Race the Storm

Chapter 27

Willa sat on the bench on the front porch of their little bed and breakfast hotel outside of Topeka, Kansas, watching as the sun set across the golden stalks of wheat continuing for miles past the front door. Jax had said he liked this place because it didn't have much of an online presence or records, so would be off most people's radar. Still a risk, because with less guests, the owners might remember them if ever questioned by the Estate, but everything was a risk.

Pulling her knees up, Willa circled her arms around them and laid her chin on the tops of her knees. It was crazy to think about what all she had seen in the past week. Arches had been amazing, but what had astounded her more was when Jax had proceeded to actually head up to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, then swung over to the Badlands before heading down toward a more southern route. He claimed it was to throw the Estate and PsyOps off–if they didn't follow any consistent Eastbound route, the government might have to guess a little more about where they were headed.

But she also knew he'd initially been cautious about visiting too many national parks, so there was a part of her that wondered if he was doing it just for her.

She had to admit, part of her kind of hoped he was. Ever since that moment in Arches...

Was she reading the signals wrong? She didn't know. Should she even be trying to read them? Was that such a bad thing when he was the father of her child? Was that not a plausible, logical reason to develop feelings for someone?

Were feelings even supposed to be logical?

Willa just didn't want him to feel obligated to feel a certain type of way because of his role in her life. And she didn't know what to do with that. There weren't exactly many guidebooks out there on the subject. She sure could use a "Falling in Love with a Superpowered Supersoldier Genetic Donor to your Child for Dummies" guidebook.

Cause yeah, she was pretty sure that was happening whether she meant it to or not.

The screen door clattered open in front of her. Speak of the devil...

"Ms. James said dinner would be ready in about fifteen."

"What're we having?" she asked, popping out of her vulnerable position before he could ask her what was wrong. She didn't want him to think anything was off. It wasn't, she was just...pondering things.

"Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and some little cabbage thing that might be brussel sprouts." He leaned against the wall beside the door for a minute. "She roasted them. But they're still brussel sprouts."

"You look like you ate a ton of brussel sprouts as a child," she said, stepping toward him and giving him a gentle slap on one of his big old biceps. She now knew that he jumped at any chance to use hotel gyms, and when he couldn't get to one, he did about a million push-ups, jumping jacks, and sit-ups. She should know, she either had to go with him to the gym and trod the treadmill or sit and read when he was stuck with the non-gym option. Jax didn't like leaving her alone for very long, which made sense, seeing how she was the whole reason he was on the run.

"They're not my favorite," he said, but there was a bit of a smirk on his face. "What were you doing out here?"

"Thinking about the price of wheat. Maybe we should start a farm."

"Mhmm. Because we're definitely the farming types."

"I'm sure we could hitch you to a plow."

"Wow. Willa, are you calling me an ox?"

She grinned wickedly and opened the screen door. "I think I hear Ms. James calling us. Coming, Ms. James!"

She missed whatever Jax mumbled under his breath as he followed her inside. He caught up to her at the entrance of the dining room, his hand touching her lower back for a minute before he passed her to quickly pull out her chair before she reached the table.