Carter

I’d never had to pick up someone’s ashes before. My parents and Angelique were buried in a coffin in the ground with gravestones for people to visit them. I wouldn’t have that with Nora, and in a way, it pissed me off more than I ever knew it would. I took in a deep breath as I started the SUV and pulled out of the parking lot of the funeral home.

“I can’t believe Nora did all this,” I spoke in a hasty tone.

“Did what? Make things easy for you?”

I glanced over at Zoey, who was staring at me through her sunglasses.

“You think this is easy? You think I like traveling around with my sister’s ashes in the back seat? I don’t know why the hell she just couldn’t be buried next to my parents.”

“She obviously had a reason for wanting her ashes scattered to these various places. They must have some sort of meaning.”

“If they do, I don’t know anything about it.”

“So do you have a plan or are we just winging it?” she asked.

“Like I had time to plan anything,” I replied. “I guess we’re just winging it. Can you do me a favor and just be quiet? I need to think.”

“Maybe you should have started planning yesterday after Mr. Gainsley left instead of going out and getting drunk.”

“Are you serious right now?” I glared at her. “What I do is none of your fucking business. Got it?” I pointed my finger at her.

“Got it, Mr. Grayson.” She put in her earbuds and stared out the passenger side window.

Who the hell did she think she was?

The next two hours were quiet ones. Zoey listened to her music while I drove down the highway and thought about things. The things I had to do once I got back to New York. I glanced over at Zoey from time to time. I knew how rude I was being, but I couldn’t help it. She was beautiful and she didn’t deserve to be treated the way I treated her since the first day we met. But I couldn’t let any type of feelings emerge. The man I used to be was gone, buried alive beneath the tragedies and pain I’d endured over the past few years. I was lost and Zoey seemed to be the type of woman who could find me. If I wanted to be found, I would let her. But I didn’t. Because if I was, then I’d be forced to live a life of happiness, only to have it stolen away from me at any given time.

“Hey,” I spoke as I looked over at Zoey.

She couldn’t hear me, so I tapped on her shoulder. Taking her earbuds out, she spoke, “What?”

“Are you getting hungry?” I asked.

“Yeah. Actually, I am.”

“In another hour, we’ll be in Lone Pine, which is halfway to Lake Tahoe. We can stop and grab some lunch. Can you hold out?”

“I can.” She smiled as she placed her earbuds back in her ears.

Her smile was her best feature as far as I was concerned. It was genuinely sweet and each time the corners of her mouth curved upwards, it sent an unexpected warmth through me. A warmth that I had to fight off every time. We reached Lone Pine and stopped at a restaurant called The Grill. The moment we stepped inside, Zoey ran to the bathroom while the hostess sat us in a booth near the window.

“Whew, I didn’t think I was going to make it,” she spoke as she sat down.

“Why didn’t you say something? We could have stopped.”

“You told me to be quiet so you could think,” she replied.

I sighed as I picked up the menu.

“Listen, Zoey. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together during this trip, so I think it would be in both our best interests if we tried to get along.”

“I’m not the one with the problem, Mr. Grayson.” Her brow raised.

“For fuck sakes. Can you please just stop with your comments? I’m trying really hard here to be nice.”

“Then you’re going to have to try a little harder.”

I clenched my jaw, and before I could say anything, the waitress came to our table to take our order.

“What can I get you folks?” she asked.

“I’ll have the cobb salad with honey mustard dressing, please,” Zoey spoke.

“And for you, sir?”

“I’ll have the turkey club with fries.”

“Okie dokie. I’ll put that in for you.”

I stared at Zoey from across the table. I was going to say something in response to her last comment, but I decided not to. She didn’t know what the hell she was talking about.

“We should be getting to Lake Tahoe around six o’clock. We’ll find a hotel, grab some dinner, and scatter Nora’s ashes tomorrow morning. Then we’ll get on the road and head to the Grand Canyon, which is about a twelve-hour drive.”

“Okay.”

“I’m thinking about renting a private jet to fly us from the Grand Canyon to Seattle because it’s almost a nineteen-hour drive.”

“Nora specifically stated that we were to drive to these places except for Hawaii.”

“Do you really want to be stuck in a car for nineteen hours?” I asked.

“It doesn’t bother me. I’m sure it’s a beautiful drive. And again, Nora said no planes except to Hawaii.”

“Nora isn’t here anymore and she won’t know. The only thing that matters is that we scatter her ashes.”

“Trust me, she’ll know.” Her brow raised.

I sighed.

“Don’t start with that again, Zoey. Please. I’m in no mood.”

The waitress came with our food and set the plates down in front of us. Our lunch consisted of nothing but good food and silence. Regardless of what Zoey thought, I was renting a private jet to fly us to Seattle.