Lightning Child by Martha Pound Miller

Author:Martha Pound Miller [Miller, Martha Pound]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B07C4ZYF9Q
Goodreads: 40027491
Publisher: Windstorm Press#PrB.rating#4.64
Published: 2018-05-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Sparrow fidgeted in the seat beside Kilian. “I really need to make a pit stop,” she said. “Soon.”

He spotted a sign for an upcoming restaurant: Rock Springs, Black Canyon City . Next Exit.

“Then let’s stop here, get a bite to eat, then keep moving as long as we can. When we get tired we can grab a motel.”

“A motel?” She shot him a worried look.

“To rest. We’ll get adjacent rooms if that would make you feel better.”

A beat passed before she answered. “No. I don’t want to be alone. Two beds will do fine.”

She’d been quiet during the drive, but he caught her swiping at her eyes a couple of times.

After a check in the rearview mirror for a white Lexus, Kilian took the next off ramp, drove along a sandy road dotted with mesquite and creosote bushes, and pulled into the parking lot in front of the Rock Springs Café. It was an old building, painted white, with a long porch across the front. According to the signs on the building, it was a café that specialized in pies as well as a curio shop with a rattlesnake zoo.

The parking lot was full. Kilian circled around and found a dusty side road with several other overflow cars parked there. He pulled up in front of the last one and turned off the engine.

Sparrow hopped out and took off for the restaurant. Kilian followed her. As soon as they stepped inside the crowded interior, he smelled the pies baking and hamburgers frying. Windows along one side of the café let in the afternoon sunlight and made checkerboard patterns on the dark wood floors. Hoping to see approaching cars, he looked for a window table, but there was only one left––in the middle of the dining room. Like the others, it was covered in a red and white-checkered oilcloth.

“That one,” he said, pointing.

Sparrow nodded, and took off toward a sign that said “Ladies”.

The place was full of customers, a sign the food was good. A television flickered silently over a wide pass-through into the kitchen. A red-faced man in a spattered apron peered out at the crowd, looking past written orders clipped onto a rotating holder.

A waitress was at Kilian’s side almost immediately with two glasses of water and menu.

“Hi, Father. Special today lemon meringue. I’ll be right back for your orders.

A few minutes later, Sparrow dropped down onto the chair next to him. When the waitress returned, she looked at the obviously pregnant Sparrow, and gave Kilian a curious once-over. He realized he should shed his clerical collar, particularly if they shared a motel room later.

But the damned collar was part of his shirt. And if he took off his shirt, he’d get even more curious stares.

They both ordered hamburgers and a slice of the lemon meringue pie. While they waited for their food to be delivered, Sparrow noticed a sign pointing to an adjacent room and advertising rattlesnakes and curios. “I gotta see that. I’ll be right back,” she said, and disappeared into the next room.

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