Noah (The Mitchell/Healy Family #1)(12)
Author: Jennifer Foor

My cousin screaming finally got my attention enough to stop. Her boyfriend’s head turned to the side as he fell unconscious. While turning to stand, I felt her smacking me in the chest. Tears ran down her face. “I hate you, Noah. How could you?”

“How could I?” I shook my head and grabbed the bag. “You’re just like the rest of them. If defendin’ the people I care about is wrong, then I don’t f**kin’ belong here. It was a f**kin’ prank, get over it already.”

Before walking out the door I looked back to see her trying to wake him. I was so pissed over it that I refused to say goodbye.

She’d made her choice, just like the rest of my family. I’d never be able to do anything right in their eyes and I was done trying to change that.

The brisk evening air filled the inside of my truck as I approached the main highway out of town. I had the music blaring for several reasons, but mostly to block out the sound of my cell phone constantly ringing.

The past couple of days had taken a toll on me and I was ready to walk away from it all. Between my breakup with Perry, the problems with my dad, and now the drama with Bells, I knew that I had to get as far away from Kentucky as I could get.

Once I’d driven west for a good hour, I pulled the truck over and grabbed a coin out of the ash tray.

“Heads is north. Tails is south.”

I flipped the coin in the air and watched as it landed on heads. Then I just sat there staring at it for a long time. I don’t know why I was questioning it, but something was telling me that heading north was a bad idea. Since all of my decisions were said to be bad, I figured to go against my better judgment and head there anyway. After all, I had plenty of time on my hands; time that was going to require me to think, which was something I really didn’t want to do.

Once I hit the Ohio border I started to feel tired. Since I had my own money, and plenty of it, I knew I could stop and get a room somewhere without having to count the change in my truck.

My phone had died, so asking my cell phone to find me a place to eat wasn’t an option. I had to follow the road signs and hope that I ended up at a good place, where I could at least have a beer and a hot meal.

Leave it to me to pick the most abandoned roads to travel on. It took nearly another whole hour before I came to any place that served food. The old roadhouse was located right off the main highway. The dim lit parking lot with only a few cars let me know that I was definitely still in the boonies.

Upon walking into the establishment, I spotted the bar and made my way over to it. A man, looking to be around my age came forward, giving me a once over, before taking my order. He handed me a menu while he went to grab me a beer. After ordering a steak, I took my beverage over to one of the tables located toward the back of the building. I wasn’t trying to be inconspicuous, because I knew I didn’t know anyone around. It was just that I didn’t want to be bothered with conversation.

While waiting for my food, I noticed a young woman arguing with the bartender. She was wearing a baseball cap that kept me from seeing her face. A long ponytail of dark brown hair was pulled through the back of the hat. The man was pointing his fingers in her face, and after a few choice words, she retreated into a back room.

About that same time I realized that I’d left my wallet in the glove compartment of my truck. I approached the bar, at first to let him know that I wasn’t skipping out on my bill, and then he had to run his mouth.

“Hey, I’ll be right back. My wallet is in the truck.”

“Sure, man. Did you hear that bitch just now? I tell ya, women are only good for one thing and that’s f**king. Other than that they need to keep their mouths shut.”

“We all have our opinions.” I wasn’t trying to start with the bartender. All I wanted was my meal and a couple drinks to calm me down, but drama always seemed to follow me, no matter where I went.

It only took a second for me to get what I needed from my truck. I’d grabbed my wallet and started making my way back into the restaurant when I saw the same girl leaned against the building. She was crying and had her hands over her face.

I had every intention of walking by her and minding my own business. I was already running from my own problems and had no interest in taking on someone else’s. With my hand on the door I heard her calling out to me. “Hey you. Got a light?”

She held a cigarette up to her lips while she waited.

I held up my hands. “No, I don’t. Smokin’s bad for you anyway, don’t you know that?”

“Waking up every morning is apparently bad for me. This little cigarette won’t do shit.”

“Bad day?” I don’t know why I asked, because I sure as hell didn’t care. Still, she was a female, and even though she was hiding it under baggy clothes, I could tell she had a nice figure.

She let out an air-filled laugh. “Bad everything.”

“Yeah, it’s goin’ around.” I started to turn to go back inside. “You know, don’t listen to that dick inside. He’s a douche.”

“Hold up.” She waited for me to look at her before continuing. “You’re not from around here are you?”

“Just passin’ through. Does it matter?”

I watched her arms cross over her chest. She looked down, denying me a chance to see the color of her eyes. It was funny to me how she was hiding her body with a loose t-shirt and a pair of baggy jeans. “This town sucks. I was just going to tell you to keep on driving. There’s nothing here worth stopping for. Trust me, I’ve been here my whole life.”

I should have just walked away. It wasn’t like I owed her or anyone else anything. After my meal I’d get in my truck and keep on driving. The highway would lead me to my future, I just knew it. “Sorry your havin’ a bad day. Mine hasn’t been all that great either. When it rains it f**kin’ pours.” I kicked a couple rocks around while I spoke, noticing that the music had stopped playing inside as the songs changed. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a dinner to eat.”

“Not if I don’t bring it out to you.” Her snarky words were without emotion.

“Now, why would you go and say that? You don’t even know me, so why make me suffer. It ain’t like I’m the one that pissed you off. In fact, I just told you that I had a shitty day.”

She shook her head. “Forget it! Your order will be out in a few minutes.”

She walked inside through the back door leaving me alone outside. I stood there for a few minutes looking at the cigarette on the ground. It wasn’t like I wanted one, but more that wanted something to take the edge off of how I was feeling. My temper was still flaring even hours after my altercation with my father. If I remained tense, I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep later on.