Patty pushed her away and ran back to the door, with Babe in pursuit.

Marie gathered up her purse and jackets for her and Patty in case the evening turned chilly, made sure she had her key card and closed the door behind them before remarking, “You clean up pretty nicely, mister.”

“Thanks. These are my best jeans and a new shirt. Are you surprised?”

“I wasn’t referring to your clothes,” she explained, feeling her cheeks warming. “I just didn’t think you’d ever be able to get all that grease off your hands.”

“Sandpaper does it every time,” he quipped.

She arched an eyebrow and played along. “Must be painful.”

“Not if I use a fine-enough grain.”

The deadpan way he delivered the silly explanation made Marie laugh. She’d had serious misgivings about going anywhere with Seth—or with anyone else—and it helped to find humor in the situation. There had certainly been little to laugh about in the past few days.

“How about if I hold Patty on my lap and we let Babe have the window seat?” she suggested as Seth opened the truck door for her.

“Sorry. Seat belts for everybody. It’s a rule of mine.”

“We didn’t use belts when you drove us up here,” Marie argued.

“No, and we should have.” He pointed into the truck. “I took the liberty of pulling Patty’s booster seat out of your car. She can sit in the middle.” He began to grin. “I suppose you could hold Babe on your lap if you want, but you’re liable to get covered with dog hair if you try it.”

“Then I guess I should have worn something black and white instead of light blue,” Marie said, making a face. “All right. You win. I’ll sit by the door and use my seat belt.”

“Good decision. We don’t want to set a bad example for your little girl.” He was grinning. “I’ll fasten Babe in the truck bed so she won’t fall out and we’ll have more room up front for people.”

“Really, I…”

“I know. You want to hide behind the dog.”

Marie was astounded that he’d deduced the truth so easily. “Well…”

“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me, whatever it is. Here.” He held out a dark blue ball cap similar to the one he’d been wearing when she’d first seen him. “It’s brand-new. No grease or anything on it, honest. Tuck your hair underneath, pull down the brim to shade your face, and your own mother wouldn’t recognize you.”

“That’s the truth,” Marie replied, accepting the cap and doing as he’d suggested. “The color almost matches my jacket.”

“I suppose I should say I did that on purpose, but to be perfectly honest it was accidental.”

As Patty crawled into the booster seat, Marie held her side of the seat belt while Seth pulled the opposite end into place.

When their hands brushed, she jerked away. His fingers had felt a bit calloused, yet warm and gentle at the same time. The mystery was, why had she noticed? After all, she had sworn off men for good, thanks to Roy, and nothing had happened since then to make her change her mind. Perhaps someday she’d feel free to seek happiness other than in her role as Patty’s mother, but right now she had plenty of problems without inviting more.

She took her place beside the little girl, drew her own belt over her shoulder and snapped it shut. It would pay her to remember that this trip to the pizza parlor was not her idea. She had been coerced into going, and she was not, repeat not, going to enjoy herself.

Glancing sidelong at Seth, she was able to observe him without being too obvious. He looked awfully pleased, didn’t he? That was off-putting. Distressing. When he had first insisted on this trip, she had assumed he was simply playing a macho role. Now that she’d had a chance to judge his reactions more closely, however, she was beginning to wonder if there was a deeper reason behind his behavior.

Of course, he might just be a nice, friendly guy who felt sorry for a stranded mother and daughter, Marie thought.

She huffed quietly. Yeah, right. And Roy Jenkins was just a misunderstood bad boy who had accidentally gone afoul of the law. If she had learned anything from her lonely childhood and disastrous time with Roy, it was that men could not be trusted or relied upon. Especially not good-looking, seemingly nice ones.

Seth drove toward Gumption on back roads, careful to avoid what little late evening traffic there was on a week night. His adult passenger had scooted down in her seat and was hiding her face with her raised hand. Therefore, as he pulled up to the pizza parlor, he chose a parking place as far away from the rest of the cars as possible.

“Here we are. How’s this?” he asked, taking care to keep his tone light and easygoing.

“Fine. It doesn’t look crowded at all.”

“That’s because this is early in the week. Friday and Saturday nights are much busier. Some places around here don’t even stay open in the evenings except on those two days.”

“Wow. That’s amazing. Back home the restaurants are busy all the time.”

Seth circled the truck to open her door for her. “And where would that be?” he asked nonchalantly.

“Alaska,” Marie quipped. “Fairbanks.”

Patty’s eyes widened. “Mama…”

She smiled. “I know, I know, honey. It’s not true. It was just a joke, okay?”

Seth didn’t think the child looked convinced, but he let the moment pass. Sooner or later, one of them would slip and reveal the truth. Until that happened, he couldn’t let down his guard for an instant. His heart told him that Marie and her little girl were innocent of any wrongdoing, but that wasn’t enough to satisfy him. He’d been careless in the past, and it had cost him dearly. This time, he was determined to root out the truth before he permitted “Mrs. Smith” to leave Serenity.

Marie had decided that it would be best to remain inside the restaurant to eat, rather than take their meal to the city park, as Seth had suggested earlier. She was hungry and the pizza smelled delicious, but she was so nervous that she could hardly choke it down.

Worse, Seth and Patty were chatting away and seemed to be becoming fast friends. The child’s trusting nature was very worrisome, especially where that enigmatic man was concerned. On the surface, he seemed perfectly normal, yet there was something about him that made Marie’s nerves tingle with unexplained warning.

She had tried repeatedly to pray for the Lord’s guidance and had found it impossible to keep her mind from wandering with unanswered questions and baffling suspicions. Had she been so traumatized that she was unable to trust even the most casual acquaintance? Or was God warning her to stay alert despite a seemingly innocent situation?

Either alternative was possible, she finally decided. And until her car was repaired and she was free to continue her flight, there wasn’t a thing she could do about it except cope as best she knew how.

“You’re not eating much,” Seth remarked with a smile.

“I’m not all that hungry, I guess.”

“Well, Patty and I are,” he replied. “We’re saving our crusts for Babe. See?”

“I’m sure she’ll enjoy them,” Marie said, glancing at her daughter with a wistful smile. “We probably should be getting back to the motel. Patty’s up way past her usual bedtime.”

Seth stifled a yawn. “Yeah. So am I. But then, I get up at dawn and work hard all day, so I need my beauty sleep.”

“Where do you live?” Marie asked. “In Serenity?”

“Sort of. I have a place out in the country, near Heart. It used to be a bustling town, even after Serenity was named the county seat back in the 1800s. Later, as people got cars and began to move around more easily, the heart of Heart kind of withered and died.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Times change. Places change. It’s just the way things are.” He paused and Marie noticed how seriously he was looking at her before he added, “Take you and Patty, for instance. I get the idea that you’re not going back to wherever you came from.”