Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 81584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“Now?”
“Yeah, he’s picking me up at seven.”
“You’re leaving tonight?”
“No time like the present.” I shrugged.
Lou was silent for a few moments. “All right.”
I didn’t bother saying goodbye to anyone. They’d be full of questions and try to convince me to stay later. I’d see them all soon enough, I was sure. Within minutes, I was in the passenger seat of Lou’s car as we headed back to our house.
“You’re sure that this is a good idea?” Lou asked tentatively as we pulled into the driveway.
I sat for a moment, wondering how to explain it. She wouldn’t understand unless I told her the whole truth. Without it, the decision to just take off seemed impulsive and reckless. I’d been accused of being both of those things, usually I took a little pride in it, but when it came to important things I’d never been a risk taker. Lou knew that.
“Scott’s made things really bad at work.” I turned to face her. “It’s gotten so bad that I’m barely sleeping.”
“Frank,” she murmured sadly. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I wanted to handle it on my own.”
“How’s that going?” she asked derisively.
“Not great.”
“Yeah.”
“Gray noticed something was up. He asked if I wanted to go with him. Clear my head and get me out of the shit for a while.”
“That guy’s a dark horse, I swear.”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “He’s pretty easy for me to read most of the time.”
“Well, you’re obviously seeing something that I don’t.”
“He’s different with me.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I laughed. “That sounds bad.”
“I knew what you meant,” Lou said with a small smile. “He actually talks to you.”
“He’s an open book,” I replied with a shrug.
“So, you’re going on a road trip on the back of a motorcycle,” Lou said, taking a deep breath. “How the hell do you pack for that?”
“Very light.”
“You want some help?”
My shoulders slumped with relief. “Yes, please.”
“Then let’s go. You’ve only got an hour and a half.”
“You think that’ll be enough time?” I asked, following her out of the car.
“I figure we’ll grab everything you think you’ll need,” she said as she unlocked the front door. “Then we’ll cut it in half.”
“And then in half again?”
“You got it,” she said, grinning at me over her shoulder.
Forty minutes later I had outfits, a coat, and toiletries laid out on the bed and a pair of boots set on the floor next to it.
“Now cut it in half,” Lou ordered.
I took out two T-shirt and legging outfits.
“No, take the jeans out,” Lou argued. “The leggings will take less space in your bag.”
I switched them.
“What about the dress?” she mused.
“I’m taking it.”
“Okay.” She tapped her finger on her chin. “It doesn’t take up much space, so you’re good there.”
“I still have way too much.”
“I know.”
We stared at the bed.
“Okay, I have an idea. Don’t panic until I’m done.”
“Fine.”
“So, you wear a pair of jeans tonight,” she said, tossing me a pair. “Then you pack one pair of leggings and two pairs of shorts.” She lined them up. “You don’t need more than that. Then you just bring mix and match shirts. You can wear the pants more than once.”
I nodded and reached for my shirts, setting them near the bottoms they matched.
“It’s still too much,” I hissed in exasperation. “They’ll never fit in my backpack.”
“Wear the sweatshirt tonight,” she advised, tossing it at me. “Jean jacket over it. You know it’ll be cold on the bike after the sun goes down.”
“Okay, but what about all that?” I pointed to the toiletries.
“Moisturizer,” Lou said as she searched through the pile. “Chapstick, mascara, brush, deodorant, bodywash, toothbrush, and toothpaste. There. You’re covered.”
“You left out all my makeup,” I argued flatly.
“You can bring makeup or underwear. You can’t have both.”
“Why did I agree to this again?”
“Stop bitching.”
“Underwear,” I chose, reaching out to move them to the small pile of clothes. “And bras and my swimsuit.”
“Good call,” Lou agreed. “Now the moment of truth.”
Carefully rolling each item, I stuffed them into my backpack one by one.
“You’re bringing a purse?”
“Yeah, the black one,” I said, nodding to it.
“Belt bag. Good idea.”
“It’s a fanny pack,” I said, rolling my eyes. “It’s called a fanny pack.”
“Whatever.” Lou waved me off. “Moisturizer and Chapstick in here with your wallet. Wait!”
“What?” I asked, spinning to face her.
“Freaking sunblock!”
“Right. There’s some in my other purse.”
“I’ll grab the big bottle out of the kitchen,” she argued over her shoulder as she hurried out of the room, raising her voice as she moved further away. “You’re going to be on the bike all day, you’re going to need the big bottle.”
I checked the clock on the nightstand. I had under an hour left.
A few minutes later, we stared at the packed bag on my bed.
“You should probably put the smaller bottle of sunblock in your fanny pack,” Lou advised. “If you have to reapply during the day, you don’t want to have to unpack that thing.”