Some Things by Heather Zinda

Author:Heather Zinda [Zinda, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-04-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter twenty-four

Dustin

“You ready?”

“I think so.” She looked back towards Wren’s house, and I heard her take a deep breath. We decided to meet there so Briar could leave her car and get the girls settled before I arrived.

Briar did well; I had to give her credit. I thought for sure it was going to be an extra hour before we got on the road. I thought she was going to say goodbye a good ten times, her girls were going to throw a fit, she was going to be crying, and there was going to be general craziness.

But there was none of that.

Leah and Adelaide each gave her a hug and a kiss and waved goodbye. Briar was stoic and didn’t linger for too long. She hugged them back, gave them kisses as well, and hopped in my truck. With one final look as I pulled the truck away, she sat quietly in the passenger seat, the morning sun reflecting off her hair.

I was now waiting for the post-goodbye breakdown as I kept glancing at Briar out of the corner of my eye. She was staring straight ahead holding onto her phone with both hands as it laid in her lap. I didn’t know how long to wait before I could say anything. Or should I wait until she said something? I decided to focus on driving and make sure we got to the freeway safely instead of bombarding her with talking. She could even be enjoying the silence.

There was no traffic on the 405 but I kept that to myself for fear of jinxing it. I moved over to the fast lane and got to a good cruising speed of 80mph. And thus, our road trip had begun.

Briar was still only looking straight ahead, occasionally out the window and then down at her phone and then back straight ahead. I was letting her process things. It was one thing to say that you were going to be leaving for an overnight adventure with an almost stranger, kind of friend, it was another thing to actually do it. I was sure she was going through some feelings, so I let her. As much as I wanted to move past it and talk her ear off, because this time alone with her was priceless, I knew it wouldn’t mean much of anything if she hadn’t come to terms with the fact that she left.

After about twenty minutes, she took another deep breath, and I saw her shoulders relax. She wasn’t sitting as straight and upright as she was when she first settled into the truck. She was becoming much more comfortable, and I took that also as becoming more comfortable with me and my presence.

She rested her elbow on the door and twirled her hair around her fingers. “I like the way you drive,” she finally said.

“The way I drive, huh? I’m not sure how to take that. I don’t think I’ve ever been complimented on my driving by someone.”

“You should take it as a very good compliment.

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