Page 46 of Quarter Miles (Runaway 3)

I gulped from my wineglass, hoping it would take the edge off. It was better with Aria here to defuse some of the tension, but she didn’t erase it entirely. The undercurrents tugged and tormented. I should have stayed in the room and let this be a private reunion.

“Ah.” Aria lifted her own glass, studying me over the rim as she took a drink. “Well, what brings you roommates to Oregon?”

Kat took a deep breath and a long drag of her wine before answering. She and Aria hadn’t spoken in the lobby earlier, deciding to save the conversation for dinner, when it wouldn’t be rushed. She set her wine down and smiled at her friend. “You, actually.”

“Me? Why? I thought it was just a coincidence.”

“No, not really.” Katherine bit her bottom lip.

I shifted my leg, extending it beneath the table so my foot touched hers and when she looked up, I gave her a nod. For the first time since yesterday, neither of us stiffened from the touch. This, right here, was why I was at the table. Tonight, Kat needed me to be her friend.

“Okay, let me start at the beginning,” Kat said. “You know that old Cadillac that Londyn lived in?”

“Yeah.” Aria nodded.

“A while back, Londyn had it shipped to Boston, where she was living. She bought it from Lou and had it completely restored.”

“Lou,” Aria whispered. “Haven’t heard that name in a while. Did you hear that he passed? Clara found out from someone in Temecula about a year after he died.”

“Yeah,” Kat said. “Gemma told me.”

?

??You’ve talked to Gemma?”

“She actually lives on the ranch.”

“She’s getting married to my brother,” I added. “And bosses us all around.”

Aria laughed. “Why am I not surprised? How is she?”

“She’s wonderful,” Kat said. “It was actually her idea that I come out here but let me back up. Londyn had the Cadillac in Boston. She’d just gone through a nasty divorce and decided to drive the Cadillac to California and find Karson. But she got a flat tire in West Virginia and ended up meeting her husband, Brooks, so the California trip never happened.”

“Is she happy?” Aria asked. “Londyn?”

“Yeah.” Kat smiled. “I don’t talk to her often. She’s closer to Gemma than me, but she’s happy. They have a little girl named Ellie and she’s pregnant again. Due any day now.”

“That’s so good to hear,” Aria breathed. “I think about them, everyone, once in a while. I’m glad she’s happy. Gemma too.”

It had always struck me as odd that Kat hadn’t kept in touch with the kids from the junkyard. After such a harrowing childhood, why wouldn’t they have bonded together for life? But then again, I lived in Clear River, Montana. My graduating class had been fifteen people, most of whom still lived around the area, working on their family’s farms and ranches. Kat and her friends had scattered across the country.

“Gemma was in Boston with Londyn,” Kat said. “I lost touch with both of them after they left Montana, but those two stayed connected. Last year, Gemma sold her company in Boston and kind of . . . quit her life. She went to visit Londyn in West Virginia and Londyn suggested she finish the trip to California instead.”

“Did she find Karson?”

Kat shook her head. “No. She came to find me in Montana. And fell in love with Easton.”

My brother had told me a few months ago that he wasn’t sure how he’d gotten so lucky. The day that Gemma had rolled onto the ranch in the Cadillac was the best day of his life. Granted, at the time he hadn’t realized it. But after the two of them had stopped trying to tear one another’s heads off—tearing clothes off instead—they hadn’t been apart.

“They’re having a baby boy in a few months,” I said.

“And you?” Aria asked Kat. “Are you happy?”

“Of course.” Kat shifted in her chair again, reaching for her wine.

My heart sank. Maybe Aria had bought the lie but I’d heard the truth in Kat’s voice.

Why wasn’t she happy? Didn’t she like her job? Didn’t she like life on the ranch? Or was it just stress from the past three days I was hearing?