Page 96 of The Road That Leads to Us (Us 1)
There wasn’t much in Cullman, so we’d be heading on today without lingering to explore the town.
I’d showered last night, but I chose to shower again to kill time until Willow woke up.
When I finished in the bathroom she was still sleeping and didn’t look like she’d be waking up anytime soon.
I grabbed my packed bag and went outside to put it in the car.
My stomach rumbled and I groaned. There was no way I could wait until Willow woke up to eat.
I chose to head down to the nearby fast food drive-thru and ordered a bit of everything. As hungry as I was Willow would be lucky if there was anything left for her.
I took the bag of food and rummaged through it before pulling out of the lot. I found what I’d been looking for, a hash brown, and stuffed it in my mouth.
Oh sweet sustenance.
My phone buzzed on the passenger seat and I saw Willow’s name flash across the screen.
I reached over and grabbed the phone off the seat and pressed the flashing green button.
“Y’ello?” I said, my standard greeting of Yeah and Hello combined—true, it sounded more like the color yellow, but it was my thing.
“Dean?” Her voice was panicked on the other end and I automatically pressed harder on the gas.
“Yeah? What is it? Are you okay?” I rattled off the questions one right after the other.
“Where are you?” She sounded near tears and out of breath.
“On my way back to the hotel. I got breakfast.”
“Oh.” The sound of her breath whooshing past her lips echoed over the line. “I woke up and you weren’t there and I saw your bags gone and I know it was silly, but—”
“But you thought I was gone,” I finished for her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d wake up.” And if she did I hadn’t thought of what she’d think of my missing bags. “I wanted to get a head start on loading the car and then I was hungry, so…food.” I shrugged even though she couldn’t see me. “I’m pulling into the hotel lot now.”
“Okay,” she said and hung up.
I grabbed up the food and drinks and headed inside the building. It was a normal chain hotel with maroon colored floors and yellow-gold walls—were they Gryffindor or something?—and the signs that boasted it as a Non-Smoking establishment. The lingering stench of cigarettes suggested otherwise.
Stopping in front of Room 102 I grabbed the credit card like key from my back pocket and went to slide it into the metal slot. However, the door opened before I could.
“I smelled food.” Willow grinned and held out her hands in a grabbing motion. “Gimme! I’m hungry!”
We both acted like we never ate.
She took the bag of food from me and stepped aside so I could enter the room.
We ended up sitting on the bed together, the food spread out between us, while we watched some old kid’s TV show.
“I can’t believe I used to love this show as a kid,” Willow commented.
She lay on her side, using her elbow to hold herself up.
She tore off a piece of hash brown and stuck it in her mouth.
“I mean, seriously, a magic rock that takes them to Dragon Land or whatever the hell it’s called. And that old dragon guy is seriously creepy. When I was little I thought he was so smart, but I really think he smokes pot or something. I mean, listen to the way he talks. High? Amiright?”
I shook my head, laughing under my breath. “Maybe we should change the channel.” I reached for the remote.
“No!” She grabbed my hand and stopped me from grabbing it. “This is far too entertaining.”