Authors: Carol Lawson
Romance MF: A Suspense Story With A Dark Hidden Secret (romance short story, suspense romance, romantic short stories, adult romance Book 1) (7 page)
“It was very brave,” he repeated, moving closer and spooning her. He wrapped one arm across her breasts.
“Necessary,” she corrected.
“So where do we go from here?”
“That’s another good question,” she said, “I guess… we should see what Chris says first.”
He nodded and dug his face in against the back of her neck. The small tightly wound dreads tickled his nose and he smiled and squeezed her.
“Okay,” he agreed.
The fire crackled in the fireplace again and slowly the embers died out, one by one, like stars blinking out of existence. Their short chemical lives extinguished in the ashes, and Shane stayed awake for several hours more, his arms wrapped around Lily under the blanket. He still couldn’t believe what had happened – but the more he thought about it, and about the girl beside him, the more resolute his mind became. He had made a decision, and it wasn’t a matter of right or wrong. That was how he had used to view the world. Polar opposites, black and white.
The world was a lot more complicated than that. It wasn’t about right and wrong. It was about people.
I’ll protect you, Lily, no matter what
, he repeated, over and over in his mind until at last he too fell asleep.
10.
The next morning Shane had a momentary panic attack when he realized it was nine o’clock and he was late for work, and then remembered where he was. Lily smiled at him and they both showered together in the cold spray, and started to laugh interminably.
When they got back into the Toyota, Lily showed him a trick to keep his car off the radar until they could find a new one. She pulled out an Oregon license plate from her backpack and with a small pocket knife unscrewed the back and front plates on the SUV, smartly switching them up.
“I stole this one off the back of the pickup that was outside the hotel,” she grinned mischievously, “you never know when a legitimate license plate will come in handy, like now.”
As the bumped all the way back down to the main road and took the left exit, heading west, they were both quiet again. But it wasn’t a forced silence, or an awkward one. It was comfortable, easy. Lily fiddled with his iPod until she found some music she liked, and turned the radio all the way up. Shane insisted that they at least listen to the news bulletin, to make sure there wasn’t anything on the radio about them – it seemed like a reasonable precaution, but luckily all the news they were able to glean was something about a football upset. Shane then insisted on listening to the weather channel, and Lily actually agreed with that and even went so far as to take down the extended forecast in her small notebook.
The drive to the lighthouse took longer than expected, but neither of them were in any particular hurry, and it was another beautiful day. To their right they could make out the rugged coast of Vancouver Island in the distance, like a shadowy behemoth rising out of the surf. Seagulls scattered left and right, and the beaches were gently rocked by blue waves.
To their left the high mountain ranges were still flecked with snow and the sun glinted precariously off of them. There was real wilderness up there, and Shane found himself undeniably attracted to their rising slopes and thick forested cliffs.
“We’re almost there,” Lily finally said after a time. She had her knees up and was sitting fetal in the passenger seat when he looked up and saw a turn-off to a lighthouse.
It was another hardly paved road that led toward some sand-dunes in the distance, but they could both see a car in the distance and waving was a broad armed bearded man that could only have been Chris.
When they stopped Lily jumped out and ran and gave him a hug and properly introduced him to Shane. Chris was still a growling giant, but he extended his hand and shook Shane’s gruffly.
“You sure about this, Lil?” he said again.
The plan was they’d take Chris’ vehicle, which was a Pinto colored Dodge. Clean plates, insured, and something the cops wouldn’t be looking for. In return, he’d take Shane’s car and take it a chop shop in Seattle. Shane felt a little sad at the thought of having his beloved vehicle dismembered, but at the same time he knew that his absence from work would eventually be noticed.
Lily smiled and helped to unload some of the supplies from the Toyota to the Dodge, and Chris motioned to Shane with his pointer finger. Reluctantly, Shane followed him several meters onto the sand where the older man was staring indignantly out across the dunes.
“She’s a good girl,” he coughed hoarsely.
“I know that,” he said.
“She’s had a helluva life. I’ve done my best to keep her safe. Keep her alive and out of jail. I’ll keep doing that until I can’t anymore. But you have to understand… she doesn’t have friends. Other than me and Lacey, she’s got no one,” Chris said, and turned his cold steel eyes toward Shane, “why are you helping her now?”
He took a moment to compose his answer. “Because I see her the way you do. And because I love her,” he admitted, “I guess that sounds a bit crazy, huh?”
Chris crossed his arms and Shane saw him actually smile under the white moustache. “Crazy, huh? There are lot of crazy things, and I should know. But loving Lily? I don’t think that’s crazy, son,” he said, “where are you two going next?”
He shrugged. “I don’t’ know. I need to empty my bank account before someone gets suspicious. After that, I think we’ll keep heading south.”
“Towards San Francisco?” he said, and the word was almost taboo.
Shane shrugged again. “Maybe, maybe not. We’ll go wherever we have to, wherever we want. Isn’t that how this works?”
Chris tugged at his beard. “Something like that. Funny how life works out, though.”
“Lily said that too. I think it is funny. And tragic. And awful, and beautiful. It’s kind of everything.”
The older man laughed and Shane jumped back. “That sounds like Lily. Alright,” he said and held out his hand again toward Shane who took it, “you keep her safe, Shane. That’s a promise you make to me.”
“I’ve already made it,” Shane said, and saw Chris grin.
“Alright, you two!” Chris belted out, and Lily looked up from the driver’s door of the Dodge and waved back, “You watch each other’s backs.”
Lily gave Chris another hug and then it was time to go. Lily insisted that she drive this time, and hopped behind the wheel, laying her foot into the gas pedal like a concrete block. Shane held on as she zoomed gleefully over the sand, kicking up a cloud behind them. In the mirror Shane watched as Chris disappeared, and eventually they were back onto the main road.
“What did Chris say to you?” Lily asked after awhile.
“He told me to protect you,” he said, knowing full well how she’d react to that.
“That’s not an easy charge,” she said, “and if you fail, you’ll have to answer to Chris. He’s not the type you want to disappoint.”
Shane leaned in and kissed her on the cheek and sat back down. The Dodge was an older model than his Toyota and had a slightly stuffy smell to it, like it hadn’t been driven in a while. He rolled the window down and felt the warm coastal air slap against his skin, comb through his hair.
“I don’t intend to,” he finally said.
Beside him Lily reached out with her free hand, her fingers sliding into the spaces between his. He squeezed it and watched her brush a single tear off her cheek. The sun was high in the sky, and burning down on them, and they had a full tank of gas. Shane didn’t know what the future held in store for them, but he had stopped thinking about the future for awhile now. The future was a myth, something that they’d prove true when they got there.
For the moment there was just this. The two of them, the car, the open road, and a love that they could follow, even after they’d lost track of everything else.
It’s enough
, Shane smiled to himself.
The End.