11. Chapter 11
Chapter 11
They hadn’t made it out of the city yet. Ben wanted to stop for gas, and Tessa directed him to the gas station she always used. Not because the gas was cheaper, but because it had the best mini market attached to it. Who didn’t love an entire store full of junk food?
Ben had come inside with her to pay for the gas with cash and then headed back outside to fill his truck while Tessa shopped to her heart’s—or rather stomach’s—content. Giant slushies and hot dogs turning on rollers under heat lamps called to her, but she steered clear of both as she walked down the candy aisle and made several selections that she dropped in the basket she was carrying. Now it was time for the chip aisle! She grabbed a variety and then headed to the nuts and processed meat aisle for those spicy meat sticks that she couldn’t remember the name of. And there was some jerky too. Wait, peanut butter–filled pretzels. The endcaps always had the tastiest items. She dropped that bag into her basket as well.
She wondered what Ben would think when she came out with half her body weight in junk food. Even though she had given him crap earlier about her duffel bag, he really had surprised her so far, and that was saying something. She had spent most of her life being mansplained to because of her looks. Or maybe because she had a vagina? Either way, it was refreshing to be with a man who actually valued her insight.
She stopped in the aisle at her thoughts. She wasn’t with him, with him. She was working alongside him. Big difference. No romance here. All business. Even if his beard made her want to run her fingers through it. Enough! She would blame the brain rambling on low blood sugar. It was a good thing she had enough candy to send a dentist away screaming.
The bell rang over the door as Ben joined her inside. Think of the bearded devil and he appears. He walked over to her. “I filled up the tank. You ready to go soon?”
“Yep.” Now for the next test. “Do you want to grab some snacks for the trip?” Okay, so she was going to share, but he didn’t know that and she wanted to see what his reaction would be.
He checked out her full basket, and she waited for some sort of comment. After she’d stopped modeling, she swore that she wouldn’t allow anyone to body shame her or tell her what she could and couldn’t eat.
Ben didn’t blink at the amount of food in her basket. “I think I’ll grab a couple waters if you want one, and maybe some of those prepackaged cakes that will survive the apocalypse.”
“Ohh. I forgot about those. Can you grab me one too?”
He nodded and headed to the coolers in the back of the store. He’d passed another test. As she waited for him to return, she wondered why she was even testing him to begin with. It wasn’t like they were going to end up together. She needed to remind herself of that. She hoped her brain got the message. He walked toward her, holding up the water and cakes with a wicked smile on his face. Her body warmed at his gaze. Her brain wasn’t the only thing she needed to get under control. Apparently her hoo-ha was going rogue on her.
They piled into the car, and Ben opened his water to take a sip while she set the bag on her lap and started sorting through it.
“Just so you know, I’ll share my booty with you.”
Ben choked on his water.
Son of a biscuit. “My food booty, I mean. Sorry.” What was wrong with her?
He kept coughing. Should she pat him on the back? He held up his hand to stop her when she reached toward him. She dropped her hands and dug around in the plastic bag to hide. She could tell by the heat that had rushed up her neck and face that she was red. And Tessa was normally not a blusher.
After a few more awkward seconds, he stopped hacking and took a deep breath. “I’m good now. And I…ah…” He cleared his throat. “…appreciate you sharing.”
“Jerky?” She held a piece up to him. Could she be any more awkward?
He nodded and she handed him a piece and they sat chewing in silence for a few minutes. Maybe she could claim low sugar. Or maybe she just should let it drop. Yeah. Time to distract him. “Not only do I think that snacks are essential for a car ride, but I am the queen of road trip games.”
His eyebrows cocked up. “Is that a fact?”
“Absolutely. And I’m quite competitive.”
He nodded. “I’m not surprised.”
She put on her seat belt. “Once we’re on the highway, I’ll explain the rules.”
“Sounds like a plan. Are we going to play for your booty?” His eyes danced.
She laughed. “You won’t win.”
He started the truck. “We’ll see about that, my queen,” he said before pulling out onto the street.
Heat rushed to her face and other parts of her. Calm down, hoo-ha. Now was not the time for this. Not at all.
Tessa was impressed. Ben had not been a pushover when it came to the games, and since he was driving, she had to give respect where respect was due. And they had gone through quite a bit of the snacks. She was in sugar, carb, and processed-meat heaven.
They had stopped at a rest stop, and after running in to use the restroom, they were now walking around a bit stretching their legs.
He walked beside her quietly as they both headed back to the truck and climbed in. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something and then appeared to change his mind.
“What’s on your mind, Mr. PI?”
“I was wondering about something. When we were in the market earlier and you showed me your basket, was that some sort of test too?”
“No…okay, yes. You caught me. I wanted to see if you were going to make a comment about how much junk food I was buying.”
“No way. I love that you aren’t afraid to eat what you want. Did you get a lot of pressure not to eat as a model?”
“Yeah, that goes without saying. I didn’t starve myself while I was modeling, but I didn’t get to eat the foods I really loved. It’s more about the food shaming that women have to put up with.”
“Like what, for example?”
“I’ve got plenty of stories. We might as well get back on the road while I pick which one to tell you.”
She sorted through the various passive-aggressive stories from her dates and settled on one. “Okay, so I went on a date with a guy, and I ordered a steak salad. Not because I thought I needed to eat a salad while I’m on a date, but I had heard that the salad at this restaurant was amazing. Think steak, veggies, homemade garlic croutons, and blue cheese.”
