Noah (9 page)

I cried so hard that I could feel the trailer shaking. I didn’t care if there was a guy outside who could hear. Nothing mattered. I just wanted to disappear.

A few hours later, after my sobbing became the second priority to getting warm, I sat up and started looking for an extra blanket. Realizing that I’d given it to the strange man that was out in his truck, I considered what I could do to get warm without it.

The trailer ran on propane, but I didn’t know how to turn it on. I knew the power didn’t work from all of the
matches and candles laying around.

A knock at the door scared me for the second time. I opened it to find the stranger standing there. “I saw you movin’ around. It’s none of my business, but I can’t help but wonder if you need help with somethin’.”

“I don’t know how to work the propane. I’m freezing.”

He walked over to the truck and grabbed the blanket, bringing it inside and handing it to me. “Here, take this while I check out the propane tank.”

As cold as I was, I couldn’t hide my excitement as I followed behind him.

Ten minutes later he’d got the heat on and hooked the battery up to the one in his truck. The small camper immediately started to heat up.

He stepped inside again. “I just want you to know I’ll be turnin’ the truck off in a bit. The battery might be charged enough to run  for the rest of the night. I can’t be real sure.”

“Thank you. Seriously, I’m sorry for calling you a creep. Obviously, you saved my ass and now you’re stuck here with me.”

He shook his head. “Yeah, I might still be a creep. Never let your guard down.”

He started to leave, and I called out for him to stop. “Wait. The table turns into a bed. We can both stay in here and be warm tonight. It’s the least I can do for ruining your night.” The truth was that I didn’t want to be alone. “If you decide to cut me up into a million pieces I swear to god I
will come back and haunt your ass until you die.

He stood there looking at me, scratching his head. “Yeah, I don’t know if that’s a good idea. My parents taught me to never spend the night with strangers.”

As much pain as I was in, I felt like smiling. It always gave me comfort. This guy wasn’t out to hurt me. He’d done nothing but help me. If he wanted to rape or murder me, he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to save me, and provide me with heat.  “The amenities suck, but at least you can stretch your legs out.”

The man went out and turned off his truck. When he came back in I had to admit that I felt a little uncomfortable. He could hurt me and nobody would find me.  He must have seen the look of fear on my face. “You sure this is alright? I’m fine in the truck. It ain’t like I haven’t slept off a buzz before.”

“Yes. I’m sure. It’s fine.”

We got the second bed set up and were both laying down in a matter of minutes. I kept my eyes open, staring at the ceiling. He thanked me a couple more times and then started to quietly snore.

That is when I finally let myself cry. I didn’t want the stranger to see me weak. He had to think I was in control of my emotions and I wasn’t a helpless, vulnerable woman, all alone with him in a camper.

No matter how much it hurt me to find Rex and Kim together, I had to be brave until this guy was out of my life, and I could figure out my next move.

I looked over at the sleeping man. He wore a pair of jeans and a nice button up shirt. His cologne smelled expensive, and I knew the boots he had on had to cost a pretty penny. After riding in his truck I could tell he liked nice things and took care of them. It allowed me to feel comfortable enough to close my eyes.

It was reassuring knowing he was there with me. I felt sleep finally coming. There I was, alone in a tiny camper with this stranger, and yet I couldn’t remember a time where I felt so protected. It was either a gift from my mother, or a reminder of how pathetic my life was. Whichever it was would have to wait until the morning for me to figure out.

                
Noah

This bitch was
crazy with a capital C. I couldn’t wait for daylight to come so I could get the hell away from her. I think she thought I hadn’t noticed that she’d stolen a car and drove it into a body of water. I suppose it was my stupid fault for offering to give her a ride. Before I knew what I was doing, I was lying down in a tiny-ass camper right across from her.

Sleep came easy for me, as it always did when I drank whiskey. It never failed either. The moment that liquor hit my tongue it got to me. I could drink beer after beer and never feel a buzz.

The sound of birds let me know that the sun was getting ready to rise. Since I was used to getting up before daylight, I sat up and looked around. The shitty conditions made me cringe and realize how afraid this girl must have been last night. I turned and looked at her, seeing her for the first time without a hat. Her eyes were still closed, but the smooth skin of her face was more desirable than I could have imagined. Her lips weren’t small, but they weren’t too big either. Brown wavy hair covered her pillow. Her eyelashes were long and dark, and the sound of a car coming down the lane cause her to open her blue eyes. She rushed to the window, peeking out to see who was coming. “Shit!”

I sat up and looked out too. “Who is it?”

“My uncle. Just sit there and be quiet. I’ll get rid of him.”

