Saving Us (Mitchell Family #6)(25)
Author: Jennifer Foor

My sister about pitched a fit when I told her that we were packing up and heading to Kentucky. I don’t think she realized just how bad the salon was, even after I showed her some pictures that I took from my phone. "Why can’t you just stay here?"

"Randa, I don’t have time to argue with you. She’s pregnant and I promised her father that I would get her out of here until things cool down. That bastard threatened her life. You think I’m just goin’ to stand around and wait for him to hurt her? She’s carrying my child, for Christ sakes."

Ty came in and leaned on my sister’s shoulders. "Baby, if I were Conner, I would do the same thing to keep you safe. He’s doing the right thing."

"I know. You’re right." Once she finally agreed that taking Amy to Kentucky was the right decision, she got up and helped her get her things together. For all of the times where I had tried to prevent Amy from being stressed, she was more stressed than ever before. I had to get her away from all of this.

An hour later, we were climbing into my truck. I kissed my little nephews and my niece goodbye and hugged my sister. I wasn’t sure when we’d be able to come back to North Carolina. For someone that never wanted to move here, it killed me more to be leaving.

Kentucky was great, but raising my kids alongside my sister was always something that I wanted to do. I was miserable when she lived here and I lived there. Maybe I was being selfish. I knew she had her own family and I was about to start mine. Everything was happening too damn fast.

Once we got on the road and had been driving for a while, I couldn’t stand the silence. This had all happened so fast and we’d never stopped to talk about us going to Kentucky. Amy had just gone along with it.

"You hungry?"

She shrugged but never looked my way.

"When did you eat last?"

"I don’t remember."

That was one thing that drove me crazy. She forgot to eat all the time. “I’m goin’ to stop at the next town and get us some supper."

"I can’t eat right now, Conner."

I clenched the steering wheel and bit my tongue. Was it necessary for the woman to be so hardheaded when I was trying my darndest to take care of her? "You need to eat."

"Please don’t do this right now, Conner. I’m not in the mood to argue with you."

I pulled over the truck, unable to hold it in anymore. "This ain’t about Rick or the damn salon. You are carryin’ my child and I will be damned if I’m goin’ to sit back and watch you fall apart. We are stoppin’ at the next town and if I have to force feed your stubborn ass, I will."

She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees. I caught a glimpse of a dirty look as I pulled back onto the road. "Whatever!"

"For the record, I don’t give a damn if you’re pissed at me. You’ll get over it."

"What if I don’t?"

Was she really going to threaten me with that shit when I was trying to do the right thing? I knew she was all pissed off. I got it. I guess I didn’t think she was going to take it all out on me. I wasn’t sure that I liked being anyone’s punching bag. "You will!"

I stopped at a diner at the next town. Amy said nothing as she climbed out of the truck and followed behind me. I placed my hand on her back as we entered and I swear she seemed irritated. Once we got our seats, she kept being the same way. I looked at the menu for a second. “What are you gettin’?”

She put her menu down and looked right at me. “Why don’t you pick for me, since you think you know what I need.”

I placed my palms down on the table and looked right at her. “I get it. I’m your punchin’ bag. Does it make you feel good to treat me like shit?”

She rolled her eyes and covered her face up so I couldn’t see her expression.

Once the waitress came over, I took it upon myself to order for the both of us. If Amy wanted to act like that, I was going to show her how it felt.

I played on my phone until our food came, since neither of us were talking. We ate in silence and just like I had thought, she was hungry and ate almost all of her food. Every bite I took, I stared right at her. I knew it was driving her crazy, but I didn’t care. I had made it a mission to piss her off.

“I think we should get a room for the night and drive the rest of the way in the mornin’.”

She took a napkin and wiped off her face. “Whatever you want to do.”

The whole punching bag thing was really wearing thin on me. “Amy, do you have a problem with me?”

She shook her head. “No! Everything is just dandy.”

That was it. I’d had enough. “If you keep givin’ me the cold shoulder, I may just have to take you in the bathroom and have my way. I can’t even begin to tell you how turned on I am right now.”

She rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat, while grabbing her purse. “Thanks for the food. I’ll be in the truck when you’re done.”

Now, I could understand that she was hurting. Hell, I don’t even know how upset I would have been if it had happened to me. Maybe I would want to be alone and not deal with people as I tried to figure out what I was going to do. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was giving her a good enough reason to be so short with me.

I paid the check and headed out to the truck. Amy was leaning against the window, acting like I wasn’t even in it with her. I shook my head and started back out to the highway.

A few miles down the road, I found a hotel and pulled in. Obviously, Amy wasn’t going to talk to me on the ride to Kentucky, so I needed to rest.

She waited in the truck while I got the room and we both grabbed some clothes out of our bags and headed to the room. Just like every other hotel room, it had two double beds. Amy plopped down on the furthest bed away and didn’t even acknowledge me being in the room with her.

I tried to act like she wasn’t bothering me, so I headed into the bathroom to shower. After turning on the water and getting undressed, I realized that I was so damn frustrated that I wanted to punch a wall. I couldn’t stand it anymore. She was making me so pissed off at her.

Without even wrapping a towel around myself, I walked out into the bedroom area. She had turned on the television and was paying full attention to it. So, I walked right in front of it, blocking her view. “Hey, I was watching that!”

I pointed toward her body. “Take off your clothes.”

She sat up completely on the bed and shook her head. “No!”

“Take off your clothes. Now!”

She crossed her arms in front of her. “No!”