Elana took a bite of her sandwich and studied the map. “That shouldn’t be a problem. Springfield Missouri is only four hours from here. We might even get further than that.”
Grandma Cecilia beamed. “That would be great.” She finished off her sandwich and dusted off her hands. “I’m going to find a bathroom in one of those stores before we hit the road.” She grabbed her purse and climbed out of the van.
Jack jumped up on the sofa next to Elana.
She shook her head. “You’re not supposed to be up here.”
Jack cocked his head and then looked at her hand holding a Cheeto.
She arched her brow. “Smart dog.” She held out a Cheeto, and he gently took it.
Elana finished her sandwich and was straightening the cover on the futon when Grandma Cecilia climbed into the passenger seat. “I’m ready when you are.”
Elana nodded and grabbed Jack’s leash. “I’m going to walk him before we leave.”
Once they got on the road, Elana was determined to make camp on the other side of Springfield.
In the end, she did even better. She made it to Kansas City, Missouri.
It was dark when they pulled in to the small campsite. Instead of making a fire, Elana started up the two-burner stove top inside the van. She opened the side door of the van to let some air circulate and tied Jack’s leash to the handle of the cabinet to keep him from running off.
She put the small skillet on the burner and began an omelet. She added tomatoes, green onions, and some mushrooms. When it was done, she took it to her grandmother, who was sitting at the picnic table.
“Thank you, dear.” She smiled when she saw the meal. “I bet this is going to be good.”
Elana grinned. “I hope so. I wasn’t sure why you bought mushrooms at the grocery store, so I just put them in the omelet.”
Her grandmother laughed. “I grabbed some for a salad. I figured we could have a quick lunch tomorrow.” She glanced the van where Jack was sitting in the back seat looking out. “Why don’t you bring Jack out here with me. I can watch him while you finish cooking.”
Elana frowned. “Are you sure?”
Her grandmother nodded. “Absolutely. Bring his dog bowl out. He can eat while I eat.”
She walked back to the van, gathered Jack’s bowl, and poured some dog food in. Grabbing his leash, she walked him over to her grandmother and handed it to her.
Elana walked back inside and began making her own omelet.
CHAPTER12
Jack stretched his tired body. He noticed Elana didn’t sleep very well. She kept tossing around in the small bed with her grandmother until she finally got up before the sun rose.
She quietly opened the side door of the van and stepped out.
Jack walked to the door and stared up at her. He didn’t want her to be out in the dark by herself.
She cocked her head. “You couldn’t sleep either?”
It didn’t bother him that the reason he couldn’t sleep was because she couldn’t. She would probably say her sleeplessness was because of the heat. She’d opened the windows, and a slight breeze had stirred through the van during the night. Her sleeplessness wasn’t due to it being hot. She was worried. He could smell it on her.
She clicked the leash on his collar and pressed her finger to her lips as she walked him out of the van to the picnic table. He tugged on the leash toward the grassy area, and she relented.
After he did his morning business, they walked back to their campsite.
“I need coffee, okay? So, stay here until I get the stuff out for it.” She tied his leash to the wrought-iron picnic table and walked over to the van.
When she came back, she had a bag of coffee, a bottle of water, paper towels, a dishtowel, a campfire coffee pot, and something that looked like lint.
She knelt beside the fire pit. “We’ll make coffee over the fire since I don’t want to wake Grandma Cecilia.”
