He shrugged, realizing he shouldn’t have started the conversation if he didn’t want to talk about it himself.
“Hanging in there,” he admitted.
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“Only a year left.” He groaned.
“What will you do then?” she asked.
“Not sure.” He glanced over at her. “You?”
“I still have a few years left to decide.” She actually sounded eager and excited, and he realized that there were more differences between them than just age.
“You’re taking classes for…” he asked.
“Physical sciences,” she answered enthusiastically. “Chemistry, geology…”
He remembered she’d always been great at the sciences. “So, any particular field you’re interested in?”
“There are so many options. Too many, that’s the problem.” She tucked her feet up on his dash and rested her arms on her knees as she glanced out the window.
The snow continued to fall and had slowed down the traffic to the point that it was going to add an extra hour to their trip.
“At least you have options,” he hinted.
“True.” She smiled. “You’ll have plenty of options as well with your degree in engineering.”
“Yeah.” He swallowed the knot in his throat. “Sure.”
“What?” she asked. He glanced over at her. “You had a tone.”
“No tone,” he replied.
“Oh please.” She chuckled.
“Can you believe Chris wants to sign up for more school?” He tried to change the subject.
“He wants to go for his bachelor’s in health,” Alice answered.
“Yeah, crazy.” He shook his head thinking about his best friend, how they differed. Chris had always been great at school, just like Alice.
“He’s always loved school.”
“The two of you were always too smart for the rest of us,” he admitted.
She chuckled. “If I remember correctly, you and Chris were always neck and neck in school.”
“Not always,” he admitted begrudgingly.
“How about lunch?” she asked when the traffic came to a stop. “If we get off the highway now and grab some food, maybe this will clear up by the time we’re done.”
“Great idea.” He started moving across the highway towards the exit. “I’m sure there’s a place around here.”
They found a little diner near the highway and had soup and sandwiches while the traffic continued to crawl by the windows.
When they got back in the car, the traffic was moving more swiftly, and the conversation turned to their families.
His sister and two brothers were all married and living their own lives. His older brother Nathan had his first child on the way. Sarah and Mike had their son Joshua, while Joe, who was only a year and a half older than Eric, had two kids, Aiden and Evan.
Being the youngest of the group had always meant that he lagged behind everyone else.
Just before nightfall, they hit Sacramento and he pulled over once more to fill his car while she rushed into the gas station to use the restroom and grab some snacks.
After filling up, he walked in and grabbed some chips and a bottled water.
“Won’t you need more than that to stay awake?” she asked, nodding to the water.
“Nope,” he answered. “I was hoping you would take the wheel for a while.”
“Sure.” She motioned to the large soda in her hands. “I slept for a few hours, so I should be good to go.”
Chapter 3
Alice couldn’t help but sneak peeks at Eric while he slept. Sure enough, he was even sexier asleep than when he was awake. She kept her mind busy as she drove towards home, thinking of her parents and being home for her first holiday since she’d moved out. She’d spent Thanksgiving with a few of her new friends. A large group of them had gone to a little lounge in downtown Santa Monica and then had wandered over to the beach and ended up at Pacific Park.
It hadn’t really felt like Thanksgiving, since it had been in the seventies and they had eaten at a little fish lounge that specialized in tourist food. Even with all the festive decorations and music pumping through the speakers, she’d missed Oregon and her family. Which was why she’d asked her brother to drive her home this year for the two weeks’ vacation she needed.
Where was Chris anyway? Was he on his way home? She’d texted him, but, so far, he hadn’t responded.
She glanced over at Eric again. He would know. When he woke up, she’d have to pump him for information about her brother.
The last time she’d seen Chris, he’d been dating someone named Dawn and had hinted that it was getting serious. Was he still dating her? Oh god! Was he bringing her home for Christmas so the folks could meet her? If so, why wouldn’t he have wanted her along for the trip? Something wasn’t sitting right with her and the sooner Eric woke up, the sooner she could get answers.
Seeing that the gas had reached a quarter of a tank, she decided to pull off at the next exit and hit the gas station.
When she finally pulled in under the bright lights of a gas station, she’d been driving a little more than four hours.
Before she could jump out, however, a gas attendant knocked on her window, waking Eric up.
“Where are we?” he asked instantly.
“Just outside of Roseburg.” She rolled down the window and told the attendant. “Fill it up.” He nodded and disappeared.
“Right.” Eric stretched and rolled his shoulders.
“I’m heading in for a bathroom break and a coffee. Want anything?” she asked.
“I’ll head in as well.” He followed her inside and shopped around while she disappeared into the bathroom.
When she came out, he was at the register paying for the gas and some food.
She grabbed the largest coffee cup and filled it up, then took a breakfast burrito from the heater, making sure to check the date.
“I just made those,” the woman behind the counter called out to her in a friendly tone.
“Wonderful.” She smiled and took another one, wondering if Eric had grabbed one for himself. She took her coffee and the burritos to the front and paid.
“You two heading home for the holidays?” the woman asked.
“Yes.” She smiled.
“Are you heading north or south?”
“North,” she answered as she signed the credit card machine.
“I hope you don’t have too far left to go,” the woman said, handing back her credit card and receipt.
“Why?” She frowned as she tucked them back into her purse.
“You’re going to run into problems early morning. There’s heavy snow just outside of Eugene. You’d be better off heading over on the one-thirty-eight and hitting the coast the rest of the way up. Eugene’s supposed to get at least a foot of the white stuff before daybreak. After that… even more. It’s going to be a very white Christmas for a lot of us around here.”
“Thanks.” She took the bag with her burritos and her coffee.
“I told your man there the same, but he seemed half asleep still.” She nodded to the large window.