The diner was typical, red vinyl booths, dusty glass pendants hanging over the laminate tables and servers wearing fifties style skirts. There was even a help wanted sign in the door as if it was a requirement, whether they were looking for help or not. Even the food was the usual fare, big plates of pancakes and eggs, pots of coffee and the obligatory glass dome over donuts that looked well past their prime. The only thing not typical about the diner breakfast was the woman sitting across from me.

Denni's hair had dried into long, loose curls. She'd pulled on the same ripped jeans but had opted for a faded green t-shirt with a Grateful Dead logo on the front. She slipped her foot out of her shoe, stretched her leg across and slipped her toes under my pant leg. Just that little gesture with her toes sent shockwaves through my entire body.

She put yet another packet of sugar in her coffee and stirred it. "Are you sure it's all right for me to tag along with you to the cabin? I don't want to get in the way of your memorial for your dad."

"It's more than all right. In fact, my dad would have gotten a big kick out of you. He would of liked you."

She smiled and rested her forearms on the table. "Yeah, you think?"

"Absolutely." She didn't seem to understand just how easy it was to adore her. She was like no one else I'd ever met.

The server, a pinch faced lady who didn't seem to be enjoying her morning at work, carried over our tray of food. She lowered the omelet, hash browns, toast and bacon in front of Denni and placed my bacon and eggs in front of me, before walking away with the same pinched face.

I couldn't hold back a smile. "You have a big appetite for such a skinny person."

Denni surveyed the mosaic of breakfast food in front of her. "Why, does this seem like a lot?"

"Nope, not at all. For a sumo wrestler."

She pressed her arm against her stomach. "I'm extra hungry from a long night of activity." She winked at me and picked up her fork. "Remember what I said, I'm paying the tab for this." Denni picked up a strip of bacon and chewed off a piece.

"No, you don't have to. I've got it covered."

"No really. I've got money." She patted the front of her backpack resting on the seat next to her. It seemed she had her entire life in that faded satchel. Denni took a big bite and washed it down with orange juice. "I snatched a wad of Zeke's money from the glove box before I took off. That's why he was so mad. It wasn't out of love for me, or worry that I was gone from his life forever. It was because I took the cash."

I blinked at her over my toast. "So, what you're saying is we're technically on the lam for theft and hiding out from a very large man with an explosive temper. Maybe Bonnie and Clyde works after all."

"Technically, he stole from me, so the money was mine." She jammed her knife in the bowl of butter and spread it on her pancakes.

"Good point. I'll be sure to raise that with Zeke just before he chokes the life out of me."

"He'll never find us. He's a complete idiot." She shook her head. "I had just latched onto him to get away from another idiot in a long parade of idiots. Something that is extra clear to me now that I'm hanging out with someone who is clearly not an idiot."

"Thanks. I think."

My phone rang, startling me from the conversation. I didn't need to look at it. I knew it was Emma.

"It's her, isn't it?" Denni asked.

I nodded.

"She sounds angry."

"That's the ringtone. It sounds the same for every call. But you're right. It sounds kind of angry."

"Go ahead and answer it. I don't mind. I'll take my pancakes to the counter and eat so you can talk to your girlfriend in private."

A cold, heavy feeling pushed on my chest at her words. For her, I was just an adventure on her journey to whatever life held for her. I was just a guy to fill in some time between other guys. I was such a fool to think that there was something more between us than just a good time. Still, the last person I wanted to talk to at the moment was Emma. And it wasn't from guilt or worry that I wouldn't know what to say. I just didn't want to talk to her.

I shook my head and swirled my fork around in my eggs.

"It's all right," Denni prodded.

"I don't want to answer it," I said far more sharply than I'd intended. Denni stared wide eyed at me with those hazel eyes that I'd already made part of my long term memory. "I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I can't talk to her right now."

Denni didn't answer and focused on her breakfast. She grew unusually quiet. I knew I'd hurt her with my curt response.

"Look, Denni, I'm sorry. It's just being with you—" I started and then reminded myself not to confess my true feelings or risk looking like a total love-struck fool. But that wasn't really why I was angry. I was definitely feeling hurt by the sudden realization that I was just part of Denni's adventure, but I wasn't angry . . . at least not at her. I was pissed at myself for being in a relationship where I didn't want to answer the phone, where just seeing the name on my screen made my stomach twist into a knot. I'd taken this trip to fulfill Dad's final wishes, but somehow, along the way, I'd figured out that I was doing everything wrong. I wasn't living the life I wanted. And Denni, with her bright smile and enthusiastic love for life, even when that life was handing her one shit deal after another, had helped me come to that conclusion.

I looked down at my plate for a second and then lifted my face. She was wearing a concerned smile as she waited for me to finish. "Thank you," I said. "You've helped me find my way, and I hadn't even realized I'd lost it. My dad, even when his books were barely making him enough to live on, never gave up on his stories. He insisted he had to tell them, that he was born to write and he never stopped. Even when my mom finally had had enough, he stuck to his dream, his plan to write a bestseller."

Denni licked maple syrup off her fingertip. "I'm glad I could help you find your way. I've never done that before, but now I can check it off my bucket list." She drew a check in the air. "Help a friend find his way." She drew another quick check. "Forgot to mark off the bat cave experience."

I added a check in the air for my bat cave experience. "You know what else you might want to add to your list?"

"What's that?"

"Call Mom."

Her mouth pursed into a rose shape. She seemed to be considering my suggestion. Or she was holding back the words 'mind your own business'.

I picked up my fork. "Just a thought."

The server walked over and placed the check on the table. "You can pay at the register."

Denni lunged for it before I could get my hand over it. She held it up in victory. "I told you, my treat." She pulled money out of the front pocket of her backpack. "I'll be right back."

I watched her slim hips sway back and forth as she walked to the counter. She was fun to watch from every damn angle.

My phone beeped letting me know I had a voicemail. I could only imagine Emma's tirade after hanging up on her abruptly and then ignoring her calls. Yep, we needed to have a talk once I got home. It would mean the end of my job with her dad, but that was just fine with me. I was going to follow my dad's advice and start living a true life, my own life. Not one prescribed by others.