Page 34 of Snow Bound (Odyssey #1)

S he went straight from the airport to Lola’s apartment. Her friend answered the door in a pair of black leggings and a grey sweatshirt with the neck torn out, her platinum blonde hair swept back from a face that, although bare of makeup, was nonetheless spectacular.

She took one look at Anna’s face and grimaced. “ Shit . What happened?”

“Nothing.” Anna chewed her lip. “ Or maybe not nothing. It’s complicated.

Lola lifted one tawny eyebrow, shades darker than her hair. “ Good thing I bought ice cream yesterday, then. What kind do you want?”

“Chocolate,” Anna decided and headed for the sofa while Lola detoured to the kitchen.

“First things first.” Lola settled on the end of the sofa with two pints of H?agen - Dazs and two spoons. She handed one of each to Anna and folded her legs under her. “ Did he hurt you?”

“What? No .” Anna shook her head, alarmed at the glint in Lola’s whiskey colored eyes. “ No , nothing like that.”

“Well, at least I don’t have to arrange for his prolonged and painful death.” Lola peeled the lid off the carton and dipped her spoon in. “ Did he tell you he didn’t want to see you anymore?”

Anna shoved the spoon in her mouth. “ No .”

“So why are you home a day early?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Anna mumbled.

“Then buy your own ice cream,” Lola said and made a grab for the carton.

Anna held it out of reach. “ I can’t afford my own ice cream. I just spent my whole monthly grocery budget on a rental car.”

Lola frowned. “ What ?”

“I tried to change my flight, but I couldn’t,” Anna admitted. “ I had to rent a car and drive back, and they charged me an arm and a leg.”

“For a one-way rental? You’re lucky they didn’t take a kidney.” Lola extended a leg and nudged Anna with her bare foot. “ Come on, spill it or I’m confiscating the H?agen - Dazs .”

“Fine, kick me while I’m down.” Feeling a little sick, Anna stuck her spoon into the carton. “ I guess I panicked.”

Lola gestured with her spoon. “ Because ?”

“He gave me the most amazing scene of my life.”

Lola’s eyes widened in mock shock. “ That bastard.”

Anna winced. “ Do you have to make me sound ridiculous?”

“You’re doing that all on your own.”

Anna picked up her spoon again. “ I couldn’t do it anymore, okay? I couldn’t pretend it was just a vacation fling, that I don’t…have feelings for him.”

“Love, Anna . You love him. Say it.”

Anna threw up her hands, sending a glob of ice cream flying. “ Fine . I couldn’t pretend I don’t love him.”

Lola looked at her television, now sporting a blob of dripping chocolate on the upper right corner of the screen, then back at Anna . “ What happened to the ‘tell him right before I leave’ plan?”

“I told you, I panicked.”

Lola shook her head. “ All right, then what happened?”

Ignoring the roiling in her belly, Anna scooped up more ice cream. “ I told you. I left.”

Lola frowned. “ Hang on. When was this scene?”

Anna cleared her throat. “ Yesterday afternoon.”

Lola’s eyes were narrowed in suspicion. “ And what kind of scene was it?”

Anna began fitting the lid back on her ice cream carton, taking an extreme—and unnecessary—level of care to get it on just right. “ Interrogation .”

“Intense?”

The lid was a little crooked, so Anna started again. “ Yes .”

“Emotional?”

Anna wanted to squirm, but Lola was in lawyer mode, and any sign of weakness could mean instant death. “ I suppose.”

“And less then twenty-four hours later, he let you drive away.”

“He didn’t exactly have a choice,” Anna mumbled.

Lola sat up straighter, the sweatshirt sliding off one pale shoulder. “ What does that mean?”

“I kind of…left without telling him.” Anna bit her lip. “ While he was asleep.”

Lola just stared, and this time the shock in her eyes wasn’t pretend. “ You what?”

“I texted him so he’d know I was safe,” Anna said defensively.

“Oh, well, that makes it all okay, then.” With fury sparking in her eyes, she reached out and slapped a hand upside Anna’s head. “ What the hell is the matter with you?”

Anna reached up to rub the sting out of her scalp. “ I told you I fucked up.”

“That’s the understatement of the century.” Lola dragged her hands through her hair. “ I’m going to kill this guy.”

Startled out of her sulk, Anna blinked. “ Why ?”

“Because I can’t kill you, and he should’ve been paying closer attention.” Mouth grim, eyes fierce, Lola set her ice cream on the coffee table. “ I can’t believe you snuck out in the middle of the night.”

“It was five a.m., not the middle of the night,” Anna muttered under her breath and cringed under Lola’s stony regard.

“You know how fragile your emotions can be after a scene like that,” Lola accused.

“I wasn’t thinking,” Anna wailed. “ Literally . It was pure panic, and before I knew it I was headed to the airport in Grant’s truck.”