She walked over and opened the door. The first thing I noticed was that sometime in the middle of the night she’d removed her jeans. Her legs were short, but sexy, especially the shape of her thighs. I couldn’t see much from the extra large t-shirt hanging down, but I knew they led to her ass, which I could only imagine was just as pleasing to look at.

“Uncle Paul. What brings you out here?” She held the door opened enough to where he couldn’t see me inside.

“Cut the shit, Shalan. What the hell happened last night? The police came to the house lookin for you around two. I’ve been trying to call since then.”

She began to stutter, possibly from the fear of what the police wanted. As fast as I could move I stood up and removed my pants and my shirt. Standing in just my boxers, I walked over to the door where she stood and opened it all the way. “That’s probably my fault. We left our phones in the truck last night.”

I don’t know what shocked her more, the fact that I was covering for her, or me standing behind her almost naked. I avoided eye contact with her in case the older man came at me for sleeping with his niece, or at least thinking I did.

It wasn’t like the man was any match for me. I could take him down easily if I needed to.

He looked at his niece, and then back to me. “This is my friend Mitch. Sorry I didn’t tell you about him. We dated in high school and he stopped back in town to see me last night.”

He still didn’t seem convinced, so I reached my arms around her waist and kissed the inside of her neck. Part of me wanted to laugh, because I knew she was going to kick my ass once the man left. In my defense I was only trying to help.

“What time did you close the bar?” he asked.

“Midnight. I closed up a little after midnight. My car wouldn’t start, so Mitch gave me a ride back here, why are you asking?”

He looked up at me, disgusted and concerned. “Is that the truth? She was with you all night?”

This was where I should have walked away. I knew I was involving myself in a crime. My father would have killed me for doing it, and maybe that’s why I did, but I decided that I didn’t care. I had nothing to lose. “Yes, sir. We were together since nine or ten in the evenin’.”

“Where are you from, kid?”

It was funny that he called me kid. According to everyone else, I looked much older than I was. “Kentucky.”

“And you say you know my niece?”

I scratched my head and laughed. After this was all over I WAS going to know her better. She owed it to me. “Yes, I most certainly do.”

He turned and looked outside. “The police came by saying that you stole Rex’s car and drove it into the Perkins Pond. When I saw your car at the bar, I swore it was true.”

She looked at me and shot a fake smile. “Well, as you can see, he’s lying. He’s probably just mad that we broke up. Obviously, I found someone much better to spend my time with.”

“Get yourself dressed and come home, Shalan. I don’t want to find you out here again. This ain’t a place for you to come to sleep with men. You hear me?”

“Yes, sir. I hear you.”

He didn’t say goodbye to me, not that I expected him to. As soon as his tires started moving she turned around and shoved me. “Don’t ever touch me again!”

I put my hands up. “He believed me, didn’t he?”

“Just put your pants back on. I’m going to need a ride back to my car.”

She leaned forward to grab her pants off the bed and I got a straight view of her perfect ass. It was almost enough to make my dick hard just looking at it. “I get why you hide behind all those clothes.”

She turned and discovered that I’d been checking her out. “You weren’t so creepy last night. I think I like you better drunk.”

“Hey, at least you admit you like me. We did just spend the whole night in bed together.” I pulled my jeans up and started to fasten them. A pillow hit me in the head and I couldn’t help but laugh. “A simple thanks will be good.”

“Thanks for helping me last night, Mitch.”

“Why do you keep callin’ me that?”

“It’s your name, right? It’s on your arm.” She pointed to my Mitchell tattoo. For some reason, I’d been stupid and followed the lead of my father and uncle and had our last name tattooed on my arm.

A smiled formed at the corner of my mouth. “Sort of.”

“What’s that mean?” She was getting annoyed and I enjoyed watching the way her expressions kept changing. Plus I kept thinking about when I’d just been close to her and got a whiff of her hair products. “It’s either your name or it’s not.”

“Well, Miss Shalan, it’s easy. Mitchell is my last name, not my first. Some would call it my sir name.”

She bit down on her lips when I talked and I saw her glancing at my chest. The more she tried to act savvy and in
control, the more I could tell that she was liking what she saw. “Yeah, you heard my uncle. Whatever. So what’s your first name?” She asked after finally looking back up at my face.

“Noah.”

“From the bible? What’s a man with that strong name doing in this town?”

“Apparently I was sent to save you from a flood of bad decisions.”

She shoved past me, muttering something I couldn’t make out. I grabbed my shirt off the bed and walked outside. The sunlight was bright, but it was still chilly. I watched as she tucked her hair through the hole in her hat and situated it. “I don’t have time for your sarcasm. If you don’t want to answer then don’t.”

“Does it even matter why I was there? I’m obviously not a murderer. I’m just someone passin’ through.” I climbed in the truck and started it up.  “I’ll be out of here as soon as you tell me where I’m takin’ you.”

