Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
What had she been thinking, wearing boots in June? She’d been going for a look and not thinking of the weather, that’s for sure. And worse yet, Dana had forgotten about her original outfit back in the motel room, and there was no way she was going back for it. Too bad. The pants she could do without, but she’d really liked that top. Maybe Courtney could find a duplicate.
Nolan had long strides, but she was able to keep up because he frequently stopped to glance back at the motel, a worried look on his face. “I still have a bad feeling about that motel. A very bad feeling.”
What was he expecting? “This isn’t a movie,” she said. “No one cares.”
“Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure.” Dana looped her hand over the crook of his elbow.
“I keep picturing getting arrested,” he said. “I’ve been a law-abiding citizen my entire life until now. “
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “People make mistakes. It happens.”
“Not like this.”
“It’ll be fine. You’ll see.” These were the same words she used when Courtney fretted about deadlines or worried that readers wouldn’t like the next book. Dana was the anti-worrier. She always assumed everything would be fine until it wasn’t, and even then it was only a problem to be solved, usually by other people. She’d found that a glass of expensive wine and a good nap took the edge off most of the world’s complications. Money helped too. Actually, money helped a lot, and she had a lot of money. Worrying was a waste of time and emotion. Most of the time, things worked out for the best. “You know what your problem is, Nolan?”
He hesitated as if it was a trick question. “No. Tell me.”
“You’re so afraid of things going wrong that you never even give them a chance to go right.” She glanced up at him. “You remind me a lot of my friend Courtney that way. I should get the two of you together and you can have a worry party.”
“I’d love to meet Courtney.”
“I’ll set it up.” They’d been walking for ten minutes and still hadn’t encountered a house or a car. Just a lot of trees, mostly pines. Honestly, how did people live in such a remote area? She or Nolan could have had a heart attack and be lying on the road dying and no one would know. Neither one of them had a phone to call for help, and even the trusty platinum card in her wallet wouldn’t provide any assistance in that kind of emergency.
Nolan directed her down a side road and shot another look back as they turned. “Were both of the doors locked?”
“Why do you care?”
“I don’t know. Force of habit, I guess. You leave a place, you make sure it’s secure.”
“Seriously?” she said. “Do you want to go back and check?”
“Well, no.”
“Good, because the doors aren’t locked. What’s done is done, and it’s either going to be fine or it won’t.”
He didn’t say anything, but a glance in his direction showed a grim expression, making it clear he didn’t appreciate her lack of sympathy. Dana had heard that one before, mostly from men, oftentimes from her own brother. She could actually imagine Ian’s voice right now: You obviously don’t care about anyone but yourself, Dana. He’d said that more than once, and though she never bothered to contradict him, it wasn’t entirely true. She could be as sympathetic as anyone; she just didn’t see the point. Her feeling a certain way didn’t help the other person, as far as she could tell.
She and Nolan kept going for a few minutes, not speaking. The silence was only broken when a car came around a bend toward them. Dana waved, and the car, a silver SUV, slowed and pulled up alongside her. The driver, the lone occupant of the car, was a young woman with braided hair. She lowered the window, and before Dana could get a word out, the young woman excitedly pointed to Dana, saying, “Hey! You look awesome. That color is perfect on you. Well done, Nolan!”
What? She looked to Nolan. “You know her?”
“She runs the store where I got your clothes,” he explained. “Olive, right?”
The woman nodded. “I own Vintage Closet in town. I was actually closed, but Nolan kept knocking and knocking. He just wouldn’t stop. And then once I let him in, he begged to buy the top and skirt you’re wearing. He was adorable, wanting to get you just the right outfit. I have to say, he knows you well. It’s like it was made for you.”
Dana leaned into the window. “We actually need to find a way to get to River Point as fast as possible. Is there a place to rent a car around here?”
Olive shook her head. “Nothing like that. I drive for a rideshare service sometimes. If you want, I can take you.”
“It would have to be right now,” Dana said.
“Works for me,” Olive said cheerfully. “If you have the money, I have the time. Although,” she added, “if you could skip the app and just pay me directly, that would be appreciated.”
From behind Dana, Nolan spoke up. “You do realize that River Point is a two-hour drive from here?”
“Not a problem.” She tapped her steering wheel. “I didn’t have anything else planned tonight.” She quoted a price, and after Dana agreed, she leaned over and opened the door on the passenger side. “Hop on in.”
Dana climbed into the front, leaving Nolan to take the back seat. “Your timing is perfect.” It was like she’d wished for help and it arrived. Of course, things generally worked out for Dana, so this wasn’t entirely surprising.
While they fastened their seatbelts, Olive called her husband, Dylan, to let him know about this unexpected turn of events. After that, she put the destination into her GPS and turned the car around. “How is it that you’re so far from home without a way to get back? Did your car break down?”
“No,” Dana said. “Nolan’s idiot cousins thought it would be funny to take off with his car and leave us stranded.” In the back seat, Nolan let out a choked cough.
“I hear you,” Olive said, hitting the gas pedal. “I have family like that too. I think everybody does.”
Dana had a sudden thought. “I’ll tell you what, if you can get us there in an hour and a half, I’ll give you an extra thousand dollars.”
Olive stared in amazement. “For real?”
“For real.”
She grinned and stepped on the gas. “You’ve got it.”