Page 4 of Dotted Lines (Runaway 5)

Aria had brought us both through the hardest time in our lives. While I’d fallen apart after our parents’ deaths, she’d kept us moving. Ten-year-old me had gone comatose for a few weeks, mostly from the shock. What kid wouldn’t buckle under that much heartbreak? Aria. Maybe it was because I’d needed her and she’d stayed strong. She’d kept me going through the motions until the fog of grief had cleared.

Then I’d vowed never to fall apart again. As a child, I’d made good on that promise to myself. As an adult and parent, failing was not an option.

Aria thought I could make this trip and she was right. I could do this.

Granted, she didn’t know what had happened with Karson. Maybe if she knew the truth, she would have given me different advice.

“How are you doing? How’s Trace?” I asked, needing a different topic to focus on.

“We’re both good.” There was a

smile in her voice and a tiny squeak hit my ear. “He’s nursing. I think he likes his name.”

“Because it’s perfect.” Broderick Carmichael the Third. Trace. It had taken them over five days to give the baby a name, but when I’d called to check in last night from the hotel, Aria and Brody had proudly announced Trace.

“How is the drive?” Aria asked.

“It’s fine. Taking forever according to August.”

Aria laughed and yawned again.

“I’ll let you go. Take a nap if you can, okay?”

“That’s the plan. Brody fell asleep about an hour ago. Once he wakes up, we’re switching.”

I was glad she had him. I was glad he had her.

Maybe it had been watching my sister fall in love with my friend that had been the final push to send me on this trip. Someday, maybe, I wanted love. I wanted a man to hold me at night. I wanted a man who’d be a good role model to August. I wanted a man who made me feel cherished.

Until I confronted the past, I’d always wonder. I’d always compare.

I’d always think of Karson.

“Call me when you get there,” Aria said.

“I will.”

“Take a picture of Karson with the car if you can. I think Londyn would like to see that.”

“Good idea. I think she would too,” I said. “Love you.”

“Love you. Bye.”

When I ended the call, the anxiety from earlier had lessened. That was the way with my sister. On a bad day, we had each other. It had been that way our entire lives.

There was a good chance—better than good—that I’d return home with a bit of a bruised heart. And she’d be there to help it heal.

I can do this.

There was no turning back now. The Cadillac had sat in my garage for too long as it was. Maybe it would have been easier if not for the track record with these handoffs. For every trip this Cadillac had taken, one of my friends had found love.

Londyn had met Brooks in West Virginia, thanks to a flat tire.

Gemma had returned to Montana and found Easton waiting.

Katherine and Cash had fallen in love on the sleepy highways between Montana and Oregon.

Aria had come to Arizona and realized the hate she’d harbored for Brody had actually been affection.