“I already told you to take me back to my car. Get your mind out of the gutter, Noah Mitchell.”

I looked right at her and smiled. “Darlin’, my mind ain’t in the gutter.”

“Sorry. I’m used to my asshole boyfriend, or I guess ex boyfriend now.”

“If that was your boyfriend then I’d suggest you get your eyes checked. I only saw him from afar, but he wasn’t nothin’ to write home about. And that car... don’t even get
me started on that piece of shit.”

“Not everyone can afford something like this,” she snapped.

“I saved up for this truck. There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears that went into payin’ for it. Maybe you shouldn’t judge people so quickly.”

“Whatever!” She kept her eyes focused out of the window. “You’ll be free of me in a few short minutes.”

Her phone started ringing and it must have startled her. She jumped before putting it up to her ear. “Hello? You can’t do that. Please. You did this, not me. Rex, don’t!” She put the phone back in her purse. “Do me a favor. Keep driving.”

Her sobs were loud, but since I was a stranger there was little I could do to comfort her. After driving for nearly thirty minutes I pulled over the truck at a gas station. After hopping out and filling the tank I got back into the vehicle. She’d calmed down a little. “I need to know where I’m takin’ you.”

“I’m sorry. I know you probably have somewhere else to be. It’s just that he said he’s taking my phone messages to the police and that they prove you’re a stranger. I left them last night before we took your truck. It’s enough to incriminate me in the theft. I don’t want to go to jail. What was I thinking?” She covered her face and sobbed harder.

“What do you want to do, Shalan? You got any friends you could call?”

“My friend was the girl who was naked in the back of Rex’s car last night.” My thoughts went right to Perry and how she was forever damaged after finding out that I’d slept with her sister. Though it was the other side of the equation, I understood what this girl was going through. “I think you should let me come with you. I need time to let Rex cool down. If I’m out of the picture he’ll move on and forget about what I did to his car. Besides, he’s got access to my money and all of my belongings. By now he’s taken everything and made sure I’ll never see it again.”

She started crying again, and I honestly felt bad for her. I didn’t know this girl’s whole story, but from what I’d already gathered, she’d had a terrible time, and nowhere to turn.

It was probably a huge mistake, and I’d get nothing out of it except aiding a potential criminal, “If I let you come with me then you’re goin’ to have to cut that shit out. I can’t stand to see a woman cry.”

She wiped the tears away and tried to smile. “So I can go? I promise I won’t get on your nerves. You won’t even know I’m here.”

“What if I decide that I don’t want to go back to Kentucky? Will you be able to find a way home?”

She shrugged. “I’ll figure something out.”

“Whatever. Just know, you ain’t gettin’ into my pants on this trip. I’m tryin’ to get focused and pussy will just mess me up.”

“Did you really just say that?” She looked appalled.

“Yeah. I know how women look at me. Stop actin’ like you’re so shocked. It’s human nature. It’s like how you were given a beautiful voice. I was given this face. Don’t act like you haven’t noticed.” I was cocky. Some may say that I was being an asshole. This trip was important to me, and I wasn’t about to ruin it on some chick I picked up at a bar. It wasn’t going to happen.

“You are sadly mistaken if you think I’d ever sleep with you, Noah. I’m in no shape to get involved with any man, especially one that I barely know. You keep that thing in your pants and I’ll keep mine on.”

I clenched my jaw, wondering if she meant those words. It wasn’t that I wanted her, it was the fact of knowing that I could have her. That last statement came across as if it could never happen, making me interested immediately. “Then I guess we can agree on somethin’.”

She looked at me as if I’d been the one to insult her. “I guess we can.”

Women were so unpredictable. I’d come to believe that I’d probably never understand them completely.

So there we were, two strangers on a road trip with no idea where we were headed. I was battling my own demons, facing the idea of living my life without the support of my family; something I wasn’t sure I could live without, since I’d never had to go about it before. I was scared, in a not knowing what was next sort of way. The idea of having some company was almost reassuring. Sure, she’d probably end up being a pain in my ass, but at least I’d have someone to sit with when I stopped for a meal. If it didn’t work out I’d drop her off at a bus station and send her on her way.

It would all work out, because I was determined to prove my dad wrong, no matter how hard things got.

Shalan fell asleep shortly after our talk. I knew she was tired, probably petrified to be in the same room as me the whole night. The fact that she’d asked to come with me told me that she was over the distrust. While she rested I thought about my life, and future.

First I needed to find a place that I could call home. Then I had to figure out what I wanted to do. At some point I’d get rid of the woman in my truck and be able to get serious. For the time being we were just two people running away from our lives.