All In Read Free

their
adventure? They’d been through so much together, all the pains and inadequacies
of growing up.
    His warm breaths blew into her hair, his words
quiet. “Here, you hungry?”
    Cara looked into his eyes, their faces nose to nose.
Mick smiled faintly. Thin lines crinkled around his eyes, pulling her gaze down
to his lips. Cara shifted in her seat. Mick passed her an apple and what
appeared to be a flattened cruller wrapped in Saran wrap.
    “Thanks,” she said, smiling. She felt warm, grabbing
the collar of her coat and lowering the zipper.
    “I’d take that off. You don’t want to get overheated,”
Mick told her.
    He assisted her with the sleeve. Mick draped the
coat across his lap, and they ate in silence. Thoughts and questions bounced
around in her head. Mick handed her a small bottle of water. Cara washed down
the dry crumbs and faced him.
    “So … where are we going?” she whispered, not
wanting anyone to overhear and think she was crazy.
    Mick’s dry laughter filled the pause between them in
the small space of their seats.
    “I was wondering when you’d ask,” he said
sarcastically.
    “Well… I…”
    He patted her knee. As fast as his hand landed, it
was gone, back in his lap.
    “Kidding, Muffin,” he smiled. “Just
kidding.”
    She hadn’t heard that nickname in a while. Mick had
always called her Muffin. When they were younger, it angered her, but when Cara
accepted that he would never let it go, she grew to like it. He’d used it less
and less as the years passed. Tonight, with all the tension of their departure
mounting, Cara now found it comforting.
    “This bus will take us into Stroudsburg. After that,
we’ll see,” Mick told her, shrugging. “No worries.” He shifted in his seat, reclining
back for the ride.
    Stroudsburg would be about five hours into the trip. Then what? Cara pressed the button on
the armrest. Her seat eased back. Cara turned, gazing up at the sharp lines of
Mick’s jaw.
    “Then what?” she asked, vocalizing her thoughts. Mick
turned, staring at her.
    “We’ll see,” he repeated. Mick closed his eyes. Maybe
he was making this up as they went along, a fake-it-till-you-make-it sort of
thing.
    Cara slept, feeling the vibrations of the bus’s
engine beneath her feet. Night had fully fallen, blanketing the windows, the
bus dark. Cara opened her eyes briefly, seeing the shadows of the other
passengers as they slept, read, or worked on their electronic devices. She
licked her lips, feeling a pasty thirst coat her mouth before dozing off again.
A mixture of odors had ripened in the stuffy air. Stale perfume and the
personal fragrances of others filled the bus.
    ****
    Mick’s gentle nudge had her sitting up abruptly.
Cara blinked the grogginess out of her eyes, her mouth parched for liquid.
    “We’re bailing at the next stop. Make sure your
stuff is together,” he told her. Mick stood, stretching as he reached up into
the overhead compartment. He retrieved their packs and returned to his seat,
setting them on the floor between his feet.
    The hum of the bus’s engine downshifted as they
slipped off the freeway and rounded the exit ramp. Cara put on her coat. She
was tired and thirsty, but would refrain from complaining. Progress was
painful, so she’d often been told. No
pain, no gain.
    The bus pulled up in front of the station. Large
lights from outside lit up the interior. Drowsy passengers mumbled and groaned
as they gathered their belongings.
    A few straggling passengers loitered in front of the
terminal. Cara twisted in her seat, trying to read the clock in the back of the
bus above the bathroom door. It was almost 1 a.m.
    When the bus came to a stop, Mick rose out of his
seat, his face lined with seriousness.
    “Ready?” he asked.
    “Yup, ready.” Cara stood, bracing herself between
the seats. The engine cut off as people began to crowd the aisle. She gazed out
the windows of the bus. Travelers lugged their carry-ons as they made their way
inside the