Chapter Twenty-Three #2
She also replayed their afternoon encounter, his every kiss and touch. She tortured herself by imagining it would be their last time together and wished she’d had the nerve to tell him how she felt before she left.
Meredith would have listened to the radio to occupy her mind, but the only station she could get was blasting Tripp Gilley hits on an endless loop. She switched it on, heard “Poison Rose,” and turned it off. Later, when she tried again, she heard him crooning his breakout song, “Last Man Standing.”
Ugh.
She drove past windmills and cornfields, dusty stop signs and faded barns.
In the wee hours of the morning, more than a hundred miles into her journey, a clanging noise sounded.
The engine groaned like a cow in labor. She pulled over to the side of the road and watched smoke billow from the hood.
With no tools and no flashlight, she couldn’t do much to solve this problem.
Instead of looking under the hood, she curled up in the cab with Chico.
Meredith was running on empty after two restless nights.
She tucked her backpack under her head, like a pillow, and surrendered to exhaustion.
It seemed like only seconds had passed by when she heard a rap on her windshield.
She jolted awake with a start. Chico scrambled over her body to bark at the unknown threat.
Straightening, she blinked at the driver’s-side window.
It was cracked to let in air, but the glass was fogged over. Morning light flooded the cab.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw the telltale black and white of a squad car.
Trying not to panic, she pulled Chico away from the window and lowered it.
A young officer with a friendly face stood by her door.
His uniform had a patch over the left pocket that proclaimed either his name or the name of the police district.
“Yes, sir?” she asked, swallowing hard.
He gave a polite smile. “Do you need any help, ma’am?”
“Oh, no. I’m fine. I was just resting.”
“Your vehicle is okay?”
Meredith nodded. She hoped there wasn’t visual evidence of the breakdown, like a puddle of oil underneath the truck. Chico, perhaps sensing her fear, reacted with aggression. He growled at the officer and bared his mostly toothless gums.
The man chuckled at this ferocious display. He touched his uniform hat. “I’ll come back later to make sure you got on your way.”
Meredith hushed Chico and waved goodbye to the officer.
He moseyed back to his squad car and drove on.
In the cold light of day, she noticed a road sign she hadn’t been able to read last night.
It named the closest town, at a distance of five miles.
She puzzled out the sequence of letters until recognition dawned.
Last Chance.
She’d heard Wynona mention the town only once, but it was enough to make an impression.
Last Chance, Texas, was Hendricks central.
Wade had grown up here. It was the location of Billy’s suspicious gun accident.
Wade’s father, an abuser of women, was the sheriff.
It was the last place on earth she wanted to get stranded in, other than Tripp Gilley’s rural, upscale neighborhood outside Memphis.
Meredith attempted to start the engine, but it didn’t turn over.
She tried not to panic as she got out and popped the hood.
A soft rain began to fall, misting her head and shoulders.
The radiator was empty, with no coolant in the reservoir.
She glanced underneath the engine and found a murky green pool. This was a problem she couldn’t fix.
Letting the hood fall shut, she considered her options.
Walking five miles into town would be like entering the devil’s pit, but there was nothing but cows and haystacks in the opposite direction.
She studied the Last Chance sign again. Below the town’s name, another location was posted with a distance of half a mile.
It began with C-H and included the words FALLS and FOREST.
Meredith grabbed her backpack and picked up Chico.
She needed to get out of here before the police officer returned to check on her.
She could walk into the forest, find a hiker, and ask for help.
People in Texas were friendly, especially the rural areas.
Someone would give her a ride to the nearest bus station.
She didn’t have to be in Stillwater until this afternoon. She could make it.
As she headed toward the nature area, she imagined Wade on his mountain bike.
He must have visited the falls before. She’d find someone like him, a Good Samaritan.
The irony of the situation didn’t escape her.
She was looking for a helpful person like Wade, because she’d left without asking for Wade’s help.
Meredith groaned as rain began to pour in earnest. She was alone and vulnerable, on the side of the road, exactly as Wade had predicted.
But even he hadn’t imagined she’d end up in Last Chance.