Savannah said. “If you change your mind about leaving early, let me know.”
“Thanks, but I’ll finish my shift.” Abby arranged the order on a tray and walked toward table two, her thoughts turning to Jay’s text message. What did he have to tell her that was urgent? He’d had all night to think about it. Maybe he had decided to help her find Ella.
Not that she knew where to start at this point. Whoever it was that didn’t want her to find Ella was watching. It would be impossible to ask around without him knowing about it. Her only hope of making sense of Ella’s situation was to figure out who the Oldham kid was and convince him to tell her. What were the odds of that happening?
Chapter 16
Abby drove Mama’s Odyssey up Summit Road, winding through the tall trees toward the top of Sure Foot Mountain. She slowed the car and pulled onto an unmarked road, rocking and rolling over the rugged dirt terrain for about fifty yards until the narrow road dead-ended at the edge of a clearing. Jay’s truck was nowhere in sight. She glanced at her watch. It was only eleven forty-five.
She rolled down the windows, comforted by the familiar sounds of Carolina chickadees flitting among the trees and a pileated woodpecker artfully drilling the side of the dead tree that marked the top of the slope.
Could the anonymous caller know she was here? Could he be watching? No one had followed her from Angel View. She rubbed her arms, which were suddenly like gooseflesh.
She checked her phone to be sure Jay hadn’t sent another text. He hadn’t.
A loud rustling noise caused her to freeze, her heart racing faster than the pair of rabbits that shot out of the brush and hopped down the grassy slope.
Come on, Jay. I feel exposed out here.
In the quiet that followed, she tried to relax. There was no place on Sure Foot Mountain where she felt safer than here at their secret place. She had rarely seen anyone else up here, other than occasional backpackers.
A crow began to caw, then several others joined in. What were they communicating? Abby rolled up her windows and locked the doors. She turned on the motor and let the cold air from the air conditioner blow on her face. How irrational was it to be afraid? The caller couldn’t be everywhere. And she hadn’t been out talking to anyone about Ella since his last call.
Lord, please protect me. I just want the truth of what happened to Daddy and Riley Jo. I know You hear me, and I believe You’ll answer.
Abby heard the sound of a motor. She looked in the rearview mirror and saw a cloud of brown dust and Jay’s white Ford truck approaching. She got out of the car and waved.
Jay pulled up next to the Odyssey and shut off the motor. In the next second she was at his driver’s side window.
“Eat before you come?” she said. “Urgent? I hope you didn’t get me out here to lecture me.”
Jay turned as he opened the window, revealing his uncombed hair and the bags under his bloodshot eyes. “Don’t worry, I didn’t. Let’s go sit under the oak tree.”
He got out of the car and started walking briskly down the slope, his shoes and legs splattered with dried mud, his back soaked with perspiration.
“Why are you such a mess?” Abby said.
“I didn’t have time to clean up.”
“From what?”
“I’ll explain in a minute.”
“Why won’t you look at me?” Abby said.
“Trust me, making eye contact with me is the least of your worries …”
Minutes later, Abby sat cross-legged, facing Jay under the giant oak tree on the slope.
“All right, talk to me,” she said. “Where have you been? You look like a bum.”
“I told you I didn’t have time to clean up.”
“Will you at least look at me?”
Jay shook his head. “What I have to say will be easier if I don’t.”
“Well, if this is my Dear John Letter,” Abby said, “just get it over with. I honestly thought we were better friends than that.”
“We are. That’s not what this is.”
“Then what is this? Get to the point.”
Jay held up his palm. “I will. Give me a minute. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
“What is so hard?”
“I promise you, Abby, I never saw it coming. I …” Jay’s eyes glistened, and he seemed to choke on the words.
“Saw what coming?”
“Something happened,” he said. “I’ve never told anyone.”
Abby put her hands to her