Page 25 of Never Let Me Go

“Just a little mental health vacation.”

He arches a brow. “Somewhere tropical, I hope.”

“Fiji.”

“Excellent.” He flashes me a smile for a second before it falls. “I meant to tell you how sorry I was to hear about your father’s passing. He was a great man.”

I nod, tears stinging my eyes. “Thank you, Carl.”

“Of course. Will Mr. Hale be joining you on your trip?”

“No,” I answer, shaking my head. “He won’t be able to make it this time.”

He nods and glances to the door. “Would you like me to call you a cab to the airport?”

“Thank you, Carl, but no. I have an errand or two to run before my flight.”

His brows knit together as he studies me. “Miss Shaw…”

“Have a good night, Carl,” I say, interrupting him as I step around him and head for the door. When I glance back over my shoulder, he is still studying me and I flash him another smile as I wave, hoping it will convince him to let it go. Finally, he shakes his head and sighs.

“You, too, Miss Shaw.”

Once I’m outside, I glance back again and release a breath when I see Carl leaning over the counter as he thumbs through a magazine. Thank God. I thought he was going to blow up my plan before I even made it out of the building. When I’m out of his sightline, I pull my phone from my pocket and program the address Mercedes sent me earlier into the GPS and study the map. It’s only a couple blocks down the street. Turning toward the diner, I start off down the street, hoping that I find an ATM along the way. I need to grab as much cash as I can before we leave the city so that I have a little bit of a head start before Gavin starts looking for me.

As soon as the thought hits me, my steps falter and I stop as I suck in a breath. Of course he’s going to chase after me. What man in his right mind, who loves his woman, would just sit by when she breaks off their engagement via a note and runs away in the middle of the night? Especially a man like Gavin who has the means to do so. No matter how hard he tries to honor my wishes, it’s only a matter of time before he searches me out and if I’m being honest with myself, I always knew that but it doesn’t mean I am going to make it easy for him. I need whatever space I can get and I need to find myself, whether that is some version of the me he fell in love with or if it is this girl I see in the mirror, a weird mix of who I was five years ago and pieces of the woman I started to discover when I woke up in the hospital a week ago and it would be harder to do around him. The tension leaves my body as I release the breath I’d been holding and begin walking down the street again, feeling more confident. There’s only about a thousand miles between Miami and Baton Rouge but I’ll do whatever I can to buy myself the time I need to work this all out.

An ATM sign catches my attention and I rush over to it as I pull my wallet out of my purse. I slip my card into the machine and my eyes widen when it prompts me for my pin. Shit. What the hell is my pin? God, this is what I get for throwing this plan together so fast. My foot taps against the pavement as I run through important dates in my head and I whisper a curse as I key my birthday into the machine.

“Please work,” I whisper. My heart drops when an error message pops up on the screen before asking for my pin again.

Shit.

Running a hand through my hair, I shake my head and key in the only other sequence of numbers bouncing around in my head - my parents’ anniversary. This time the menu pops up and I smile as I press the withdrawal button and key in a thousand dollars. The machine begins to make a whirling noise and spits my money out below as a receipt prints from a slot next to the screen. I grab the cash and shove it in my wallet. I’m about to ball up the receipt and throw it away when the words from my dad’s letter come back to me. Staring down at the astronomical number under account balance, I suck in a breath before quickly shoving it in my bag.

“Okay,” I breathe as I pull my phone from my pocket and check the GPS again. I’m only a block from the diner and it’s almost midnight so I need to get moving. Electricity zips through my body as I continue down the street, thinking about being back in Baton Rouge and seeing Mercedes again. Once I’m there, I can figure out my next move but right now, I’m just too excited to care about the small details of this plan that I didn’t have time to flesh out.

The sign of the diner comes into view, boasting the best pancakes in Miami-Dade county, and I can’t fight back my smile. This is it. I made it and I’m actually going home. I scan the parking lot and notice a man sitting in a parked truck with the engine running, the windows rolled down and Louisiana license plates. That has to be Sawyer. His light brown hair is falling into his face and he brushes it back with a hand covered in bright, colorful ink. The tattoos snake up his arm and into the sleeve of his black flannel shirt. He lays his head back on the seat before bringing a steaming styrofoam cup to his lips and takes a sip. A flash of metal catches my attention and I cock my head to the side. Is that a nose ring? Usually I can’t stand it when men have their noses pierced but just from the side profile, it works for him… really well. Almost as if he can sense me, he turns and the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen slam into mine. I suck in a breath and stumble back as my heart kicks in my chest.

His gaze narrows and he studies me for a second before his gaze drops to the bags behind me and he sets his coffee cup down as the door opens. When he steps out of the truck, I begin walking again, putting one foot in front of the other without any instruction from my brain, almost as if he’s pulling me into him, drawing me in with a look alone. I close the distance between us and stop in front of him, dropping my head back to meet his eyes again.

“Sawyer?” I ask and he nods as he glances down my body.

“Juliette?”

I nod and lick my lips as my heart thunders in my chest. “That’s me.”

Jesus Christ.

Could I possibly get anymore awkward? You would think I’d never spoken to a man in my life or maybe it’s just been so long that my brain, even without my memories, has no idea what to do. Lord, what is happening to me right now? Our eyes meet again and warmth rushes through me.

“Here,” he says, breaking the spell as he reaches for my suitcase. “Let me get that loaded up in the back of the truck.”

I nod, mesmerized into silence as he takes my things and lifts them into the bed of the truck before turning to face me again. He shoves his hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking almost shy, as he glances up at me and I swear, my heart skips a beat. This man checks off every single “bad boy” box I could think of and even some that never occurred to me and damn if my traitorous body isn’t responding like I’m still an overzealous teenager instead of a grown woman who runs her own damn company. He’s not just “bad boy” though, that much is clear from our brief interaction and I tilt my head to the side as I study him, frustrated that I can’t figure him out.

“Are you ready to go?”

I blink. “Uh… actually, I need to run to the bathroom first. I’ll be right back.”