Chapter 16
chapter sixteen
Audrey
Today's vocabulary word: provisions
As the night faded into the early shoots of dawn, we passed through towns with names like Anderson Junction and Hurricane and Booze Crossing, each one feeling more remote than the last. In some, the population only numbered in the hundreds.
I wondered aloud whether I'd like living in such a small community.
I liked small towns like the one Shay lived in, but I didn't want to be isolated.
Jude listened but never offered his take.
We stopped for gas at one point. I headed straight for the restroom and offered all my gratitude to the patron saint of excellent sanitation practices. When I emerged with provisions, I found Jude with the car's hood popped, a little penlight snagged between his teeth as he examined something.
"Everything okay?" I asked, trying to keep the wariness out of my voice.
He pulled the penlight from his mouth, clicking it off. "Yeah, we're fine." He didn't sound too convinced. "Just a minor issue. Nothing to worry about."
I nodded, not reassured but willing to take his word for it. It wasn't like I had a better solution.
We weren't on the road an hour before Jude took an exit for Grandwood Valley. The sunrise was almost upon us with fingers of blinding light edging into the horizon and turning the incredible red rock formations into deep, radiant colors.
Jude steered the car toward another gas station—or a building that'd started as a gas station and had lived through several identity crises and construction projects. He parked in front of the station's garage bays and immediately popped the hood, his focus already zeroed in on the task at hand.
Jude didn't say anything about the car trouble and I didn't ask. I knew how he zoomed in on problems and how he had trouble zooming out until he had a solution.
I climbed out to stretch my legs. It was good to breathe clean mountain air, the sharp scents of pine and mesquite trees heavy on a breeze. Even with the last dregs of night still lingering to the west, it was hot here. The afternoon sun would be toasty.
I paced away when Jude pulled a tablet from his backpack. Whatever this was would take a minute.
Red dust edged the road where scrubby brush grew in spite of itself. I could see small structures spread out across the valley and climbing into the rocky foothills. Houses and stables, maybe. We'd passed signs announcing river rafting and rodeo events in the area.
People lived in this town and they traveled here to visit, though it seemed as though we were alone.
The only sign of life came from the cars and trucks passing on the highway.
Probably for the best since my hair felt like I hadn't washed all the soap out, I smelled like the back of an earlobe, and crumbs rained from my clothes with every step. I wasn't fit for meeting the locals.
When I made my way back to Jude, my cheeks already warm from the heat, I found him with his arms folded over his chest and a murderous glare aimed under the hood.
"I'm guessing it's not a minor issue anymore," I said.
"We're going to be here awhile," he said.
If there was one thing I knew to be true, it was that Jude Bellessi could fix anything.
I learned today that this superpower didn't include corroded engine plugs.
Another thing I learned: cars had a ton of different computerized plugs and they couldn't be swapped in and out for each other like extension cords. Apparently, this part was unique to this car model, and though he tried, Jude couldn't make it work with any of the options available at the garage.
That left us stranded here in Grandwood Valley until the rental agency could send someone out with a new vehicle for us. They'd promised a replacement by noon and, the na?ve children we were, Jude and I believed them.
We went down the road to a diner that sold meat from a walk-up window. We devoured an amazing breakfast and stared at the table with zombie eyes for an hour. Then we waited on a bench outside the gas station, boldly expecting that new car as promised.
The owner of the gas station, a man who swore up and down that his name really was Woody Grandwood, prodded us to explore the county fair. He promised to call if the replacement showed up—we should've noticed how he kept saying if—and said we'd find a good time there.
We didn't go to the fair. We waited on that bench as the sun climbed higher in the sky.
Noon came and went. Then one o'clock and two. Jude had several intense conversations with the agency, and every time, they insisted someone was on their way and was scheduled to arrive within thirty minutes. And then another thirty minutes. And another.
I plugged in my phone after forgetting about it last night and discovered dozens of missed calls, voicemails, and texts from my mother.
She wanted to strategize for my get-together with Brecken Wilhamsen—which she'd decided would happen at a garden party in the Hamptons next month—and casually, gently invited me to join her for some shopping.
I took that as a sign my mother had something big invested in making it work with me and Brecken.
She wasn't one for gentle invitations. She preferred to inform me of these things and then lash out with an inventory of my most significant flaws when I didn't immediately fall in line.
Maybe it was the delirium setting in but I couldn't believe that I'd ever let that fly.
Even to avoid confrontation and keep the peace, blindly submitting wasn't doing me any good.
I replied with a quick message reminding her that I was traveling and then tied up with Emme's wedding, and we'd figure this out afterward.
Woody Grandwood strolled out of the gas station office and tipped his chin up in greeting. "Give me a day and I'll get that part ordered up for you," he said, hooking his thumb toward the car.
"The replacement should be here any—" Jude glanced at his watch. It read five fifteen. "What the ever-loving fuck is wrong with this company? They were thirty minutes away three hours ago."
"They probably don't have enough cars to send one out here and another to bring the driver back," Woody said.
"It's high season. They run out of cars all the time.
" He pulled a phone from the back pocket of his worn jeans.
"I'll call over to the motel and tell 'em you're coming, and then order that part.
Probably be here tomorrow, maybe the day after. "
"The day after?" Jude repeated, the words low and brutal.
Woody shrugged. "We get deliveries when we get deliveries. All there is to it."
"We need to leave now," Jude said, pushing to his feet. "There has to be another option."
"Don't think there is." Woody glanced down the road, scratching his chin. "But now you can see about that fair."