Page 68 of Drive
“We’d take a couple of hours to pack a bag and buy some provision. I mean, it’d be a road trip afterall—”
“But I can’t just leave Holi. She needs my help,” Raineyargued.
Jacques thought about the couple he’d met the night before. Holi’s boyfriend seemed one-hundred-percent committed to her wellbeing. “Do you think Ash could hold down the fort for a fewdays?”
The line went silent for a moment. “Well… I… guess so. Yeah…” She didn’t sound completelyconvinced.
“Do you think he’d want you to find your brother? Maybe find a match forHoli?”
“Of course.” This time, she soundedcertain.
Jacques felt a surge of triumph. “Then call him. We’ll leave as soon aswe—“
“I’d have to pay you,” she blurted, bursting hisbubble.
“You aren’t going to pay me,” he leveled. “We’refriends.”
“Jacques, if we drove to Kentucky and back, it would take two days at minimum,” she argued. “I can’t ask you to dothat—”
“You’re not asking me. I’m offering,” he said. Then he shook his head. “No, I’minsisting.”
But he should have known she’d put up a fight. “I can’t let you do that. If you’re driving me for two days, it means you’re not driving anyone else. I can’t keep you from earningmoney.”
“It’s a road trip. It’ll be like a vacation.” The words sounded lame even to his ears. Who vacationed to Bowling Green,Kentucky?
“Bullshit,” she muttered. “I’mpaying.”
“You, Rainey Reeves, are not paying me a dime. You’re going to hang up, pack your bags, and be ready to go in twohours.”
“I’m paying forgas.”
“Fine. You’re paying forgas.”
At her sharp inhale, Jacques figured she had expected him to fight a little harder. She didn’t speak for a full ten seconds, and though it nearly killed him, Jacqueswaited.
“Can we really do this?” Her hushed voice scarcely carried thewords.
Jacques stifled a chuckle. “Why not? We’ve got time andmeans.”
“I just—” Her words halted and, again, he waited. “—don’t… goanywhere.”
His mirth dried up in the face of her apprehension. “Well,” he spoke softly. “If we go, you won’t be able to say thatanymore.”
In the silence that followed, Jacques was pretty sure he could hear her breathing, and it wasn’t a calm, measured breath. She was afraid, and he guessed that her fears were too many to number. Some black andmenacing.
“You’ll be okay,” he vowed. “I’ll make sure ofit.”
He waited to see if that would sink in before trying again. Now that the idea was taking form and had become a real and tangible future, Jacques wanted it with a kind of fierceness that was new to him. So fierce, he dared not let her glimpse it for fear of spookingher.
But she said nothing, so he started weighing the next words in his mind. Anything he’d say about routes, when they’d arrive, where they’d stay would only add to her anxiety. Jacques knew this implicitly. He looked up at the sky, the day a bright blue that seemed to spread on in a cloudlessforever.
“We couldn’t ask for better weather for a road trip,” hemurmured.
Rainey blew out a breath. “Okay,” she said, conviction clear and strong in her voice. “When should I beready?”
A reckless smile broke over Jacques face. “I’ll pack a bag, hit the store, and be there in two hours,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound as ridiculously euphoric as he felt. “What’s your favorite carsnack?”
“Pringles.” No deliberation. No hesitation. Pringles. How was it that everything about her was adorable? Even her favorite snack? Jacques feared he wouldn’t be able to speak through hissmile.
