After stopping off at a gas station to fill up and grabbing a few snacks for ourselves we head out on our road trip. Chase kept up a constant chatter about his classes and upcoming graduation in the spring. He had already applied for a few jobs for the next school year and was hoping to hear back from some soon. He filled me in on the upcoming band gigs they had and the few new songs that he had written that he was nervous to be trying out. Caleb of course kept up a steady babble too until he finally fell asleep. I added a few comments in but was still lost in thought after talking to grandma.
“Leah?” I look over at Chase who has a concerned look on his face after I realize he’s been trying to get my attention the past few minutes. “You okay?” he asks as he rubs his hand up and down on my thigh.
“Yeah, just thinking. I talked to my grandma before we left.”
“Oh yeah, how’d that go?”
“Pretty much just how I expected.” I mumble. “Seemed like I was inconveniencing her by calling more than anything.”
I look over at Chase who remains silent. His strong jaw is tense with his lips pressed into a firm line and he looks like he is trying to stay in control.
“I’m sorry Leah, you don’t deserve to be treated like that. Ever.” He slams his hand down on the steering wheel. “I could tell something was wrong as soon as you came down. You don’t have to keep everything inside, you have me, just let me in.”
I reach over and grab his hand interlacing my small fingers with his long slender ones. “Thanks Chase. I know you’re here and that means so much to me. It might just take me a little time to warm up to the idea, you just have to give me some time.”
He lifts our hands to his lips and gives me a small kiss that shoots tingles down to my toes. Just the simplest touches from him seem to set my body on fire. “We need to take a break, I think we’re about two hours away.”
“Yeah I need to stretch my legs a bit. I really don’t want to wake up Caleb but I’m sure he needs a potty break. I’ll take over driving too if you don’t mind.”
“Sure, that would be good.” He pulls in to a rest stop off the highway and we both run in to take bathroom breaks. Caleb insists he needs to go with Chase so he can go to the potty’s where you stand. I didn’t know those were so exciting but apparently having Chase around has some benefits. Chase tosses the keys to me and I follow the directions from the GPS.
I focus more on my conversation with Chase and we talk more about my school and I explain to him how I have about a year left give or take, depending on whether or not I take summer classes. He talks more about how he learned to play the guitar and how it was almost an instant thing for him, the playing came so easily.
“You’re really good,” I say. “I’m not into music much but I could listen to you play guitar anytime. And your voice. How come Teddys the lead singer, you could totally steal the lime light from him. You have such a deep gruff tone to your voice and it comes out when you sing.”
He barks out a laugh, “I won’t tell Teddy you said that, his ego might get deflated a bit. Being in the spotlight really isn’t my thing. Teddy likes all of the attention, I just like to play.”
“Well I would be your biggest fan if you ever decide to make it a career. And you totally could.”
“Thanks I’ll remember that if the teaching thing doesn’t work out at least I’ll have one album sold.” He glances up at the GPS, tapping at the screen. “Looks like we’ll be there in about ten minutes, are you ready for this?”
I take a deep breath in as I take our exit off the highway, “I think so, I just want to get it over with and move on. My mom already did that when she left me all those years ago but this will give me some closure.”
We pull into the station that the detective had directed us too. Chase talks to the receptionist when we enter and she directs us to a group of chairs to wait in until the detective can see us. I pull out some cars for Caleb to keep him occupied and he takes off to run them over every surface in the waiting area. A gruff looking man who looks like he hasn’t showered in days is sitting there with his head buried in his hands propped onto his knees. I drop down into the chair a few over from his as we wait.
The scratching of the chair must have startled him out of his trance and he looks up, “Leah?”
I’m surprised when I hear my name coming from this mans lips and look over at him. “Um, yes?”
“You look so much like your mom,” he says as he eyes flick across the features of my face like he’s trying to memorize them. “I know you’ve only ever met me once and even then it was kind of brief. I’m Tank,” he says as he stands up and holds out a shaking hand to me.
I look closer at him and instantly recognize him after I look past the longer greasy hair and full beard since the last time I had seen him. I reach out a hand and shake it lightly as his dirty hand that looks like it’s covered in grime engulfs mine.