crazy. They always do. I’m going to need a little dose of Chastity’s quiet calm and happy smile just to keep me level. “Kiss me,” I order.
“Right here?” She looks over her shoulder, probably wondering if I’m blocking the road for someone who wants to get by.
“It’s either right now or in Leah and Isaac’s driveway.”
“Oh. Good point.” She unlatches her seatbelt, and I put the truck in park.
I reach over and slide her body across the seat, which makes her smile. But I take my kisses very seriously. She feels good in my arms. I lean in and take her mouth with mine, and her body softens against me.
It’s always like this. So good. Maybe it’s the heavy talk, or her little announcement about letting my box of condoms expire, but I do not want to stop kissing her. I tilt my head and take what I want from her. She wraps her arms around me and gives it right back.
Until a car approaches. We break apart at the sound of tires on gravel. Unsatisfied, but out of options, I put the truck in gear and maneuver out of the way.
It’s only three miles or so to Leah and Isaac’s place. I get there way too soon.
“When am I going to see you?” I ask as I pull into their driveway.
“Tomorrow, right? Christmas Eve? Rickie will come over and amuse you, too.”
“Fine. It will have to do.”
She gives me a sad little smile and opens the door on her side.
I wait for her to collect her stuff out of the backseat, and when she walks away, I give her an awkward little wave.
It isn’t enough. But I guess it will have to do.
Thirty-Five
Chastity
I’m too tired to be very sociable that evening. I go to bed even before Maeve does. And then I sleep late, which is rare for me.
When I finally go downstairs, Leah is trying to grate cheese and play with Maeve at the same time.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, rubbing sleep out of my eyes. “What can I do to help?”
“You can sit across from me and eat breakfast,” Leah says cheerfully. “Coffee?”
“Sure. Thanks.” I cross the kitchen to the pot, pour myself a cup, and then slide a slice of bread into the toaster. “Maeve? What shall we do today while Mama makes her potato tart?” This dish is legendary at holiday parties, because Leah uses fancy cheese and crispy duck confit. No potato has ever tasted so good.
“Clubhouse?” Maeve suggests.
“Sure,” I agree.
“First, Chastity eats,” Leah tells her daughter. “And I have some things to discuss with her. So why don’t you watch your video early today?”
“Yay!” The little girl gets up off the kitchen floor. “Right now?”
“Right now,” Leah agrees.
She disappears faster than you can say bribery.
“What’s on your mind?” I ask Leah, taking a stool across the counter from her. “Does this have to do with your sugar mama?” That’s what we’re calling the rancher Leah met last week in Chicago. Apparently the meeting went great.
“Yes it does.” Leah sets down her cheese grater and wipes her hands on her apron. “I know you just finished a really hard semester. But I need to tell you things are moving fast. Juni wants us to open a shelter. And she’ll provide the land.”
“A shelter? Like, for homeless people?”
“Exactly like that. Juni lost a daughter to a cult in Utah. She was recruited at college, of all places. She was there a year before she died of sepsis. The poor girl suffered a compound fracture in her leg, and the cult didn’t believe in medical care.”
“Ew!” I cry. “That sounds…” I shudder.
“She says she’ll never get over it. And she and her husband have been working hard ever since to steer women away from the place where it happened. They feel like they could make sense of their daughter’s death if they help shelter other women who need to get away. We could do so much good, Chastity!”
“Wow. So…” I’m trying to wrap my head around this. “Your foundation won’t just provide money. But you’ll have some kind of dormitory?”
“Yes. On a working ranch.”
“A ranch,” I say slowly. That’s not what we call a farm in Vermont. “And this would be…?”
“In Wyoming,” Leah says gently. “Near Laramie. That’s where Juni’s properties are.”
“You’re going to Wyoming?” I squeak. And I say it the same way you’d say hell. It’s literally the last place I ever want to go. “Like, you’d move there?”
“Well, either in the spring or