Sparrows Song

Chapter 6

Blake carried Jane's bag for her, and they walked side by side down to the car together. Once inside, Blake took out his phone so he could take advantage of the hotel's wi-fi connection before they left since he didn't have much for service in their current location.

"What are you doing?" Jane asked as she watched him leaning over his phone intently, frowning with his brows knit.

"There's only one goddamn AT&T store on this side of the state? What the hell," he muttered, typing quickly on his phone to plug the address and get directions. "We have to go get you a new phone, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," she said. She was glad that Blake remembered and was going to keep his promise about buying her a new phone, but she was still too distracted by thoughts of her conversation with Andy to care very much. Jane stared down at her bare left hand where her engagement ring had been. She had slipped the ring off right after she hung up the phone with him and tucked it carefully away inside a zipped pocket in her makeup bag. It felt strange not to see it there on her hand.

They pulled out onto the highway, and the day was so clear and bright that it hurt Jane's eyes to look out through the front windshield. She dug into her purse and pulled out a pair of large sunglasses, putting them on. The open road met with the blue skies, and the horizon was dotted with puffy white clouds. Jane found the scenery beautiful in a way, and the wide expanse of sky before them gave her a liberated feeling, although in the back of her mind she knew that she was really only running away from her problems.

Her choice to run, to put more miles between herself and Andy, was only a temporary solution and it weighed on her heavily. She had a bad habit of making these kind of decisions too rashly, and already she wondered if she'd made a mistake. She glanced at Blake, who was another matter altogether. He was obviously in a much better mood now that she'd asked him to continue their little trip, and watching him she found she couldn't manage to really regret her decision. She was just going to try to make the best of this.

Since they were both starving, Blake found a McDonalds and they stopped for breakfast. He paid for her meal, and even bought her a mocha, and Jane got the distinct impression he was trying to make up for yesterday's events. At least it was a welcome change from the arguing they had done the previous day.

They continued on toward their destination, and eventually reached the small wireless outlet so they could buy Jane a new phone. Jane was looking at the display models when Blake walked to the desk and told the guy behind the counter he wanted to get the new iPhone. The clerk went off into the back room to find one, while Jane went to Blake's side.

"Blake, I don't really need that. I can just get one of these cheaper ones. The new iPhones are really expensive right now," she told him.

Blake shook his head. "I want you to have it," he said. He was giving her that intense look of his, and she shifted under his gaze.

"Please, Blake, that's really nice of you but I'd really rather not have you spend that much," she protested. She would feel indebted to him if spent that much on her and just the thought of it made her uncomfortable.

"I threw your phone out a window," he told her plainly, "I owe this to you." His word was final, and he wasn't taking no for an answer. Anyway, the salesman was walking back toward them with two boxes in his hand so Jane didn't argue anymore.

"Black or white?" he asked them. Jane picked the white phone and Blake threw down his debit card on the counter. About 10 minutes later they walked out of the store, Jane clutching her new phone in her hands and feeling sort of sick about the dollar amount Blake had spent.

What was he thinking anyway? He hadn't let Jane pay for a single thing since they'd started this trip, and she was a little concerned that maybe he was spending a little too carelessly. Even though she knew he had a new job now, back when they had dated Blake didn't seem to have much money, at least judging by the way he dressed and lived. He had lived in a dumpy house in the bad part of town, and he had driven an old rusted relic of a car.