Chapter 7
Felix
Ihad known it was her the moment I had spotted someone on the side of the road, not far from the diner; at first, I thought I had managed to conjure her just through sheer force of will, but no, there she was, as real as day, hands thrust into her pockets as she gazed back at me from the other side of the window.
I had been heading back from a hike I had taken earlier in the day, driving out to one of the nearby scenic spots to clear my head and get a bit of fresh air.
It was the least I could do, given that I had been turning over and over in my mind the conversation I’d had with Dina the last time I had seen her.
When she had come to my hotel room, she had seemed so certain, so dead set on the idea that she didn’t need my help, and it hardly seemed to matter that it was coming from a good place.
No, she seemed to see it like a kind of insult against her and her family, and I hated the idea that I had made her feel small when all I had been trying to do was help.
As much as she had asked me to keep my distance and stop offering my aid, I wasn’t just going to push down on the accelerator and head the other way when I saw her walking home alone. She chewed her lip as she looked back at me, gaze flicking to the rental car I had taken out today.
"I’m fine," she replied. "I can get home myself..."
"I know you can," I replied swiftly. "But it’s going to take you a while to walk home, and it’s getting late. You shouldn’t be out on your own."
"Why, is someone going to pull up at the side of the road and try to convince me into their car?” she retorted, a slight smile on her face. I chuckled.
"Alright, point taken," I conceded, and I drove a little further along the road, pulling onto the side of the road. I could see her watching me confusedly in the rearview mirror, and I opened the door and stepped out, locking up and dropping my keys into my pocket.
"What are you doing?" she called ahead, as she came to catch up with me. I shrugged.
"Keeping you company. If you want that."
"What do you mean...?”
"I’ll walk you home," I offered. "Beautiful night for it, anyway."
She parted her lips in surprise, clearly taken aback that I would make an offer like that.
"Uh, you don’t have to do that..."
"I know I don’t have to," I replied. "But I’d like to, Dina."
She paused for a moment, considering, her teeth resting on her bottom lip ponderously as she considered whether she wanted to spend some time with me or turn my ass around and get me out of here.
I watched her carefully, trying to make sense of what her response was going to be, but she wasn’t giving anything away.
If she didn’t want me there, I would get back into the car and drive the rest of the way back to the Linden Hotel myself, and she wouldn’t have to worry about me.
But, as she stood there before me, I could feel the tips of my fingers prickling, a sign that belied my attempts at nonchalance.
It was the first time I had laid eyes on her in so long, and I could feel that tug in the bottom of my stomach, something insisting I close the distance between us even further.
"Um..."
She glanced around the dark road, considering her options. She could have made the walk herself, sure, but I didn’t like the thought of her wandering out here alone in the darkness. Might have been the city boy in me, but I wanted to get her home safe.
"You know what, sure," she replied, shrugging. "Might make the walk go quicker if I have company, right?”
"Exactly," I agreed, grinning as I fell in line with her pace. I would come pick the car back up tomorrow, not like anyone was going to try anything with it. And, honestly, if it meant that I could spend a little more time with her, I would take it.
"So, car’s not working?” I asked, breaking the silence that had only been studded by our footsteps till now. She nodded grimly, shaking her head.
"I thought that it was all fixed up, but I tried to take it home after my shift today and the ignition wasn’t working," she admitted. "I already paid so much to get it fixed; I don’t know how I’m going to be able to afford this..."
I bit the inside of my cheek, fighting the urge to lay down the offer myself and tell her that I would be happy to pay for it.
I knew better than that. She had made it clear where she stood on that matter, and she didn’t want me to throw money at her problems, no matter how little a dent it would have made in the inheritance that my family gave me.
"But I’ll figure it out," she added quickly, as though sensing that I was on the brink of making an offer. "Anyway, what are you doing out here?"
"Just back from a hike," I replied. "Took the long way around coming home, so I could see more of the Whisper Falls scenery."
"Oh, up at Lookout Point?”
"That’s the one."
