Love’s Suicide(70)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“A road trip?”

“Yeah. I’ll explain later.” He stopped right before we got outside. “Give me your phone.”

I handed it to him and watched him break it in half. “The thing about cell phones is that they can be traced by anyone. Bobby had an app on his phone that told him where you were. The second you turned your phone back on, all he had to do was follow the damn arrow.”

I felt like an idiot.

The moment we stepped onto the base, I knew we’d be safe. Brooks held my hand and walked me inside of a building. We waited for him to fill out papers, and then the two men led us to a vehicle. We climbed in and were driving to the other side of the base. I saw Brooks’ truck and knew we were where he lived.

Once out, his boss started to pull away. I stopped him before he could go. “Thank you, sir.”

“It was my pleasure, ma’am.”

I followed Brooks inside and watched him filling his bag with more clothes. We were in a room with two twin beds, but it was on a floor that probably housed several of the same type. “So where are we going? Am I not allowed to know? Is there something you aren’t telling me?”

He walked over to B and picked her up. “We’re going to my parents, and before you say anything you need to understand that your safety is the most important thing to me. I’ve got seven days before I need to report back, so I can promise you that it’s not forever.”

All I heard was where we were going. The room started to spin, and I felt like I was going to throw up. How was I ever going to be able to face them, especially once they met B?

Chapter 40

I couldn’t remember the last time that I was so angry with Brooks. It was obvious that he knew it too. We hadn’t said one word to each other until we hit North Carolina. “I’m getting hungry. Do you want to stop and eat soon?”

I kept looking out the window. “I feel like I’m going to puke. Just get something for you and B.”

B had fallen asleep and I knew she’d probably sleep for a good few hours before she needed to get out and move around. It was starting to get dark out and I knew the silence was killing Brooks. He reached over and put his hand on my knee, but I refused to look at him. “Kat, you can’t be mad at me forever, you know.”

“Yes, I can.” I shoved his hand away.

“You’re being a baby. We were going to let my parents visit next week anyway. Stop acting like you don’t love me anymore, because I know it’s not true.”

Brooks had made the plans without telling me, because he knew I wouldn’t go for it. What he wasn’t considering was how upset I already was. I felt like I was running away, because my life was in danger. That wasn’t something that was easy to deal with. Then he wanted to take me to a home where I knew I wasn’t wanted. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.”

Brooks pulled over the truck and put it in park. “Look at me.”

“No!” I kept staring out the window.

He put his hand on my thigh and started moving it up. “Kat, look at me.”

I turned and gave him an irritated look. “What?”

“They miss you. Hell, they miss us. I left too, you know? This isn’t easy for me, but they deserve to know that little girl in the backseat. They weren’t in the dark about my feelings, Kat. They knew how I felt and they probably knew how you felt. We were kids, who wore our feelings on our sleeves. I’m betting they weren’t as surprised as you think that we ended up in bed, several times. After all, it is where you belonged anyway.”

I hated when he had a point. “I’m still mad.”

He touched my nose. “No you’re not. You’re scared, but you’re not mad.”

We started driving again, except I wasn’t done with what I wanted to say to him. “I don’t think I like that you know what I’m thinking. A girl’s got a right to some private thoughts.”

“Get used to it. It’s never going to change.”

I decided to give up on being angry. It wasn’t going to get me anywhere when he apparently knew me better than I knew myself. “I think we should stop for the night and drive the rest of the way in the morning. We didn’t sleep good last night and could both use the rest before we see your parents.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I mean, when we go to hotels, you get pregnant. It’s scary.” He started laughing at himself immediately.

I hit him on the leg. “I should have never said anything to you.”

“You know it’s funny.”

“What’s going to be funny is when I don’t get my period in two weeks. Then I’m going to watch you crying.”

He looked at me. “I won’t be crying out of fear, beautiful. They’ll be tears of joy for me.” Then he added. “So, are we stopping at a hotel, or are you scared?”

I covered my face with my hands, remembering what it was like to grow up crushing on Brooks and dealing with his sense of humor. It also brought me peace knowing that we’d gotten back everything that I thought was gone forever, even the sarcasm. Every second spent with him was as if no time had passed. “I’m not scared of you.”

“You should be. I’ll steal your heart and you’ll never get it back,” he promised.

“I gave it to you years ago, and I don’t want it back.” I replied.

Brooks reached over and grabbed my hand. He pulled it up to his lips and held it there. “No matter what happens when we get there tomorrow, we’re a team. If something bad is said, which I don’t see happening, we’ll leave together, as a family. I promise.”

“I just don’t want to see the look of disappointment on their faces. I’m already feeling that about myself. Being reminded of it only makes things worse.”

“I guarantee that when we walk in there, and they take a look at that princess in the back seat, everything will change. Look at how she’s affected me.”

In a few short days I felt like everything in my life had changed. Not only had Brooks come back into my life, but he wanted me. I couldn’t have felt more complete knowing how happy he was to be a father, and how he’d somehow forgiven me. “I hope you’re right.”

A few minutes later, we were pulling into a restaurant that happened to have a hotel right across the street. Brooks ran across to make sure they had vacancies, while I took B inside to change her diaper and get us a table. By the time he came back, we were seated and I was looking at a menu. “I got us a room. Since you’re scared of getting knocked up, I took a room with one twin bed. We can all share, right?”