Until Then (Cape Harbor #2) - Heidi McLaughlin Page 0,80

times, Graham found himself counting the oncoming cars to keep his mind occupied. He talked to Rennie, which was more like talking to himself, because she wasn’t answering him. She also wasn’t providing any sort of commentary to keep the conversation flowing.

“Do you remember our sophomore year when we had that really minor earthquake? I don’t think it even registered on the Richter scale.” He laughed. “You were on campus, hanging out, and we were getting ready to go to some frat party or something. Was it the toga party?” He looked at Rennie for confirmation, but she was gazing out the window. He continued, “Or maybe that party was later. Anyway, so you and I are walking, and we’re goofing around. We had pregamed, and we’re feeling a bit tipsy, but then I started leaning toward the right, and you the left. People were falling, and a few people were screaming, which I didn’t get. I had no clue what was going on, and you were on the ground, laughing.

“When someone hollered out we had an earthquake, I was like ‘That was it?’ because I barely felt anything, and I remember when I told my mom I wanted to go to California for school, she freaked because of all the earthquakes, and I had to remind her they were more south. Of course, you called your mom and told her all about it; she called the Hewetts, and Brooklyn’s mom told my mom, who thought the ocean had swallowed the campus. She told me to come home right away because San Jose was dangerous.”

He glanced at Rennie again, but she hadn’t moved. Graham’s head was on a partial swivel, going from watching his friend to the road and back again. He thought about pulling over or finding a hotel, any place where he could hold her until she was ready to tell him what happened back in Whistler. As he drove, signs for the border came into view, and he pressed the gas pedal a smidge more to increase his speed.

“I’m going to need your passport,” he told her.

Rennie rummaged through her purse, pulled out her passport, and handed it to Graham without a word. She continued to stare out the window with the angriest look he had ever seen on her face. For as long as he’d known her, she’d always been the type to brush her emotions under the rug, and if someone upset her, she sought revenge, which was why she made a damn fine lawyer.

Graham inched his car forward, waiting his turn at the border. For some reason, he was nervous, afraid they weren’t going to be allowed back into the United States. He knew it was silly to think such a thing, but the thought tickled the back of his mind. When the signal light turned green, he slowly let off the gas and pulled up to the border agent.

“Passports or enhanced IDs,” the man said gruffly. Graham handed them over. “Where do you live?”

“I live in Cape Harbor, and she lives in Seattle.”

The agent bent forward to look farther into the car. “Roll down your back windows.” Graham did as he was told. “How long were you in Canada?”

“Only a few hours.”

“What was your business there? Anything to declare?”

“I went and picked up my friend, and no.”

The agent waited for Rennie to say something.

Without looking at the agent, Rennie said, “I drove with a friend to the ski lodge in Whistler. I couldn’t stay, so Graham picked me up.”

Graham grew irritated with Rennie. She had to know she looked suspicious when she didn’t make eye contact with the guard. Graham waited, his fingers gripping the steering wheel while the agent typed on his computer. The temptation was there to ask what the screen read, in the hope of making light of the fact his passenger acted fishy and slightly rude.

After what seemed like an hour, the border agent handed Graham his ID and Rennie’s passport back and told them to have a nice night. As soon as he was away from the station, he floored it. They technically had an hour until they were home, but forty-five minutes or less if Graham had anything to say about it.

He thought about bringing up some old memories, like the time they went to prom their junior year and Rennie was so nervous she stabbed him with the pin for his boutonniere. She jabbed the needle so hard into his tuxedo jacket it went right through