“You were out when your head hit the pillow.”

Alex smirked. “Well, what are we going to do now?”

“What are you talking about?”

“We’ve already slept together.” Alex grinned from ear to ear.

Jorden slapped his hand. “Never! You slept, and I laid there with my eyes wide open.”

“Not this morning. I had to wake you up.”

“I’m not counting it as a wakeup call. Besides, if you want to be technical, I slept with two men.”

“Okay, you win. At least admit it was nice to be close. The storm made this quite an adventure.”

Jorden reached over and squeezed his hand.

Tom slept in the back seat until they reached the outskirts of Lockton. Alex stopped for several red lights, waking Tom with the change in momentum.

“Are we in Columbus?”

“No. We’re three hours away in Lockton, Alabama.” Alex looked at Tom in the rearview mirror. “Be patient, we’re getting closer.”

“You should have taken my offer to drive.” Jorden watched Tom lean forward to make sure Alex could hear him. “You know, we’d be in Columbus by now.”

Alex ignored him as he approached the turn for Jorden’s grandmother’s home.

“It’s the next one on the right,” Jorden said as she motioned to Alex.

Jorden could see her Volkswagen under the large pecan tree. She looked for her grandmother’s car; it was nowhere in sight. She got out of the Mustang and knocked on the front door. No answer. Perfect. Alex and Tom could drive on and she would stop by Justin’s to make amends.

Satisfied with her plan, Jorden threw up her arms up to indicate no one was there. “Why don’t you and Tom go on to Columbus? I’ll wait for Grandma in Lockton.”

“We’ll wait with you.”

“Come on, Alex, I want to get back to Columbus. Jorden can drive on later.” Tom looked like he was ready to spit fire.

“No. We’re waiting. I’m not budging,” Alex muttered

Tom swore and slammed his hands against the dashboard.

“Go on. There’s no reason to wait for me,” Jorden called back.

Alex glared at Jorden. “I’m not leaving without you.”

“It’s okay,” Jorden said, gritting teeth. “Go on for Tom’s sake.”

“Yeah. Yeah! Hear that? Let’s go,” Tom barked.

“No!” Alex adamantly stated, leaving no room for rebuttal.

“Look—Grandma may have gone to dinner at my aunt’s home, so it’s futile to wait. I’ll leave a note.” She silently cursed his stubbornness. Now what would she do? She couldn’t have Alex following her to Justin’s.

“Good. We’ll follow you on to Columbus.” Alex proceeded to start his car while Jorden walked over to her Volkswagen. She would try and outrun them.

Chapter 27: January 1970

Chapter 27

January 1970