"I love it up there," she sighed, slightly wistful, shaking her head. "Mom used to take my brother and I there when it was really warm in the summer, play about in the river to cool off."
I grinned at the obvious nostalgia in her voice.
I almost wanted to add that she was more than welcome to show me just where she had done that, but I held it back, not wanting to come off too strong given the circumstances.
This thing between us, whatever it was, it was delicate, and I wasn’t going to send it shattering to the ground before I knew what to make of it.
"That sounds perfect."
"It really was," she agreed. "You know, I should take Danny down there when he’s back from college, I bet it would make a nice change from all the studying."
"Danny’s your brother, right?”
"Yeah," she replied. "He’s at college right now. Fall semester just started. Working his butt off. Or, at least, he better be."
I laughed, and then glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, wondering if what was on my mind right now might have been too much.
Asking her about why she hadn’t been to college.
If she’d even had the chance, given the dire financial straits her family seemed to be in most of the time.
I couldn’t even imagine that, having to narrow your choices down for the sake of the people around you, and I guessed I should have been grateful that I’d never had to find out.
"Did you go to college?” she asked suddenly, catching me off-guard.
"Uh, no, I didn’t," I admitted. "Did some courses when I was on the road, history and literature and stuff, but nothing serious."
"Oh, wow," she replied, widening her eyes. "Like online college, something like that?”
"Yeah, way easier to keep up with than actually having to sit in classes at specific times," I replied. "My brothers, they were the college guys. They loved it. Thrived there, from what I heard..."
"Yeah, that’s what Danny tells me," she agreed, slightly wistful. "That it’s where he came into himself. He’s nearly done now, I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do with his degree."
"What’s it in?"
"He’s going to be an architect," she replied, the pride laced in every syllable. "You should see the stuff he shows me, those pictures and plans of the buildings he works on, they’re amazing. I can’t even build a tower of cards without it collapsing, and he’s out here designing whole hypothetical office blocks... "
I listened as she filled me in, and, as she gesticulated and spoke, I wondered, briefly, what my own brothers would have said about me if they had been asked.
I doubted that they would have spoken with the same pride and love in their voices, that’s for sure.
We didn’t see each other much these days, and honestly, I knew it was for the best. I didn’t wish them any ill, and I knew they felt the same way, but there was still a part of me distinctly aware that I had chosen a different path, one that they would never be able to wrap their heads around.
"Do you have any siblings? Other than your brothers, I mean" she asked curiously, bringing me back into the moment. I blinked, glancing around at her.
"Uh, no, just my brothers."
"But you guys must be close, right?"
I stared ahead, not sure if I wanted to dump the truth on her quite so blatantly.
And, as she looked at me expectantly, I wondered if she knew that she had something I never had; a connection with her family, an understanding and a love that supported them through everything they chose to do.
I smiled slightly and shook my head, hoping that she wouldn’t think too much of it.
"Uh, we don’t see much of each other these days."
"No?"
She sounded genuinely surprised, her brows knitting together.
"Yeah, they work for my dad’s company and they’re pretty busy with that," I replied, keeping it as vague as possible. I didn’t want to sound resentful, because I wasn’t, truly.
I didn’t want what they had, and I knew that they would have said the same thing if someone had asked about me.
And yet, there was such a distance between us, a distinct reminder that what I had gone after was not what my father or my family had expected or wanted for me.
"You think you’re going to join them?" she asked. "I mean, a family business like that, it’s a hell of a thing to have to your name..."
"Yeah, I know," I replied, and I could hear the tiredness in my voice before I could stop it. She slowed slightly, studying me with interest.
"But you don’t want to work for them, right?"
I shook my head. I didn’t want to come across as ungrateful, but I couldn’t think of much worse in the world than spending the rest of my life locked in those stuffy office buildings, staring at stats, sitting through meetings, visiting suppliers, all the stuff that my father had dedicated his whole life to.
"Nah, I don’t think so."
"Why not?"
She seemed to realize that she might have overstepped the line, and she quickly held a hand up.
"Uh, not that you have to tell me..."