With No Warning (Romance/Inspirational)(Complete)

CHAPTER 14: A Long Ride Back

CHAPTER 14: A Long Ride Back

Gray, cumulus clouds, were slung low in the stratosphere, dragged down by the moisture inside them, that according to the weather forecast was ready to fall at any time. The interstate was not too crowded, and Dakota and Evan seemed to be making good time on the way back to Texas. In Gretna, after stopping briefly to eat, they switched places, and Evan took the wheel. The discussion that he had not pursued yesterday, he casually took up again, whether out of boredom, or genuine interest, she didn’t know.

     "Your family is great."

     "They are."  Happily she agreed.

     "So, you teaching so far away from home, is it to get away from the problems here?  From when you taught before?"

     Was he asking her if she were trying a fresh start, or was he asking her if she were running away? Or worse, was he asking if the only place that she could teach was a private school, like Miabeau, which was not guidelined by the public school board. Frowning, she pushed her sunglasses up her nose, and deliberated on whether or not to talk about this again with him. The easiest thing to do would be to politely change the subject.

     “The Dean at Mirabeau contacted me. Actually. I had never heard of the school, or thought about moving before then.” Pausing, she put her lips to the straw, drawing from it a sip of the soda she had carried out of the diner. “Ironically, I had begun working in a legal office after I couldn’t teach anymore. I guess that is where I would still be, if Olivia hadn’t contacted me. I moved because I love teaching, and even though as it all turned out, I didn’t have to run away to do it, I did need the fresh start.”

     The next few miles went by silently, and finally, Dakota spoke. “You’re so quiet. What’re you thinking?”

     Using his blinker, he eased into the passing lane. “That most people wouldn’t have done things the way you did. You are a very strong person.” But behind his words, there was a tone. A tinge of something that made her feel like they were a left handed compliment.

     That he had the incident still on his mind was a surprise. She had expected him to say that he was thinking about a roofing job he had the next day, or about whether or not Ranger and Elton were getting along at his brother’s house.

     “I believed in the cause. The way those texts were worded, the faults of our country were emphasized, and the faults of other cultures were de-emphasized. Not only that, but many of our accomplishments were neglected.”

     The silent nod he gave in way of an acknowledgment, again seemed patronizing. Misty drops of rain began to dot the windshield, and he waited for the glass to become slick with the water before activating the wipers. A gloomy atmosphere began to pervade the inside of the vehicle as well, and for a few minutes, she tried to discern at what point, their easy comradeship had halted.

     It was nothing, she told herself, and removed her sunshades. The increase of light to her corneas gave an immediate lift to this darkening mood, however slight, and she folded them placing them in the console between the seats. It was nothing. The day had turned from overcast to rainy, the drive was long and only little more than halfway done. She was missing the warmth of her family already. But a queer sense of dejavu was overtaking her. Another one of the most important men in her life, that didn’t share her strong principles. It was nothing. Nothing. But with a part of her lips, against her better judgement, and ignoring her inner sense of peace, she formed the question. “What would you have done?”

     His head twisted, slightly in surprise and initial confusion, before returning to the road. Apparently, in the few minutes she had spent mulling, he had switched his thoughts. “What? You mean about the school stuff?” With a slight shrug of the shoulder nearest her, he replied “I guess I wouldn’t know, until I was faced with it.” A few moments went by, then he expanded less carelessly, “I don’t think I believe in the cause as strongly as you though. I’m not sure I would feel that it was worth the misery you faced for so long.”