Cindy blinked as if contemplating her options.She glanced in the back of the van.“There’s no place for me to sleep.I’ll just be in the way.”
Maggie shook her head.“You can take the bed.I was going to set up a tent for tonight anyway.It will be the first time I camped in a tent, and it was one of the things I wanted to do on this trip.”
Cindy’s eyes widened.“You’re giving me your bed?”
Maggie snorted.“Sure.But only for tonight.”
Cindy’s shoulders slumped.
Maggie grinned.“Tomorrow night you’ll take the tent, and I’ll get the bed.We can rotate.”
The reassurance drew a smile out of Cindy.“Okay.But you must let me pay my way somehow.Let me make dinner tonight.”
Maggie cut her eyes at her.“Do you know how to make burgers?”
Cindy lit up.“Absolutely.My mom taught me.I can make the best burgers in the South.”
Walker gave an affirming bark.
Both girls laughed at the canine.
“Looks like you’ll have to make extra for Walker.He seems excited to have the best burger in the South.”Maggie chuckled.
Maggie managed to make good time to Wichita.They got caught up in traffic, so, when they finally pulled into the camp site, they were starving.
Chapter19
Maggie let out a contented moan.“Cindy, you were not kidding.This really is the best hamburger I’ve ever had.”She set her burger down on the paper plate and took a drink of water.
Cindy’s face brightened.With each encouraging word, the shadows under her eyes and the weight she seemed to carry on her shoulders seemed to be less visible.
“Thank you.My family are really good cooks.I used to stay with my grandparents in the summers when I was a kid and she taught me how to can vegetables out of their garden.”Cindy took a bite of her hamburger and glanced away.
“That must have been nice.I never knew my grandparents.My mom’s parents were killed in a car crash and my dad’s parents live in England.He cut them off before I was born.”
Cindy glanced over at Maggie.“What did his parents do for him to cut them off?”
Maggie blinked.“Actually, I’m not sure.He just says they never got along.They moved to England before I was born and never tried to keep in touch.”It always bothered Maggie that her only set of living grandparents didn’t even try to reach out to her after knowing they had a grandchild.Whenever she brought it up with her parents she was always quickly shut down and they changed the conversation.As the years passed, she didn’t think about the subject much anymore.
“You said this was a spur of the moment road trip.”Cindy gave her an inquisitive look.‘What made you take a trip in the first place?”
Maggie set her half-eaten burger down.Her gaze wandered over to Walker and she debated how much to tell the girl.In the end, she decided to go for the truth.
“I caught my boyfriend and best friend together.In our apartment.”
Cindy’s eyes grew wide.“Your best friend?Did you get in a fight with her?”
Maggie shook her head.“They didn’t even hear me when I walked in.So, I left our apartment and went home.”
Cindy’s eyes darkened.“I bet your parents wanted to punch him in the face, especially your dad.”
Maggie felt her shoulders slump.“I didn’t tell them when I got home.”
Cindy stared.
“It’s just that my parents really liked Mason and he’s from a good family and I didn’t want to disappoint them.”
Cindy snorted.“Sounds like Mason is the one that disappointed them, not you.”Cindy nodded.“My dad almost punched Tony in the face when he came over to my house the first time.”
