phone and is random.
How would they get it?
After what happened in the desert, after Tyler was shot, I haven't heard from them since.
I still don't know the connection between Tessa and Mac, and I wonder if they are also now after us for the second barrel of money.
No, the best thing to do is to run away and start a new life with Tyler. I have my house, a mortgage, and my job, but if I were to go back there, anyone who would want to find me would be able to.
I'd be forever looking over my shoulder.
I was already doing that when I lived there, but now I’d be doing it for a real reason.
After we count the money, I put it back into the grocery bags and stuff them in the back of the cupboard.
“What are you going to do with it first?” I ask.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you mentioned that you wanted to start a new life. I was just wondering how that would work.”
We are back on the couch, sitting across from one another. I'm facing the big window looking out at the lake just past him.
I wish more than anything that he was all better and we could take a walk along the shore like two people who were in the world together. I wonder if that will ever be possible.
Probably not.
His face is plastered all over television screens and the fact that he is so attractive makes it even more memorable.
Is this what life with Tyler will be like?
Will we always be hiding?
Will I always be doing the grocery shopping alone?
Will I always be renting cars alone?
Will I always be doing everything out there alone?
I don't know why all of these thoughts flood my mind all at once. Perhaps, I'm just in the kind of mood where I feel bad for myself.
I shouldn't. We're so lucky.
Everything has worked out with minimal bloodshed.
Yet, for some reason, I feel torn up inside.
“I'm sorry that I ever brought anything up,” Tyler says, trying to make amends. “I was just speaking from the heart. I don’t want you to feel any pressure. I know that I put you in an impossible situation.”
“I just want to imagine what our life together could be like,” I say slowly. “After you get better, what are you going to do next?”
He pauses for a moment then mentions, “That's the thing. I think that it’s better if we don't talk about it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, we're not going to go through this process together and I totally understand why you don't want to, but it's better if I keep it all to myself.”
“Why? Do you not trust me?”
“Of course, I trust you. You saved my life. I wouldn’t be here without you.”
“So why are you being so secretive?”
He furrows his brows.
“You know, you're quite the person to talk to me about being secretive.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I want you to tell me about your debt. Your mother's debt.”
“Whatever,” I say, waving my hand at him, not wanting to answer.
“How long did it take you to tell me that people were threatening you? The people got your phone number even though it's supposed to be a burner phone. How do they do that exactly?”
“I have no idea. What? Do you think I'm lying?”
The fire begins to smolder in the pit of my stomach.
Is he really accusing me of lying about this? Are we really having this conversation?
“No, I don't think you're lying. I think that people were actually after you and that was why you were so keen on taking off with an escaped convict and helping me all the way to California.”
I stare at him.
His jaw is clenched.
His eyes are ice cold.
I have always thought of him as someone with a kind heart, but now I see that there's a coldness to him that is also impenetrable.
“Fuck you,” I say. “If you actually believe that, then you can go to hell.”
I'm about to get up and walk away when Tyler grabs my arm and pushes me back down on the couch.
“What do you want?” I ask, seething with anger.
I’m about to say something else, but then his gaze warms and he looks down at my lips.
I turn my head away from him, but he's faster than I am. He presses his lips to mine.
I want to fight, but I also don't want to.
There is heat burning between us and when our lips lock, suddenly a fire explodes to the surface.
His body feels