CHAPTER 2
Gentry
She hadn’t changed at all. She still looked the same as the last time I’d laid eyes on her. Her big brown eyes still had the same deepness that I used to get lost in. Her figure that I’d loved holding in my arms still curvy in all the right places. Only, she didn’t smile as much as she used to. There was a bitterness that she wore so clearly on her shoulders that replaced the happy, carefree woman I once knew.
In the four years since she’d been gone, I hadn’t gotten over her. I still loved her as fiercely as the day she’d left. Sure, I had my angry moments. Especially when I read the meaningless words she’d left on the paper I’d found the day after she’d gotten on the plane to parts unknown. Gradually, the anger subsided, and I felt a loss that I’d never thought I’d have to feel before. We had our future mapped out down to the very last detail. Our hopes and dreams coincided with each other’s so flawlessly that I never thought there’d come a day when I’d be without her.
Until I was.
I didn’t care that my parents couldn’t stand her family. I didn’t care that I was raised to dislike them for no reason other than the competition. Or so that was what I conjured up in my mind since neither of my parents would give me a real reason as to why I couldn’t be with the one person I’d fallen in love with even at a young age. They’d said that it was because she was the forbidden fruit, and I was determined to defy them.
I knew different.
It was the way I’d felt with her around. The way she saw me and not what I could give her. She didn’t care about my last name. She only cared about me first and the person I was on the inside. And now she appeared to be indifferent toward me. A feeling I was determined to change. I hadn’t moved on for a reason, and even if it took me the rest of my life, I was never giving up on the love I knew we could have again.
She sat next to me, trying to keep her breathing even as she stared off into the distance at the passing scenery. I couldn’t take the silence. So many things threatened to leave my mouth, but I refrained asking them. I couldn’t start out that way, or she’d clam up and never let me in. Instead, I had to try a different approach. And maybe, just maybe, I could get her to see how good we would be again.
“How does it feel to have that degree you worked so hard to obtain?” I asked as I tried to remind myself to keep my eyes on the road instead of diverting them to look over at her.
I waited for her response, and nothing came. She was hellbent on ignoring me, and I was hellbent on getting her to reply.
“It’s a long way home, sweetheart. An even longer ride if I choose to take the backroads. So, what’s it going to be? The silent treatment or a simple conversation?”
“You just don’t know when to quit do you?” she lashed out, causing me to have to hold in the laugh that threatened to escape. She was so damn cute when she was riled up.
She turned to face me, placing her arm on the back of the bench seat. Her leg lifted, and I turned my head toward the sudden movement. She bent her leg at the knee and placed her other leg on top, getting more comfortable. The material of her yoga capris stretched to the max, making it impossible to not see the firmness of her thighs. Quickly, I turned my head to the road before me. Wrecking the truck wouldn’t be wise in this situation.
“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m just trying to make the time go by faster, by having a conversation.”
“Nothing is that simple with you. You don’t just want to talk. You want something else.”
She was right about that. Nothing got past her. But I could bide my time until the moment was right to ask the questions that were on the tip of my tongue.
“What exactly is it that you think I want, sweetheart?”
“Answers.”
She knew me too well. I had to remember that and tread carefully.
“I just want to have a conversation. One where you answer the question that I began with and go from there.”
“It feels amazing. One more thing to check off my list of goals.”
“Good. I’m glad. Why Virginia?” I knew this question could cause her to turn her attention back out the window, effectively giving me the cold shoulder, but to hell with it.
“Because it wasn’t Colorado.”
What she really meant was because it was somewhere I wasn’t. I knew that. She knew that too. But she didn’t have the guts to admit it.
Moments passed as silence ensued yet again. I didn’t know what else to ask, and she didn’t have anything else she was willing to part with.
There were so many things I wanted to know.
Was there a boyfriend?
Did she still think about me?
Was she leaving after the graduation party her mother had planned?
But I remained quiet. I had some time before I could start digging into her thoughts. At least I hoped I had time.
“Why do you still have this hunk of junk?” she asked. Looking over at her, I noticed her picking at the leather that had broken some time ago.
“It still runs perfectly fine. Besides, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.”
“If I judged this thing by its looks, I’d steer clear of it,” she said with a hint of laughter in her tone. I longed to hear her laughter again. It was such a beautiful sound. One that I believed I missed the most. The sound alone was contagious, and anyone in her presence would soon follow suit once they heard it.
“Why were you the one to come pick me up?”
“Because your mother asked me to.” It was more like I offered time and time again until she caved, but she didn’t need to know that just yet. Technically, it wasn’t a lie. Her mother did ask me to, once I begged her long enough.
“What am I in for when I get home?”
“Considering how long you’ve been gone, I’d say you’re getting bombarded with hugs at first. Then constant hovering. Everyone missed you.”
She groaned at my response and laid her head on the seat. I could tell she wasn’t looking forward to that, but she’d have to get over it. She did that to herself with never coming home.
“Great. I can’t wait,” she replied with the fakest tone I’d ever heard.
She might not be excited, but I couldn’t wait. Watching her see her family for the first time in four years was going to be priceless. Especially since I knew just what was in store for her once we arrived.