Undisclosed Secrets

Chapter 10 - Xavier

Turning down the dark highway, the lump filled in my throat. It wasn't much I drove anymore these days, but tonight, I wanted to just get this damn dinner over with and I had to force my assistant to take the night off. Just because my life consumed in my work, didn't mean others had to.

My hand clutched the leather wheel as my stomach knotted. Andy did remind me of the current deer issue in Wisconsin and how they liked to jump out onto country roads when least expected. Slowing for the corner, the reflective sign caught my eye as my chest tightened. Damn, I missed the turn. That had to be the turn. Reaching over for control panel on the dash, I flipped it on and pressed in the address.

"Turn right." The robot voice told me including how many feet. Over and over. Another mile and I would rip it out the dash myself. I turned and she relayed another turn, another right on some gravel road. Pulling off the highway, I glanced in the mirror seeing the lights coming up behind me. Pressing down the flashers, I flipped on the dome light and grabbed the paper on the passenger seat. Looking over the email, I gritted my teeth. Why didn't Andy highlight the damn thing for me?

Reading through the information, I tossed the paper onto the seat and glanced over my shoulder seeing the pickup flying past me making the rental car rock. The thumping intensified in my right temple as I pulled back out onto the road. If I just follow it, it should lead me somewhere and that somewhere had to have a gas station where I could just get directions.

The screen on my phone lit in the holder on the dash. Hitting the answer button on the steering wheel, I let out a breath as I slowed seeing some movement ahead. My heart jumped hard as a deer jumped out of the high grass and headed straight for the road. Hitting the brakes, I gritted my teeth as I watched the brown thing stop and turn back. "Lucas."

"Hi." Sweet innocence filled into the car taking my breath away. The past few nights, Rachel called after she was done working and we talked for a while until she couldn't stop yawning. I felt horrible keeping her up until midnight the past week, but hearing her voice, listening to her giggle a few times, lifted the stress off my shoulders and I could breathe for once. Last night, she had gotten the hiccups and the cutest little hiccup I've ever heard came out. Each time, it dug deeper and deeper into my heart until it found a spot where I just couldn't push it away.

"Hey, Sweet pea. You sound cheerful tonight." Slowing, I bit my bottom lip seeing the intersection coming up. A green sign pointed to a town twenty miles down the road. A town at least. There had to be a gas station where I could stop.

"I am just going down to the party at the bar for a little bit. Laurie and Tagus are going to be there." Hearing the whining in the background, she hissed a little as she told Zeke to wait.

Warmth gathered in my stomach. Hearing the dog made me long for that companionship of a loyal friend. It had been so long since I've had a dog and with the hours I worked, having one just wasn't fair to the animal. Not to count, to have a good friend like that. With my life, friends were rare, the ones who were real friends anyway. Indulging my whole life into work, the few good friends I once did have, filtered through the holes and slowly went away. "Does he go with you all the time?"

"Yes, and he's not really allowed when the bar is busy, but tonight, we are going to be out back because that's usually where the music is, so it's okay. He doesn't want to miss the treats Tagus gives him." She let out a laugh that sang deep into my bloodstream. Hearing her sound so much better, a lot happier made me breathe a little better. Since I've been talking to her on the phone a lot more, I haven't breathed this much since I could even remember. Even before the turn in my life, when my life annihilated with a monster.

Flipping on my blinker, I turned onto the isolated highway and drove a little slower being blinded by the low sun. "Tagus? Is he the one you went canoeing with?"