are we going to get there?” I asked, thinking of our mostly empty fuel tank.
“This late in the year?” Dad opened the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of eggs. “South across Missouri to Oklahoma City, then Interstate 40 all the way.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Dad raised his eyebrows.
“We need diesel and food, and we don’t have much money.”
“Oh, that,” he said, waving it away like a fly. “I wouldn’t worry about that.”
“Why not?”
Dad smiled. “Because I booked us a gig, too.”
“You did? Where? When?”
“Tonight, as a matter of fact,” he said, smiling, the bristles of his mustache poking out like porcupine quills. “In Mishawaka. Our old stomping ground. And it’s not too far out of the way.”
“That’s great!” I said.
Dad turned back to the stove and cracked an egg into the frying pan. My next question—How much?—was cut off when my phone let out a familiar electronic chirp from my bed six feet away.
Dad cocked an eyebrow at me. “I’ll bet I know who that is.”
“Dad,” I said, turning, grateful that my bushy hair hid my ears, which were certainly turning red. “It’s probably just Ripley.”
“Uh-huh.”
But it probably was Ripley, calling with an update on his online manhunt. Only when I snatched up the phone, I saw that it wasn’t a phone call at all. It was a video-chat request. From Liam.
I put a hand to my beard-burned cheek; I hadn’t showered since before our date—hadn’t even washed my face, let alone put on makeup. I couldn’t let him see me like this. But I couldn’t just not answer, either, so I slid the accordion door shut, turned the camera to face the wall, and tapped Accept.
“Hello?” I said.
“Good morning,” Liam replied. “The playbook says to wait forty-eight hours before calling, but I couldn’t do it.” He paused, and I tried to think of a witty reply, but nothing came. “So I’m calling you now. Except all I see is a wall. Where are you?”
“I’m, um, still in my pajamas.”
“Would you be more comfortable if I put mine on, too?”
“What? No.”
“Well, I’m not going to strip nude, if that’s what you think. I’m not that kind of guy.”
I laughed. “Can’t we just talk on the phone?”
“I want to see your face. Call you back in five?”
I squeezed my eyes shut. It was one thing to talk on the phone; I could hide any number of defects. But on video, I had to look right, fake smiles, conceal flaws.
“Ten,” I said.
“Done.” He hung up.
I splashed some water on my face and brushed out my tangles. I reached for my makeup, then decided against it; if Liam didn’t like my real face, he should’ve just called instead. I rummaged through my drawers for the right thing to wear—something cute that didn’t scream, Trying too hard. I settled on a blue cami that looked good with my skin tone.
When the phone chirped again, I was waiting, splayed across my bed like a mermaid, trying to look totally casual.
“Hi,” Liam said.
“Hi.”
He was wearing a tight white V-neck that showed off his shoulders, and his face was slightly more stubbly than it had been last night. Behind him I could see the photo print of New York, as well as a stack of baseball caps perched on his bedpost and a pair of jeans flung across the bedspread.
“Housekeeper’s day off?” I said.
“What?” He glanced over his shoulder, then turned the phone so all I could see was his face and the headboard. “There, Miss Nosy.”
“You’re the one who wanted to videoconference.”
“Fair enough. Next time, I’ll clean my room.” He cleared his throat. “What are you doing tonight?”
“I can’t,” I said, and squeezed my toes into fists.
“I didn’t even say what yet.”
“I’m leaving. In like an hour.”
His smile tightened. “Oh. Bad timing, I guess. It’s a shame, too, because I had really good plans.”
“Culver’s and a movie?”
“What can I say? I like to sweep ’em off their feet.” He ran a hand over his short hair. “Can I ask where you’re going?”
I pressed my lips together. If I told him, he might want to come see me. I was headed for a crash, and I wasn’t sure I could handle this video chat, let alone seeing him again in the flesh.
“If it’s too personal, forget it. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“It’s not, it’s just . . . We have a gig, and then we’re headed out west for a while.”
Liam’s eyebrows went up. “Out west like California?”