Page 1 of Promised Adventure (Promises, Promises)

Chapter One

WREN

“Have fun on your trip and let us know when you’re back,” my boss, Caleb, said as he pulled me in for a hug.

His husband, Zack, hugged me next. He handed me a pastry box from Caleb’s bakery and told me, “For the road.”

“I can’t accept this.” I tried to reject the box, but Caleb firmly pushed it back into my hand before tucking himself into Zack’s side.

A pang of longing shot through me at how easily the two of them came together like that. Caleb and Zack had married before I’d started working here at Sweet Buns years ago, and it seemed their relationship somehow got better with each passing year.

“You can and you will,” Caleb replied with a smile. “We wouldn’t have nearly as many customers if you hadn’t given us a shout-out on ‘A Wrenful Life.’”

A Wrenful Life was my channel where I vlogged about my life. I’d launched the channel around the same time as I started working at Sweet Buns. At first, I mostly recommended hidden gems in Corio City, but over the years, I’d expanded the channel to include my travels all around the states.

I did give Sweet Buns another shout-out when my channel got big enough to make an impact on local businesses, but what Caleb didn’t say out loud was the fact that he was a big part of my channel’s success, too.

If he hadn’t worked with my travel schedule this past year or so, I wouldn’t have had the time or funds to get to where I was today.

Caleb was easily the best boss I’d ever had, which was why I still picked up a shift or two whenever I was back in town, despite now making enough from my channel to become a full-time vlogger.

That, and the fact that traveling was lonely. I loved seeing all the new sights and meeting all kinds of people, but something about being alone in a huge crowd made the loneliness crawl into my heart until I craved the comfort of the familiar.

And Sweet Buns was familiar.

Growing up in foster care, it was the first place that gave me the sense of a tight-knit group.

My coworkers had become some of my best friends, and Caleb and Zack, who were only a few years older than me, were like the big brothers I’d never had.

They were always making sure that I was doing okay and would be there for me in a heartbeat if I ever needed help.

I loved working at Sweet Buns, but no matter how happy I was there, the wanderlust never left me. Some people joked that I lived up to my name since I was small and flew all over, just like a real-life wren.

I believed it had more to do with my history of constantly moving from one foster home to another. There was never a place I’d belonged, and even if I’d found a pocket of space for me at Sweet Buns, I needed to keep flapping my wings to new sights.

Saying one last goodbye to my coworkers, I placed the box of pastries Zack and Caleb gave me onto the passenger seat of my van. I opened it to see it was packed to the brim with everything from breakfast sandwiches to my favorite strawberry white chocolate cookies Caleb made.

I snatched a cookie, a smile on my face as I took a bite, and started my van to head on my next adventure.

My trip this time was to the San Gabriel Mountains in northern LosAngeles, California. My last travel destination had been the bustling metropolis of Seattle, so I thought a more scenic route would be a nice change of pace.

Traffic wasn’t terrible, since I usually started my drive after the nightly rush hour. There were fewer cars on the road in the late hours, too, which was a nice perk.

The world was mostly silent except for the soft music streaming from my radio and the whooshing of the air as my van sped through it. Once I hit a smaller road, I rolled down the window to get some fresh air.

Out in the country, the night air was cool but not biting, and the crispness of it helped clear my head.

There was something about driving late at night alone. With the music blasted and windows down, it was so easy for everything else to fade besides the lightened path in front of me and my partner-in-crime—my van, Marge.

I loved being around people, especially those who cared for me, but I also loved these moments on road trips. It was a reminder that even if I was alone at this moment, I would be fine. And this solitude never lasted forever. Something even more amazing was waiting for me at the end of this path.

I sang along to the upbeat song on the radio, lost in the music, so I thought it was only my imagination when I heard some sort of whining sound.

Frowning, I turned off the radio but only heard the rush of the wind passing by and nothing else. I must have been hearing things. Besides, good ol’ Marge was a reliable beast who’d accompanied me on many road trips.

I continued on my way, thinking all was fine…until I saw the first signs of smoke coming from under the hood. Things went downhill quickly after that as Marge made more rumbling sounds, and I felt my control over the steering wheel falter.

“Shit, shit,” I cursed under my breath as I slowly stopped the van on the side of the road. Just in time, too, for Marge’s engine to die out along with my headlights, effectively casting me in darkness.

There wasn’t even a single streetlamp out in this neck of the woods, but thank god for the full moon or else I’d be completely blinded by the dark. Or maybe it was the full moon that was causing all these strange things to happen…

I wasn’t usually superstitious, but as I hugged my staring wheel and peered at the bright, full orb hanging in the sky, I couldn’t help but think about how dangerous this could have been.

If I’d fully lost control of my steering wheel before pulling off to the side of the road, or if my engine had abruptly stopped while there was a car behind me…

I slapped my cheeks to push those thoughts out of my head. What-ifs never led down a good path, and besides, there was no point wallowing in them.

If growing up in foster homes taught me anything, it was that nothing would get done if you didn’t do it yourself. I grabbed my phone to use as a flashlight and…fuck. It was dead, too.

Things just didn’t want to go my way tonight. I growled my frustration, but then remembered the emergency kit Zack had forcefully given me when I’d first started taking these long road trips.

Bless Zack and his always-be-prepared mentality. It was what made him one of the best restaurant consultants in Corio City.

The emergency kit should be under my seat, so I reached under, and when my hand landed on something, I pulled out the rectangular bag and opened it.

I hadn’t used the thing since I got it, but I recalled Zack saying there were useful things like a first-aid kit, jumper cables, and—aha!

I pulled out the flashlight and was thanking the heavens when light filled the van.

I took this small blessing as a sign that things would start turning in my favor. With an optimistic smile, I hopped out of my vehicle and popped the hood.

Smoke billowed into my face when I lifted the hood, causing me to cough as I used my hand to try to dispel some of the fumes. When it finally cleared, I could see what was under Marge’s hood.

Shining the small beam of light over all the vehicle’s mechanics, hoping to spot what the issue was, dread slowly started to creep up my spine as I clearly realized how over my head I was.

Who the hell was I kidding? I knew nothing about cars, much less vans.

It was the reason I had Marge checked out by professionals before every trip now that I could finally afford it, but I’d gotten really sick right before this trip.

I hadn’t had a chance to go to a mechanic before needing to leave if I didn’t want to get too far behind my filming schedule.

Who knew the one time I didn’t take Marge to get serviced, she’d throw a fit and leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere?

I shined the flashlight down both directions of this stretch of road.

There was nothing out here but trees and whatever creatures that lived in them.

Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen a single car or another human being on this street, and the last sign of civilization I saw had to be miles back where I came from.

It was much too far to walk this late at night.

I was sorely regretting choosing this small road instead of sticking to the main highways.

And now I was stuck here with no way to call for help.

Bad luck really did happen in batches.

I sighed, resigned to my fate of sleeping in my van for the rest of the night and hopefully catching a passing car when it turned light out.

It wouldn’t be so bad, and it wasn’t like this would be the first time I’d be sleeping in Marge. I’d renovated the back of the van so it was fit to be lived in, but I usually parked Marge in a well-lit parking lot or secluded spot for the night.

I didn’t like the idea of being so out in the open on the side of the road, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, I guess.

Giving up on trying to self-diagnose Marge, I closed the hood and returned inside the van. Making sure each door was manually locked since the key fob wasn’t working, I crawled into the twin-size bed and buckled in for the night.

This was just a small bump in the road. I’d get the car fixed and be on my merry way.

But all that could wait for tomorrow.