“Because you were dropping, you doorknob,” Lola said, disgusted, then blinked. “ In Grant’s truck?”

“I tried to book a car service, but they weren’t answering their phone,” Anna explained, hating the whine in her voice. “ And it’s such a small town, I couldn’t get a ride share.”

Lola looked stunned. “ So you stole his truck?”

“Borrowed,” Anna corrected. Somehow that distinction seemed very important. “ I sent him a text, so he’d know where to find it. And I left some cash in the console to cover the parking fee.”

Lola just stared, unblinking for so long that Anna felt compelled to defend herself. The trouble was, her actions were indefensible. “ I told you I fucked up.”

“And you were right,” Lola said and started laughing.

Anna scowled. “ You know, you could give me some sympathy here. You’re supposed to be my best friend.”

“I’m saving it for when you really need it,” Lola said, still laughing. “ Like when he turns your butt into taco meat for this.”

“Ha, ha,” Anna said sourly and peeled the lid back off the ice cream carton.

“One question,” Lola said, still chuckling.

The ice cream had melted some, so Anna just tipped the carton to her mouth and slurped. “ What ?”

“In this text, did you happen to mention why you snuck out without saying goodbye?”

“Sort of,” Anna hedged, then sighed. “ I said it was the best two weeks of my life, and I was grateful for everything he’d done for me.”

Lola rolled her eyes. “ Jesus , Anna .”

“Then I said I was in love with him and if he was interested in seeing me again he should call me when he got back to Chicago .”

Lola gaped. “ What ?”

Anna dug her phone out of her pocket to frown at the screen. “ I know he’s not back in town yet, but I kind of expected him to call by now. Do you think it’s a good sign or a bad one that he hasn’t?”

Lola was laughing too hard to answer.

* * *

On Sunday morning Grant crossed the Michigan state line into Indiana .

He’d been driving for five hours and to say he was in a shitty mood was an understatement.

He should’ve waited until morning to leave, but he’d been too full of justifiable rage.

He’d worked some of it out setting the house to rights, but there was plenty left to keep him awake, so he’d locked up and hit the road with a sleepy Henry riding shotgun.

After gassing up, that is, because when he’d retrieved his truck from the short-term parking lot at the Marquette airport, he’d neglected to notice the near empty gas tank. Thank God for all night truck stops.

He checked the clock on the dash. It was just after eight in Chicago , and that was late enough. He tapped the in-dash screen to call Simon .

“What the hell?” Simon grunted.

“Run her.”

“What?”

“Run her,” Grant repeated.

There was a rustle of sheets. “ Anna ?”

“Who else? Go deep—full criminal, employment history, education, credit, family members.”

“Hang on,” Simon began, but Grant ignored him.

“Do the family, too,” Grant said. “ Anyone that comes up gets a full run.”

“Sure. One question.”

“What?”

“Why?”

Grant clenched his jaw. “ She left.”

“She what?”

“Left,” Grant snapped. “ Skipped . Took off. Disa -fucking-peared.”

“What? When ?”

“Yesterday morning.”

“She tell you why?”

“No, because she lit out while I was asleep.”

Simon let out a whistle, and Henry lifted his head. “ She leave a note?”

“A text.” Henry let out a plaintive whine, and Grant unclamped one hand from the steering wheel to give the dog a reassuring pat. “ She’s grateful for everything I’ve done for her.”

“Ouch.”

“Also, she’s in love with me, and if I’m interested in seeing her again, I should call her when I get back to Chicago .”

Simon’s cough sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “ Did you call her?”

“No, and I’m not going to. We’re having this conversation face to fucking face.”

Simon didn’t bother to disguise the laugh this time. “ Right . Where are you now?”

“Indiana.” Grant glanced at the mile marker as he passed, did some quick calculations. “ I should hit town in an hour.”

“I’m not fixing any tickets for you,” Simon warned.

“Just do the run. And text me the address as soon as you have it.”

There was a moment of humming silence, then, “ You sure that’s a good idea?”

“No,” Grant admitted. He knew he should calm down before talking to her, but that just wasn’t happening. “ Give it to me anyway.”

“You got it.”

Grant clicked off the call, gave Henry a last, reassuring pat, then put his foot to the floor.

Simon came through with Anna’s address, and Grant drove straight there.

He found a parking spot right in front of her building and considered it a sign, and bypassed the elevator in favor of the stairs.

He stepped out onto the fourth floor, Henry beside him, to discover Simon leaning casually against Anna’s front door.

Grant eyed his friend. Dressed in worn jeans and a faded University of Chicago sweatshirt, his chestnut hair was tousled and there was a pillow crease in his cheek.

He looked like an average white guy on a sleepy Sunday morning, until you got to the eyes.

A brown so pale they were almost gold, they were sharp and cool—like a cougar stalking its prey.

“Didn’t trust me?” Grant asked.