Shit, no lights. Really?” Boone hadn’t even gotten the front door shut before he’d reached to flip the light switch on the wall. Nothing. After trying several times before accepting defeat, he slammed the new door hard enough it made the glass rattle. He was tired and sore and the last thing he wanted to do after sitting in a bullshit meeting for hours about a fire he’d been working the last two days. “Whoever said doing your own home remodeling was easy, was off their rocker.” He felt his way to the kitchen for some matches.

“I know I put the damn candles in one of these drawers.” Figures it would be the very last one in the room. After he got one lit he set out for the basement to check the breaker just in case he’d get lucky and it was a quick fix. There was barely enough illumination to light his way as he carried the candle out in front of him while he felt his way with the other hand. Why didn’t he buy flashlights instead of candles? “Because the nice old lady at the general store insisted candles lasted longer than batteries.” He sure hoped she was right.

A pounding on his front door kept him from descending the stairs for the moment.

“Damn, who the hell is knocking this late?” Boone didn’t exactly live in a populated area so it was a little unusual to have visitors just happen to be in the area and stop by. Because it was habit, he flipped the same switch in the foyer at the front door before remembering it wasn’t working. “Shit.”

Another harder knock sounded. “Hold your horses, I’m coming.”

“What the hell took you so long? Hey why’s your house dark, didn’t you install the lights yourself? Some electrician you are.” His younger brother laughed as he walked in without being invited.

“Pearson, what could you possibly need from me now, this late at night, isn’t it past your bedtime?”

“Ha, very funny asshole, I’m only two years younger than you. Anyway, mom sent me.”

Shit, that didn’t sound good. He couldn’t say no to anything that his mom might need.

“Is she okay?” Boone wracked his brain trying to remember the last time he stopped by to see her. He’d been busy with the house and work lately.

“Oh yeah, mom’s fine. She just hasn’t heard from you in a while. She called earlier today and you never called her back.”

“Dang, I thought something was really wrong.”

“Well she thinks there is when you don’t call her back.”

“I’ve been working a fire for a few days and I wasn’t really able to answer my phone. I just got home to find out I have no power.”

“Was it something you hooked up wrong?” His brother smirked, he was such an asshole.

“I have no idea. It worked when I left so I doubt it. Can we get back to why you’re here? I’m tired and I’d like to go to bed.”

“Oh yeah, mom wants you to come over tomorrow.”

“Why, is she okay?” Call him a momma’s boy but Boone would pretty much jump through hoops for that woman. He wouldn’t have missed her call on purpose but he didn’t remember seeing a voicemail either. Unfortunately, his brother could be an idiot about the details.

“Pearson, come on, spill it.”

“She didn’t tell me, just that she wants you to stop over tomorrow.”

“Is she okay?”

“I think so. Hey, do you mind if I crash on your couch tonight? My girlfriend kicked me out.”

“Again? Why do you keep going back to her?”

“The sex is amazing.”

“Jesus, I don’t wanna hear it, you know where the blankets are, I’m going to check the breaker then I’m going to bed.” That boy will never learn.

“Need any help?”

“No!” Any help from Pearson isn’t really help.

Boone smacked the flashlight on the staircase wall when the beam flickered. “I need to remember batteries next time I’m at the store.”

“Hey you want mine?” Boone fumbled with the light, dropping it down the remaining steps.

“Dammit Pearson, I told you I didn’t need any help. Go back upstairs.”

“Well, apparently, your flashlight is shit and mine is brand new so I’ll just shine the light around you.”

“Oh, my g…ugh, give me that.” Boone ripped the torch from his brothers’ hand and continued down the stairs, stopping at the bottom to pick up his now broken flash light. He walked right to the breaker box, following the chart on the door and… “Voila, fuse was tripped. We are back in business. I’ll have to check that connection tomorrow.”

He turned, shining the light around the basement and of course, no Pearson.

“Damn that kid, so unreliable.” As Boone climbed the stairs, “Is that running water?”

“Pearson!” Boone shouted throughout the house. “Get out of my shower.”

