Promises To Keep. Shirley Hailstock

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ remember.”

      “Wait a minute,” Sara said. “You’re not considering this?” she asked Lydia.

      “Of course not. I can’t just up and leave.”

      “Lydia, it’ll be fun,” McKenna said. “The two of us, the wind in our hair, a car that any man over thirty would drool over. Just think about it. The open road. No cares. No deadlines. No one screaming for your attention.”

      Lydia considered it for a moment. She walked around the car, checking inside at the upholstery and smallness of the interior.

      “Fine,” she said. “We’ll be like Thelma and Louise.”

      “No, we won’t,” McKenna exclaimed, her eyebrows raised in protest. “The Grand Canyon is several hundred miles north of any part of Route 66.”

      “I was kidding,” Lydia said.

      McKenna’s shoulders dropped. “Lydia, I’ve been thinking about this ever since Marshall died.” She faced Sara and addressed her. “It’s something I want to do. I have to do it. Don’t burst my bubble now.”

      “I know you’re slightly off your rocker,” Lydia spoke up. “But it’s good to give life a jolt once in a while, instead of waiting for it to do it to you.”

      “Now she’s got it, too,” Sara said. “You’re both crazy.”

      “The car’s only got two seats,” McKenna pointed out, ignoring Sara. “We’ll be traveling light and that means no men.”

      “But Tod and Buz had women. Why can’t we have men? Thelma and Louise had men, too, only they killed them,” Lydia said.

      “I draw the line at murder, but pretty much everything else is fine with me.” McKenna smiled.

      Lydia and McKenna grinned at each other. And then they grinned at Sara and Adrienne. After a moment, they all burst into laughter.

CHAPTER TWO

      TWO MORE DAYS, McKenna thought, leaving the store. The last thing she needed for the trip was a lightweight jacket. She’d found one that was warm, but not bulky. It was red and swung inside the bag she carried.

      She stopped along Main Street to look in the window of a small boutique. A royal blue gown expertly displayed on a mannequin stood in the window. McKenna gasped at its beauty. She could see herself wearing it. If she was going to a ball, it would be perfect. But her car was small and now she had a passenger. There was no room for anything superfluous. Not even a gorgeous royal blue gown would fit into the single bag she was using for this trip.

      Not to mention her plans didn’t include any evening functions requiring such a dress. Turning away, McKenna wasn’t expecting anyone to be so close to her. She ran directly into the massive chest of a man. Strong arms came out to steady her. The bag dropped to the ground as her fingers grabbed and found hefty biceps and held on.

      “I am so sorry,” she began, looking up at the man she’d walked into. “Parker!” He was the last person she expected or wanted to see.

      “McKenna,” he replied, letting her go.

      “Excuse me. I should have been paying more attention.”

      He glanced at the blue ball gown. “Apparently you were.”

      She smiled quickly, only allowing her lips to widen and close. Parker Fordum had to be the most boring man in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. McKenna had had run-ins with him in the past and did not want either a repeat of them or to spend more time in his company than was absolutely necessary.

      “As neither of us is hurt, I’ll say goodbye,” she told him. She reached down and retrieved her bag, then moved to leave, but Parker stopped in front of her.

      “I hear you’re planning an adventure,” he said.

      “I am.” She raised her brows, meeting his gaze, ready for the challenge she knew would be reflected there. She wasn’t disappointed. She had to look up, as Parker stood a head taller than her five feet, five inches.

      He was a good-looking man. She had to admit that. His eyes were piercing and at times they could be comforting. She’d seen him look at Lydia with happiness then changing to a soft warmth.

      Reflecting his European ancestry, Parker had thick dark hair, a square jawline and features that commanded attention. His arms were long, extending from broad shoulders. Equally long were his strong legs. While she wouldn’t call him athletic, Parker and Marshall often went skiing together and they had a regular Saturday morning basketball game. She didn’t know who, if anyone, he played with now that Marshall was gone.

      For all his attributes, college professor described him best, the phrase like a tattoo. In her presence, at least, that was the personality he showed. Granted it was also laced with hostility. She didn’t blame him for that. She was hostile to him, too. The two of them just didn’t hit it off.

      “California, by way of Route 66?” His voice interrupted her assessment of him.

      “How did you know?” McKenna asked.

      “How often do we have the female owner of an international automotive parts corporation restoring a Corvette in her garage and planning to drive it from here to the Pacific?”

      “I suppose word is all over town about my trip.”

      “I don’t think it made it to downtown Chicago, but the entire township of Woodbine Heights has had the privilege.”

      “Adrienne or Sara?”

      “Sara.” He nodded.

      McKenna had no doubt her sister-in-law would be telling the tale, including her opinion of how harebrained the scheme was.

      “Don’t worry about what she says,” Parker told her. “The idea of driving Route 66 is fascinating.”

      “You think so?” she asked. McKenna forced herself not to blink. Was this the real Parker Fordum she was talking to?

      “Absolutely,” he said.

      McKenna looked at Parker to make sure he wasn’t being facetious. She knew people could say one thing and mean another. But his appearance seemed to be genuine.

      “I envy you.”

      “What?” McKenna couldn’t be hearing the straitlaced, put-everything-into-a-box Professor Parker Fordum was envying her.

      “Taking off for the wild unknown with only your wits as backup. It’s a brave thing to do.”

      She was about to thank him, but his next words stopped her.

      “And a foolhardy one.”

      “Excuse me?” McKenna pushed her hand through the plastic bag’s handle. She should have known he was setting her up. Parker was always true to character. How could McKenna have thought for a moment he would agree with her motives? She was going and she didn’t СКАЧАТЬ