Page 79 of Dotted Lines (Runaway 5)

She jerked, dropping her gaze. Then she inched away, as far as she could toward the nightstand, and cleared her throat. “In here.”

“Can we go now?” August begged.

“Yeah.” I took a step away from his mother. “We’d better go.”

They’d better go.

For the first time since Clara had surprised me with the Cadillac, I was ready to send her back to Arizona.

Maybe if she was five hundred miles away, I’d actually be able to resist her.

Chapter Fourteen

Karson

“How do you feel?” Clara asked as we drove away from the junkyard.

“Lighter. You?”

“Free.”

Free. Not quite. But almost.

I wouldn’t be free until I could let Clara go.

But for the moment, I was content.

We’d put the top down to get some fresh air. I drew in a long breath, holding it in my lungs. In the back of my mind, I heard the click of a door. The turn of a page.

A chapter had ended, and it was time to move on.

August was in his seat, playing with some metal rings he’d found at Lou’s and had asked to keep. Beside him was the box that contained Lou’s letters and whatever items he’d stored beneath.

Clara and I hadn’t spent time looking through them. Gus had been antsy to get out of there and since he’d been such a trooper all morning, we’d locked everything up and left.

“Think you’ll come back here in twenty years?” Clara asked as we rolled down the road and put the junkyard in the rearview. “See what it’s like?”

“Maybe. You?”

She shook her head. “Probably not. I’m glad I got to see it again. I feel like that door is closed now.”

“I was just thinking the same damn thing.”

“It’s a good reminder of how far we’ve come and why I’m working so hard to make sure August never has that sort of life.”

“You’re a good mom, Clara.”

“That’s the best compliment you’ve ever given me.”

“Ever? What about the time I told you that you were the prettiest girl in the universe?”

“That was because you were a shameless flirt.”

“With you?”

“Always,” we said in unison.

Clara closed her eyes, scrunching up her nose.