“That does sound amazing, and since I’m full of processed food, that’s saying something.”
She smiled at him, and he returned his eyes to the road. “Exactly. We had talked about what we were going to order while we sat at the bar waiting for a table to open. They finally seated us, and I excused myself to use the restroom. When I came back, he let me know that he ordered the steak salad for me, but he told them to leave off the croutons and blue cheese since it would be better for me .”
“He didn’t,” Ben groaned. “Do I even want to know what happened?”
“I told him I would eat what I want, when I want, and he could stuff his salad with no croutons and blue cheese up his, well, you know what. Guy left in a huff before our food came. I motioned for the server, Ruby. I’ll never forget her name. Told her that I wanted the croutons and the blue cheese on my salad and to cancel his order. She high-fived me and headed back to the kitchen. Even if the date was a bust, that didn’t mean I had to miss out on a good meal, right? The salad came out with a mountain of blue cheese and croutons on the top, and after I finished every bite, Ruby brought out a free dessert for me. That is still one of the best salads I’ve ever eaten.”
He nodded. “What a dumbass. I’m glad you spoke up for yourself.”
“That is one thing I have a handle on. Speaking out, speaking up, speaking in general.”
He chuckled. “That’s what I like about you.”
Heat blossomed in her chest. “I’ll remind you of that when you want me to stop talking.”
Ben shrugged. “Hasn’t happened yet and you’re hopped up on sugar.”
She laughed. “True, I haven’t stopped talking since we left Nashville.”
“Doesn’t bother me. It makes the time go faster. So tell me about what it was like being a model.”
“My Wikipedia page didn’t fill you in enough?”
“Ha ha. You started modeling young. Was it hard not to have a regular childhood? I bet you missed out on a lot of things.”
Once again he surprised her. Most people would talk about how lucky she was, wearing designer clothes and having her pictures in magazines and online, and of course meeting famous people. They never thought about it being a job that she started as a child. “It was hard. I didn’t get to do any extracurriculars at school since I was working. And I had a shortened school day to fit around my shoots.” She had been lonely and not really in charge of her life back then, which meant she did everything in her power to be in charge now.
He glanced over at her. “Did you like it?”
“Sometimes. I like what I do now more.”
“Tell me about your job.”
And she did. She told him funny stories about her being a herder of very pretty cats. Before she knew it, they were on the outskirts of the town Evelyn lived in. Although calling it a town was a bit of a stretch. The main road had houses lined up with people sitting on their porches or working in their tiny yards. A few small kids ran down the sidewalk laughing. There was a gas station, a small market, and a church along with a VFW building. Instead of small-town America, this was tiny -town America.
“I’m thinking that we’re not going to need the navigation on my phone to find Evelyn’s house.”
“I think you’re right,” Ben said. “There are a couple of streets and that’s it.” They turned right at the second cross street and stopped in front of a small bungalow. The yard was overgrown, and the window boxes were empty.
Tessa’s stomach dropped. “It looks vacant. I hope she still lives here.”
They got out and walked up to the door and rang the bell. No one came to the door after several attempts.
The curtains were drawn so they couldn’t see if there was any furniture. As they headed back to the truck, Tessa caught some movement on the porch across the street. A very old man sat in a rocking chair watching them.
She motioned to Ben, who followed her across the street. “Excuse me, sir. Does anyone live in that house?”
“Nope.”
Okay. She was hoping he would give them a little more, but no. “Evelyn Turner used to live there, right?”
“Don’t know.”
“You didn’t know Evelyn?” Tessa asked.
“Nope.”
“Have you lived here long?” Ben asked.
“Nope.”
Tessa smiled when she wanted to roll her eyes at the old man, half expecting his nose to grow as he kept spinning his tall tales. “Do you know anyone who might know where Evelyn moved?”
“Nope.” He stood and headed into his house, shutting the door with a definitive thud.
They walked back across the street and around to the back to try and see into the house. Unfortunately, all the windows had curtains blocking the view.
“That man is as old as Methuselah, and I would bet my secondhand Prada handbag that he daggone well has been living there for decades.”
“Don’t bet your handbag. I agree with you. What do you want to do next?”
“I’m going to text my friend, who is good with computers, and have him dig further into Evelyn to see if he can find a new address for her.” She sent Jonas a quick note and then turned to Ben.
Ben motioned to the truck. “I think we should go to the market and talk to the person there. I’m sure everyone in town knows everyone else. Maybe they’ll be a bit more forthcoming.”
Tessa climbed in. “That sounds like a plan. It makes me wonder why Mr. Grump was so closemouthed about Evelyn.”
Ben backed out of the driveway and turned back onto Main Street. The hair on Tessa’s arms stood up. All the people, including the kids who were outside a few minutes ago, were gone. “Are you getting a horror-movie vibe right now?”
“Yeah. Where did everyone go?” Ben asked as he pulled into one of the empty parking spaces in front of the small market.
A closed sign hung in the door’s window even though the market had been open when they drove by a few minutes ago.
Tessa turned to Ben. “Why does this feel like the entire town is avoiding us?”
He nodded. “Makes me think they have something to hide.”
“Or someone?” Her phone dinged. “My friend doesn’t see any other addresses for her, but he’ll keep searching.”
“So what do we do if no one will talk to us?” he asked.
She looked up and down the street for a moment before answering him. “I’m thinking there is one place that won’t turn us away. Let’s go to church.”