The thought froze me with conflicted feelings. On one hand, my own place meant privacy, being able to do what I wanted with Polly without making her brother uncomfortable. On the other, I couldn’t deny the fact that life as I’d known it pre-road-trip was permanently and irrevocably changed.
“Ugh. This merger is killing me,” Jared complained, still not getting to whatever the point was. “I need a break.”
I didn't say anything, because he was supposed to be on one, but as was his way, he’d put work first. Besides, if Jared hadn’t pulled out at the last second, I wouldn’t be here, wouldn’t be having the time of my life, seeing tons of new things, wouldn’t be considering a forever future with the most responsive, sweet, bratty and irresistible babygirl I’d ever had the pleasure of Daddying.
I let my silence speak for itself, and Jared continued. “Anyway, you’re not going to believe this. They didn’t even really need me to stay.”
“What?” I almost choked on my coffee. Anger on his behalf and on Polly’s blinded me.
“Well, okay, they did for the first day or two, but they don’t anymore.”
“Ddi you tell them off? Did you tell them you’d skipped a trip you’d been planning for two years to be there? That you’d put in for the time off a year ago?”
“I did.” There was an odd sound and I realized he was tapping his fingers against the desktop.
“Good,” I grunted. “So, what are you going to do?”
“Well, I was thinking I’d come and meet up with you guys. I’ll fly in and take over driving, and you can head home?”
Fuck. My mind and heart raced. Like hell. I didn't want to head home, but how did I explain that to Jared who had every reason to still think my being on this trip was a favor to him, me stepping up just like I had a thousand times in the past?
“Oh I… uh… my truck,” I managed.
“We can swap keys. You can fly home, then use mine for a few weeks.”
“I don’t… I don’t know… when?” I finally croaked.
“I need the day to finish up some stuff, I was thinking maybe tomorrow. I can fly into whatever large city you’ll be closest to.”
“Oh.” Right. That made sense. Jared could be scatterbrained but he was logical and had a lot of common sense. More than I apparently had because he kept throwing very simple solutions at what I was hoping would be insurmountable or at least inconvenient problems.
“So, where will you be tomorrow?”
Crap. Why couldn’t I answer simple questions? Because I was still trying to figure out how to convince him not to come without giving away why I didn't want him to come. “I…uhm… I think like… Colorado? We’d be in Colorado by lunchtime today, but not near any big cities. “Colorado Springs?” I answered with a sigh.
“Great. I should be able to fly into Denver then.” I could hear the click of keys as he tapped away, checking flight schedules no doubt. “I can get there tomorrow night.” More clicking. “After dinner?” I can’t find any direct flights earlier than that.”
“After dinner is fine,” I managed. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t fine. I didn’t want Jared to come. I didn’t want to leave. I needed to get off the phone and wake up Polly so we could get a start on our day and come up with a game plan. Maybe she’d be able to convince Jared not to come, since I wasn’t doing a very good job.
“Great. Hey, sorry to call so early. I figured you’d be up, trying to get back on the road.”
“Uh yeah, I mean, we need to. No worries, I would have gotten up soon anyway.” Lies. I would have stayed in bed with Polly as long as I could. I was tempted to do so now.
“Cool. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Great. See you then.” My voice actually cracked as I made to hang up, but Jared’s voice stopped me.
“Cas, wait!”
“Yeah?”
“Please don’t tell Polly I’m coming. I want to surprise her.”
Polly
Leaning forward, I played with the radio and once I’d found a station that didn’t suck, turned up the volume.
“Don’t,” Cas barked, reaching forward to knock my hand away from the dial. He’d been in a piss-poor mood all day.
