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"I don't want to do this."
As if she hadn't spoken, Eric jogged out the front door.
She stepped outside, hugged herself in the chill, and watched as he leaned in his Jeep and started it up. He returned to the front stoop a moment later.
"Eric, I'm serious. This is a bad idea."
"You have to learn to trust people."
"I don't know these people."
He kissed her on her forehead. "It's going to be okay."
She wiped the spot his lips had touched, trying to brush away that tingly feeling and stay focused. All she managed to do was offend him. He stepped inside. She didn't miss the hurt in his eyes before he turned away.
She followed him in. "How do I know I can trust these people."
"I know them." He stoked the glowing coals, then closed the screen. "You should be able to trust me."
"I do. It's just—"
"You don't." He turned to her, squared his shoulders. "If you did, you'd have come home a long time ago."
"Oh, Eric—"
"Don't 'Oh-Eric' me." His face turned red, and he rounded the chair and stopped a few feet from her. "I'm not a twenty-year-old kid anymore, Kelsey. While you've been running away, singing in clubs and...and filing papers or whatever the heck it is administrative assistants do, I've been catching bad guys. I'm a detective. And a darn good one, too."
The anger in his voice had her stepping back until she bumped into the doorjamb.
He pointed at her, and she froze. "None of that, either. The Kelsey I knew would never back down from a fight."
"I'm not—"
"I would never hurt you. You know that."
"I know. It's just... Can you dial the rage down, please?"
He raked his hand through his hair, turned toward the back door, and checked the lock. Then he marched across the house, passed her, and stood on the stoop again, holding the door open. "Let's go."
"I don't want to do this."
"Get in the car, Kelsey."
She stepped onto the stoop. "You promised to take me to the bus station, if I asked."
He closed the door, slowly, focused on the doorknob. He took a deep breath and faced her. The front stoop was small, and they were close together. Too close. She could smell his aftershave. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and swallowed. "Is that what you want?"
No. Never. But... "I can't do this."
"Do what? Trust me?"
"Trust anybody." How could she make him understand? Her every instinct told her to run.
She thought of Daniel. She had to go. "I've kept this secret a long time..."
He said nothing.
"I think I should..." Her eyes filled with tears, and she looked at the concrete beneath her feet, then at the dog, who was watching the scene with sad eyes from her spot in the backseat of the Jeep. "I need to go."
"No."
"You promised."
"You promised to tell me the truth."
"I did."
"No, you didn't. You told me part of it. But not all of it."
"I told you—"
He stepped closer. "You going to lie to me again, Kelsey? After everything, don't I deserve the truth?"
"I didn't—"
"Kansas City."
What? How did he know? What had she said?
"And you didn't hitchhike to Nutfield."
"I—"
"I know you too well, Kelsey. And your reaction confirms my suspicions. You didn't keep your end of the bargain, and I'm not keeping mine. Now, are you going to walk to the Jeep, or do you want me to carry you?"
She would have stepped back further, but the wrought iron railing trapped her.
No. She wasn't trapped, because Eric would never hurt her, never in a million years. And she could trust him, she knew that. She did trust him, at least intellectually. But the fear churning in her stomach wasn't listening to her intellect.
He lifted his hand, and she flinched.
He sighed and dropped the hand. "Get in the car." He stepped back to give her room to pass. "Please."
Apparently, she didn't have a choice.
She started down the steps, then stopped. She looked up, toward the staircase inside, the room that had been hers. Should she grab her backpack, in case she had to run? She couldn't decide.
"You don't need anything else," he said. "You'll be back here later."
"Fine."
She swiveled, hobbled the short path, and climbed into his passenger seat. Magic sat in the backseat with that happy doggie smile.
Eric slid in beside Kelsey.
The first few minutes, the only sounds came from the engine, the road beneath them, and the dog panting in the backseat.
Kelsey was breaking his heart. Again. She knew that, but there was nothing she could do about it. "I'm sorry," she said.
He reached across the space, took her hand. "Me, too."