Page 6 of Loving Hard on the Highway (Love Along Route 14)

Sean

“Too soon,” I groaned as the alarm on my watch chimed.

Thoughts of Gabbie in my arms, her sweet scent and soft, deep honey skin pressed against me as we danced. All interrupted by time. I reached for the watch on the nightstand to turn it off and glanced over to where Gabbie should have been sleeping, but she was not there.

I sat up, rubbing my face, and scanned the room. Her bag was packed and sat neatly on the bed. Then, I saw the note on my watch.

Gone for breakfast and to buy a phone. I’ll be back before check-out.

What was that about?

?

There was definitely a chill in the car.

There was something about the way she angled her body away from me, her arms folded tight against her chest like armor.

It was reminiscent of yesterday when we first began our journey, and she didn’t know me.

To be fair, she still didn’t know me. She had no idea my father was the powerhouse behind Holsten Industries, and I was his chosen child.

Well, chosen since my older brother turned him down, anyway. Could she sense I kept that from her?

Last night, Gabbie opened up to me. She had this way of looking at me when we sang together, as if I’d surprised her, as if she liked being surprised.

But now she stared straight ahead, chin tilted slightly up, her lips pressed together like she was holding back words.

Or worse, like there were no words left.

As we drove along Route 14, I stole a glance at her.

Her thick, dark hair was in a coarse braid over her smooth copper shoulder.

She hadn’t worn it like that before. I wondered if she ever wore it curled.

The thought made my chest tighten. How was I noticing all those little things about her?

I never paid this much attention to the women who constantly threw themselves at me.

She pulled a new phone out of a bag and managed to get it from the packaging. It was probably the cheapest phone at the SuperMart.

“Can you text with that?” I asked, voice low, testing the air between us.

“It says I can send SMS,” she said without looking at me. “And it’s what I can afford.”

“Right.” I nodded slowly, not knowing what else to say.

I tapped on the steering wheel as we sat in silence until she was done with the phone. I expected her to call her friends, but she slipped the phone into her bag.

“Hey,” I tried again, gently brushing her shoulder. “You okay?”

“I don’t think baby girl would appreciate you being all flirty and touchy-feely with me.” She shrugged her shoulder away from me.

“Wait, what?” I paused for a minute, knowing there was only one person I called ‘baby girl’. “You heard that?”

“Yeah, I did, and I don’t think Gemma would appreciate you being all flirty with me. And neither would Myra.”

“If by Gemma you mean my 5-year-old niece, I think she would like you when you’re not being paranoid and jumping to conclusions.”

“Gemma is your niece? Are you trying to gaslight me?”

“No, I swear. Check my phone, go to photos.” I picked up my phone, let the face ID unlock it, and handed it to her. “And Myra works with me at Holsten. She is ? of a very happy throuple.”

Gabbie laughed and shook her head. “Gemma is very cute.”

“Were you jealous?” I teased.

“No,” she protested, but with a sheepish grin. “Maybe I just need to know a little more about you. All I know is that you’re maybe not a highway serial killer.”

“Um.” I paused, unsure if being worth millions would alter things between us. “There’s not much to tell. I’m from San Francisco. I work in Silicon Valley, and my brother is a rancher in Rosetta County.”

“I thought all you tech bros made decent money. Why not just fly back to California?”

I attempted to deflect. “That’s another story.”

“Oh no, you don’t.” She turned to me and pursed her lips. “Fess up.”

I thought about it for a moment and then let it out. “I was on vacation in Miami, and I got a call from my grandfather, my mom’s dad. He wanted to let me know he was terminally ill with six months to live.”

“Oh, my gosh.” Gabbie stroked my arm. “I am so sorry.”

“I told him I was going to cut my vacation short and head home, and he suggested I stay on vacation. Things with my family are pretty complicated. And when I get back, everything is going to change for me. Staying in Miami didn’t feel right, so he suggested the long road trip to get myself together before seeing him.

I love my grandfather, and I want to do whatever I can to help him, but my dad is hard to deal with. They’ve always clashed.”

“I hope I’m not getting in your way,” she said sincerely.

“You’re kidding.” I glanced over and smiled at her. “You are the best part of the road trip.”

She shook her head and smiled in this adorable way that was completely endearing. She was making it hard for me to keep my eyes on the road.

“How about some music?” I said, turning the radio on.

“Yes!” Gabbie agreed eagerly.

A song was ending, and the radio chimed, “ 99.6 coast to coast hits ,” and then a commercial break started.

“I have some decent playlists on my phone if you want to put something on,” I offered, then gave her my password.

“Okay.” She seemed surprised. “What music app do you use?”

“It’s the Lyrix app,” I said, without mentioning that I basically owned it.

“Okay, not bad,” she said, musing over my playlist before hitting play and letting the Bluetooth connect.

She started humming and lightly singing along, and I swear her voice was enchanting.

“So, what’s your favorite song?” I asked. “Last night you said your favorite song wasn’t on the karaoke playlist.”

“It’s a song from this singer from Water’s Edge. Mateo Solis. He’s one of my twin sister’s husband.”

“You have a twin?” I asked, unsure I had heard her right over the music.

“No,” she laughed. “My older sisters are twins. One of them is married to Mateo, and he sings a song called ‘Holdin On’ . He originally wrote it for my sister, but he dedicated it to my parents when they died.”

I hadn’t realized she lost both her parents. I was curious about what happened to them, but I wasn’t sure she wanted to talk about it.

“Sean! Stop the car!” Gabbie screamed out of nowhere.

I swerved, a bit startled as she repeated in a begging tone. I quickly pulled onto the side of the road, and she had the door unlocked and jumped out before I had even brought the car to a stop.

“Gabbie, what is it?” I called after her, but she didn’t stop. Vehicles whizzed by down the highway as I made my way out of the car.

“I saw something.”

“You jumped out of the car because you saw something ?” I followed the road’s edge to where Gabbie was. Somewhere beneath the rustling leaves and the roar of the occasional vehicle passing by, a thin, whimpering sound emerged, almost like a whine, but weaker.

That’s when I noticed what Gabbie was reaching for.

Near the edge of the road, where the curb met a patch of tall, untrimmed grass, something small moved.

She had pulled off her sweater and grabbed the little creature.

It was all ribs and oversized ears, with one eye crusted shut and fur matted with dust. It looked up at her with wary desperation, whimpering again.

“It’s a puppy,” Gabbie said in the cutest little voice.

“Are you sure?” I raised a brow.

“Yes.” She peered up at me as if I’d insulted the thing.

“Is it hurt?” I asked.

“I don’t think so, but we need to get it to a vet,” she said, letting the little pup collapse into her arms.

“Okay.” I took a deep breath and followed her back to the car. “I guess we have a dog now.”