The car, which is a beat-up blue sedan, slows down and the window rolls down to reveal an older man and woman, both of whom are well dressed, like they’ve just been out to dinner. The man leans out, his eyes raking over us before narrowing. “Are you ladies lost?”
I smile innocently. “Actually we were at our friend’s house and didn’t realize just how far away it was from town, so we were hoping to get a ride if you’re heading that way?”
The man glances at his wife, who leans over him and smiles. “Hop in, young ladies like you shouldn’t be out in the middle of the road at night. It’s dangerous out here.”
Is it?
I find that hard to believe.
“Thank you,” Fallon beams as we climb into the car.
“Were are you heading?”
“Just to the closest bar,” I say and the man laughs.
“I like your style.”
“We’re here for a good time, not a long time,” I joke, and he chuckles.
We chat easily to them the entire way into town, which is a good deal farther than I thought it would be. Still we make it to a local café in good time and thank the couple for the ride. They’re more than happy to tell us which places to go, and then they zip off leaving us standing out the front of a place called Wildflowers. They’re having some sort of music night, because the sounds of someone singing can be heard trailing out of the front doors where people are standing around, chatting and laughing.
“This looks like a good time,” I say to the girls. “Let’s check it out.”
We go inside the bustling little place that is far more than just a café. It boasts a stage which currently has a small band playing. In one section, there are booths and a little bar, while the other section serves food. It’s well thought out considering it offers the best of both worlds. Coffee and cake in the morning, alcohol and music at night. You can’t go wrong with that.
We take a seat at one of the booths, and it’s at that moment I realize we have zero in the way of money. I didn’t even consider that we wouldn’t have cash to spend, being that we’ve been in prison for a number of years and technically we haven’t been fully released so we haven’t been given any of our things back yet. We don’t even have phones.
“I didn’t consider the cash situation,” I tell the girls.
“It’s okay,” Fallon says, pulling a neat hundred out of her pocket. “I have a little stash. Don’t ask how, but I brought some for us tonight.”
My eyes widen. This girl is full of secrets.
“I’ll go get us a round, you two start eyeing down some of the sexy locals so we can get some free drinks.”
I grin and Ember’s face flushes. She leans in close when Fallon walks away. “She was joking, right?”
“Come on, all those years locked up, aren’t you desperate for a bit of male attention?”
She frowns. “Nope, not really, males have always been nothing but a pain in the ass for me.”
I laugh. “Well, you can still use that beautiful face to get what you want.”
She rolls her eyes and leans back.
I stare around at the people and realize just how long it has been since I’ve been in a situation like this. People and atmosphere, a place where I didn’t feel like an outcast. I study the groups of people, and the couples, and my heart feels a little less heavy. I notice a big group of what appears to be bikers, judging by the leather jackets they’re wearing. They’re with a beautiful group of women, and they stand out like a sore thumb.
“Daunting, aren’t they?”
I spin around to see a woman standing by our booth. She’s gorgeous, from head to toe, and has a smile on her face and a tag on her shirt that says Evelina. I meet her eyes and give her my best smile, even if inside I’m a bit nervous that we’ll somehow be caught for this and end up right back where we came from. “They are,” I say to her, “but I was staring more out of curiosity than anything.”
“Well, that big guy there—” she points to a big, burly, gorgeous man “—that’s Riggs, he’s my guy. We’re all kind of ... blended. I’m Eve, I own this place. I haven’t seen you ladies around here before. Are you new in town?”
I grin. “Yep, just passing through, it’s a great place.”
“It sure is. Well, I hope you enjoy yourselves. We’ll have live music going for quite a few hours yet, and the drinks are fantastic.”
“I have no doubt we’ll have a great night.”
She gives us one more smile and then disappears back into the crowd. Ember exhales, a little nervously.