Chapter 1 The Long Day #2
Glancing at the screen, her best friend’s name, “Paula,” pulsated across the long rectangular device.
She began to limp away now, using the call as a get out of jail free card.
The crowd parted like the Red Sea as she made her way toward the exit as fast as she could.
Slowly, everyone began to disperse, taking their cue from her, as several store clerks began to clean up the mess created.
Lana eyed the melting Chunky Monkey ice cream on the floor, now mixed with flower petals as she passed by.
She wanted to get the manager's contact information, but wouldn’t dare turn back.
That’s something I’ll have to deal with another day.
As she limped forward, she wondered what Sam had opened his mouth to say before her phone interrupted him.
What could he say, really? “Sorry, you made a fool of your- self ?” “Sorry, I keep witnessing your humiliation.” At least he wasn’t entirely the cause of it this time.
The hospital staff would have a field day with this once Joanna spilled her guts.
How am I going to enjoy my vacation once those texts and calls start pouring in?
Lana continued to fight the urge to cry as she wove in and out of aisles and headed for the store’s exit.
Her back was on fire, so her swift departure was more of a slow hobble and hop combination, then finally she pressed “answer” on the phone.
“Let me call you when I get home,” she choked out, afraid she might burst into tears if she had to tell Paula what had just happened.
Lana didn’t wait for a response before pressing “end”, as she finally made it through the automatic doors.
As the warm evening breeze hit her, it felt like a welcome hug her mom always gave when she visited home and couldn’t help the river of tears that were lying in wait a few minutes prior.
She cried all the way to her truck, no longer caring who saw her.
LANA WAS JOLTED out of her sleep by the sound of her ringing phone.
She reached over to her bedside table in the pitch-black room, as turning on a light was out of the question.
Her back was still hurting despite the naproxen she took earlier, so whoever was calling had better have an emergency.
Her hand felt around on the bedside table, first hitting the alarm clock, then her tablet, before feeling the familiar cube of her smartphone.
Easing her eyes open, she saw “Paula” was flashing across the screen again, and she hit “answer” as she sighed.
“Hello,” she grumbled, wishing almost instantly she had just ignored the call.
Lana slowly lay back down and let the phone rest on her ear.
She’d forgotten to return Paula’s call once she got home and went straight to sleep.
She wasn’t exactly in a rush to share what had happened at the store anyway, and needed the nightmarish day to end.
Before she could decide whether or not to spill her guts, Paula was talking a mile a minute about the new adventures she and her husband, Garret, had been on that month.
They’d been married for six years but were jet-setting like it was still their honeymoon.
One month they’d be in Bali and the next in Morocco.
Paula never did know how to stay still. She was the same as she was back in college, always in search of adventure.
Lana envied her free spirit sometimes. Paula’s family was very wealthy, and her husband was a Hollywood producer, so she didn’t have to work.
Some people had all the luck, but even with all she had, she was the most generous, down-to-earth person Lana had ever met.
Never once had she ever caught Paula mistreating anyone or looking down her nose at them.
She could barely keep up with Paula’s diatribe until she heard what sounded like music to her ears.
Her best friend wanted her to house sit while she and Garret extended their vacation due to a family emergency.
Lana didn’t acknowledge Paula’s made-up lie; she, as well as everyone, was aware that it had been a year since the wedding fiasco.
This was Paula’s attempt to distract her from the awful anniversary and one of the reasons why she loved her friend so much.
No matter where she was or what she was doing, Paula always thought about others.
She owned a beautiful house in a small, sleepy town outside of Atlanta, and Lana had spent time there on many occasions, housesitting.
This could be the solution she needed to clear her mind.
Lana sat up in bed, the throbbing in her back a distant memory now.
“I’d love to!” she exclaimed.
For the first time in a long time, Lana smiled. This was what she needed in her life for the time being, and she couldn’t wait to get up to that slice of heaven in the middle of nowhere and forget the last year of her life.
AS HER SUV crawled up the turnpike, the swaying of the stethoscope hanging from the rear view mirror occasionally distracted her—especially since the factory radio in the truck was beyond repair.
Keeping her hands at ten and two, there was only the blur of trees whizzing by the windows to keep her company.
Lana reached down to the cup holder for her bottle and took a sip of her diet peach iced tea.
The lightly sweetened elixir was crisp and smooth on her tongue and throat.
She rested the bottle down again and glanced at her watch.
Seven more hours on the road to go, and not a rain cloud in sight to slow her down.
The sun was high in the sky at eleven in the morning, and there wasn’t any traffic.
Glancing up at the rearview, there were no cars or fourteen-wheelers behind her either, which was odd—but she was grateful.
Too many cars always gave her anxiety when driving at high speeds.
The fewer vehicles, the less risk of dying in a fiery car pile–up and the better for her nerves.
Paula had offered to fly her up instead of driving, but Lana refused—she liked road trips even if they were alone.
Paula’s house was located in the small town of Hamby, Georgia, tucked away in a valley and surrounded by nature.
To Lana, it was a magical place where no one was rude, nosy, or constantly in a hurry like most big cities.
People actually smiled at you and said “good morning” and “y’all,” and men held doors open for you.
The townspeople were very laid back and friendly.
Important ingredients she needed at the moment.
Hamby itself was picturesque, with its mountaintop skies, country roads, and historical buildings around every corner.
The temperature was also something that she loved, as it was seldom warmer than sixty-five degrees in February.
Lana was born in The Bahamas and grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, so the heat had been a constant in her life and something she had looked forward to changing in the near future.
The best part of Hamby, other than the scenery and people, was the two-story house on the hill surrounded by forest; it was like some exclusive members-only resort with only one guest, her.
A gust of wind snapped her out of thought—it was really getting cold now.
Looking down at the broken heater, she wished she had gotten it fixed before leaving town.
She was almost to the Georgia line and could tell not only from the temperature drop but also because the trees were getting taller and more beautiful.
Back home, the majority of trees were palms, and while beautiful as well, she longed to see foliage that changed with the seasons.
There’s barely a winter season in the southern part of Florida; you were lucky to get three or four days of “cold” weather, which consisted of temperatures in the upper sixties.
Although she was wearing blue jeans, black boots, and a thick black sweater, her thin frame was beginning to get frigid, so she hit the window up button on the door panel to preserve what heat she could.
As she continued down the road, her mind fell onto Sam and the ordeal from the night before.
The pain in her back was nearly gone, but the embarrassment was still fresh.
She was reminded of it a few hours ago when some of her co-workers texted her things like:
Are you OK?
OMG
CALL ME
She didn’t respond to any of them. Instead, she focused on packing her warmest clothes and finally getting the chance to wear a pair of boots she bought a few months ago.
What people didn’t seem to understand was that she was over him, just not necessarily what he had done.
The fear of being broken in that way by another man was what kept her at bay when it came to dating, so she kept to herself.
Shaking the thoughts from her head, Lana focused her eyes on the road and pressed on the accelerator a little harder.
Flicking her eyes to the rearview mirror, she noticed a black sports car was approaching from behind at an alarming speed.
It was the first car on the road with her for hours, and it was flying like a bat out of hell. Lana held her breath in anticipation of a collision and wondered if she should merge into the next lane. She shook the thought away, knowing the car would eventually go around her—why wouldn’t it?
Stop being a freak. She furrowed her eyebrows and concentrated on the road ahead, and waited to see the car zip past her at any moment.
There was loud music blaring from behind her truck, so she knew the car was closing in.
Tapping her fingers on the steering wheel, she contemplated what to do next.
Do I merge or...? But the person in the car was laying on the horn now, making her nerves unravel.