This was not a part of the plan. Being stranded in this small town was not something I factored in. If it was just me, I’d sleep in the car until morning, but I can’t do that to Cora. She deserves a bed, at the very least. And a hot meal, and?—
Paul must see something on my face because something in his eyes softens. “If you need to sort out a place to sleep tonight, there’s a place on the outskirts of town. It’s nothing fancy,” he says. “If you want fancy, you need to go at least fifteen miles down the road, and there’s a Holiday Inn. But this place is clean and safe enough. Your little one will be okay there.”
I swallow hard. “Thank you.” It’s not Paul’s fault that everything is coming apart, so I’m not going to be rude to him about it. “I’ll… be back to see about the car tomorrow.”
“Hopefully I’ll have some good news for you.”
He turns to head back to the garage, and I grab Cora’s hand and shoulder our bags. It’s a long walk to the edge of Silver Falls, and I try not to let myself spiral as we get going.
“We’ll be here a little longer,” I tell Cora, keeping my tone as light and cheerful as I can. “But it’ll be like an adventure, right? A night in a new place.”
Cora looks up at me, her face set in serious lines.
“I know it’s a little outside the plan we talked about, but stuff happens. And maybe this place we’re staying will have a TV. You can watch some cartoons, and we’ll relax for the night, okay?”
If Cora is worried, she doesn’t show it, and I guess that has to be good enough.
My mind swirls with worries and fears, but all the while, the scent of apple and brandy lingers in my nostrils.
Chapter 2
Harper
The next morning, I wake with my stomach growling. Cora keeps touching her stomach with sad eyes, and I know what that means. The peanuts from the vending machine at the mechanic were a long time ago, and she’s hungry.
We’re down to our last few dollars, but Cora needs to eat.
I’ve never been comfortable eating in front of others anyway—which is leftover bullshit from being with a pack who used to comment on every bite I took—but I can’t stand to watch Cora get thinner. I owe her so much more than that.
So we get up and put on fresh clothes for the day, washing up in the tiny bathroom the little motel room has to offer.
We walk into the center of town, and I stop a bit to take in the scenery around me. Silver Falls is gorgeous in the early morning. There’s still a crispness in the air and morning light sparkles on the dew-covered buildings and streetlights. In the background, the mountains stretch up into the clouds, everything lush and green.
We’re on Main Street, and each building represents a local business, opening up for the morning. People call out to each other as they begin their days, and it’s clear we’ve walked right into a scene that happens like clockwork every day here.
It’s like a postcard, or something from a cheesy holiday movie, and I can’t decide if that’s comforting or terrifying.
I don’t have too much time to dwell on it.
Cora tugs on my hand, and I look down to see her pointing toward a yellow building with a sign overhead that reads Dolly’s Diner. That’s where the smell of syrup and frying bacon seems to be coming from, and Cora touches her stomach again.
“Okay,” I tell her, swallowing hard. “We’ll go check it out.”
Inside, we’re immediately set upon by a hurricane of a woman. I barely have time to take in the flour dusted apron and silver bouffant before piercing green eyes are boring into me.
“Good morning, good morning,” the woman says. Probably Dolly herself, if I had to guess. “Come right this way, you two.”
I blink, but we hurry to follow her, ending up at a booth right by the window.
“Best table in the house,” the woman says, winking at Cora.
We can see people walking by down the street from our spot, and Cora turns wide eyes out the window, taking it all in.
“Oh,” I say, trying not to cringe back from the force of this lady. “You didn’t have to do that. We… we would have been fine anywhere.”
She waves that away. “Nonsense. I could tell when you walked in that you could use some pampering, and since it’s my place, I get to decide who sits where. Now. You’re new in town?”
“Just passing through.”