Page 87 of Places We've Never Been

CHAPTER 21

“Why don’t we drive in our own RVs again this leg,” Mom said casually at breakfast the next morning, reminding me of the conversation she’d had with Olivia the night before. The syrup I’d been pouring on my pancakes slowed to a drip as my hand dropped slightly.

“What?” Ezra said. “Why would we do that?”

“No!” Paisley exclaimed, shaking her fork in Mom’s direction.

Skyler didn’t say anything, just exchanged a curious look with me. I’d slept in his sweatshirt the night before, not really a good step toward stomping out any unwanted feelings. The opposite, in fact, it smelled so much like him that he made an appearance in every dream I’d had.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Olivia said.

“Booooo!” Austin chimed in.

“It was just a thought,” Olivia said. “We won’t ruin all the fun. Plus, it’s kind of nice being in control of the radio for the first time in years.”

Despite their efforts, after breakfast, cleanup, and a bit moresightseeing we separated into mom and teen RVs once again. And once again, my suspicions were on high alert.

“What do you think all the talk at breakfast about driving in separate RVs was about?” Skyler said, sitting next to me on the couch as we left Yellowstone.

I looked up from my sketch pad. “I was wondering the same.”

He playfully squeezed my knee.

I yelped and pulled my leg out of his reach.

“Is this what you were talking about the other day?” Paisley asked from where she sat at the table.

“What were you talking about the other day?” Skyler asked.

“Her mom is acting strange. Something is up.”

“Strange how?” Skyler asked.

“I overheard our moms talking last night. They made it seem like they weren’t going to see each other for a while after thistrip.”

He bit his bottom lip. “Is that weird, though? They hadn’t seen each other in four years before this.”

“Yeah, you’re right…”

“But?”

“But that’s just one thing that has felt off.” I summarized the other things that had happened on the trip so far. And finished with their conversation from the night before.

I couldn’t shake the suspicion about our parents that I’d told Ezra, and the thought of divorce scared me. Could two people who seemed perfectly happy with each other drop a surprise bomb like that?

As if Skyler could read my mind, he said, “Don’t worry about specifics until you have to.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“I didn’t find anything on our end, by the way,” Paisley said. “I looked everywhere.”

“Paisley!” Skyler scolded. “You’ve been going through Mom’s stuff?”

“Well, yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”

He shook his head in disappointment.

I raised my hand. “I went through my mom’s stuff too.”