* * *

Kelsey pulled in to the rest area off the interstate, positive she couldn’t drive another five feet. She either needed strong coffee or a nap, she just wasn’t comfortable sleeping in her car in a parking lot where people could see her. So, coffee it was. Wasn’t like anyone would recognize her outside of the east coast states and maybe not even there, who knows, but it was more of a personal comfort thing.

She looked at her watch as she walked to the snack area. “Please let there be a working vending machine that dispenses coffee.” After digging for the correct amount of change and sliding it in the appropriate slot, she waited patiently for the cup to drop and the coffee to brew. The closer the black liquid got to the rim of the cup the more antsy she became.

“Please hurry, I just want to get back in my car.”

“Well, hello little lady, anything I can help you with?” Good lord, that startled her, she almost knocked over the cup.

“Um, no thank you sir, I’m doing fine.” She had her hand on the cup, ready to pull it out any second. They didn’t have lids but she had a mug in her car somewhere. The guy was creeping her out, she needed to leave. He was handsome for sure, but who approaches someone in the middle of the night at a rest stop in the vending area? Creepy. That was why she couldn’t bring herself to sleep in her car.

“I’d be glad to help you to your car with that coffee, we could have a cup together?”

“No thank you, my husband is in the bathroom, I’m waiting for him.” A lie which got her the exact reaction she was hoping for. His frown said more than he knew. She didn’t wait for any further response from him, she grabbed her cup and made a quick exit.

Once in the car, she locked the doors even before she started the engine. Kelsey would rather not have the guy notice she was the one driving and there was no husband in her car with her. While she carefully sipped the hot brew, she reactivated the GPS on her phone to see where she was.

“Colorado? I don’t remember seeing a sign that I crossed into that state.”

While she was trying to zoom in to see if she might be close to a city, her cell phone rang. It was her father’s home office number.

“I am not answering that.” He was the last person she wanted to talk to. “No amount of his bullying will get me to go back home.” He was the main reason she’d run from her home and her life. He always wanted everything perfect, couldn’t be any hiccups or scandal for the family of someone in a government office. If there was something to dig up, the press would find it.

She’d gone to the college of his choice like he’d demanded, and sequestered the perfect job thanks to his recommendation. All of which had been done purposely to keep him from being embarrassed by his daughter. The perfect child for him would have been a boy, to which he’d even admitted in the heat of an argument once. After all, his goal was the presidency and boys proved more useful in his eyes. He’d even groomed her mother to be that of a Stepford wife. A trophy wife that kept her mouth shut and never bucked the system.

It was all disgusting really, and she didn’t want anything to do with any of it. Politics had never been her thing and she was more than old enough to make her own decisions. Kelsey was ready for a quiet, low key life doing what she really wanted.

The final straw was when her father tried to arrange the perfect husband for her to marry. He was from an affluent family that supported his campaign of course. Nobody should possess that kind of control over any human being and since her mother wouldn’t stand up to her father, she didn’t have any other choice but to take control of her own life.

“Where am I? I think I just missed my exit.” There was nowhere to pull over to check her GPS and she wouldn’t fancy having an accident from playing with her phone while she drove.

Her phone beeped. “Did he really leave me a voicemail?” Her dad hated messages and he did not text. She always got scolded for not answering calls and he refused to talk to a box. She slid her notification bar down and selected voicemail and speakerphone so she didn’t have to pick it up.

“Please enter your password. Ugh I hate that lady.” She typed in her four digits and waited.

“Kelsey Watson, you need to answer your phone. Where are you? It’s past time you should have been here. I called your office and they said you left early. Your mother got your mail and opened it when you didn’t come home. It was from an online college about the paperwork for your teaching credits. What does that mean? You need to ca…” Beep. “End of message. Press seven to delete. Press nine to save.”

Kelsey hit seven then end call. “He is unbelievable, so glad I didn’t answer. I’ll call the college and take care of everything via email. Then when I decide on a place to stay, I’ll find a school that I can work with. Now if I could just figure out where I am.”