Misplaced Trust (Misjudged) (2 page)

Taking a final glan
ce around the dorm and fastening the zipper on my case, making sure I have everything I’ll need for my trip and time away at my father’s, I grab my car keys from the kitchen counter and make my way over to the main door.

This past week has
dragged just as much as the previous one did, and there’s still no news of Brandon’s whereabouts. On a daily basis I’ve checked with James, be it in class or by message, but still … nothing.

Instead of Neil and Ryan calling their friends back in Olympia
every day, the ones who Brandon may get in touch with have promised to give them a call if they hear or see anything of him.

Alyssa and Ryan left for Olympia as soon as their final class ended yesterday, and Neil stayed over at Corey’s place, writing new material for their
upcoming gig in Aruba next weekend. It’s quiet. It’s too quiet, and although it might be a better idea to spend time in my father’s company, rather than just my own, I wish it could be under different circumstances. It’ll be hard sorting through my mom’s things. It still just feels so final.

Damn this case is heavier than I’d anticipated.

While dragging it down the steps of my building, I hear something that really doesn’t sound so good and when I look to the ground, I see one of the wheels has snapped off. Great.

Taking a deep breath as I try
to compose myself and stay calm, I turn around and attempt to carry the damn thing.

“
Let me get that for you.”

For some reason and
although I’m not particularly sure why, I feel uncomfortable in this guy’s presence, “Thanks, but I’ve got it,” I answer, but it’s too late. He’s already scooping it up and is watching me, with his eyes slightly creasing at the sides. It’s as though he’s amused about something, but I’m not overly sure what that something quite is.

“Th
anks,” I mutter. He nods, and is still watching me intently as I tilt my head towards the parking lot.

“Are you going anywhere
nice?” he asks as he begins to walk beside me, making it seem as though the case he’s carrying is feather light as we make our way along the pathway.

Entering
the parking lot, I’m about to tell him we’re at my car, but he has already stopped walking and is placing the case by the trunk. What the hell?

“Visiting my father
…” my voice betrays me, and by the way he’s looking at me, I can tell he can sense that I’m not overly sure about him. “Hey, how do you know my name?”

His eyebrows
furrow and he looks slightly taken aback by my question, “What?”

“Last week, by the
lake. You called me Alexis. I don’t recall ever giving you my name.”

He chuckles lightly
and breaks eye contact with me. He seems apprehensive from the way his shoulders have now become tense, “Sure you did,” he seems very sure of himself. Too sure in fact. Perhaps I did introduce myself and I just don’t remember.

“Well, thanks for helping me,” I say as he lays the case in the trunk, before taking a couple of steps back. “Bye.”

“Will you be away for long?” he walks ahead of me and stands right in front of the driver’s side door, blocking my path. My heart rate begins to accelerate and I’m starting to feel really nervous. I have no idea why this guy is so interested in my plans. “I mean, college is out … you’ll be away until classes resume?”

Shaking my head and glancing around, my eyes land back on him and I notice he’s clenching his jaw,
still awaiting my answer.

When he realizes I won’t be answering his question any time soon, he
scowls and steps away, allowing me room to climb inside. I have no idea what’s going on but my chest is beginning to feel tight. I think now is a really good time to be leaving.

Fastening my seatbelt and starting the car, I adjust the mirrors and switch the radio on, ready for the three hour drive to my father’s. I filled the tank to maximum capacity yesterday, so I know I won’t need to make any stops en route.

Reversing the car and pulling away, I look through the rearview mirror and narrow my eyes on Harry. He’s watching my car as I drive away from him and towards the exit of the parking lot, now speaking to someone on his cell phone.

As I pull away and begin my journey, I turn the music up loud and try to focus on the next couple of days ahead, rather than everything that’s happened over the last couple of weeks.

Time away at my father’s might be just what I need.

***

Shit.

Slumping back in the driver’s seat and hitting the steering wheel with both fists firmly clenched, I cannot believe this is happening to me.

I’m only approximately an hour into my journey time, a
nd today of all days, my car just had to let me down. I only got it back from the garage last week and it’s been driving absolutely fine, well, up until just a few seconds ago.

Grab
bing my cell phone from my purse that’s on the passenger seat beside me, I grimace when I realize I have no numbers stored for this type of situation. Double shit.

Okay, think.

Ryan. Ryan will know who I’d need to call and he’ll be able to grab a number for me. Taking a deep breath, I dial his number and wait … and wait.

Straight through to the voicemail, all five times. Triple shit.

Clambering out into the fresh air, I take in the surroundings, or lack thereof. Hitting the central locking button on the key tab, I start walking back on myself. There has got to be a gas station somewhere close.

After roughly twenty minutes of walking and cursing the heels I’m wearing, my cell phone springs to life and when I check the caller ID, I sigh with relief when I see Neil’s name flashing on the screen.

“Thank God,” I say as I answer the call. “Neil I broke down and I haven’t been able to—“

“Where are you?” h
e sounds worried. I love this guy so much. “What happened?”

Sitting myself down on a grass
verge by the side of the highway, I explain to him where I think I am, what happened with heap of junk of a car, and wait for his advice. One minute it was driving fine, then it started making weird noises, before refusing to carry on any further.

“Sit tight. Gi
ve me a few minutes, alright?” he asks, and I’m so thankful he called when he did. I don’t know why I didn’t think to call him. Maybe because he’s supposed to be heading back to Olympia for the weekend to meet up with his family, Ryan, and Alyssa. Well, that, and because he hasn’t ever seemed like a mechanical type of guy, which may sound a little strange. I just see Ryan as more in the know how about cars than Neil, that’s all.

After promising to help
me, I call my father, telling him I’ll be a little delayed. What is it with voicemails these days? Apart from myself, does no-one ever answer their damn phones?

Leaving him a message and making my way back over to my crappy excuse for a car, I hear a horn sound and when I turn to my left, I see a grinning Neil pulling over in a
bright yellow truck, “Where on earth did you get that thing?” I ask, shaking my head as he sounds the horn one more time, before coming to a complete stop and jumping out.

“You’re such a fucking girl, Alex,” he bu
mps my arm with his and then walks over to inspect the problem. “It’s okay, you can thank me and call me your hero for all eternity later!”

Laughing at him, I
walk up to where he’s now standing, so I can see what he’s doing, “What are you checking for?”

I watch as
he pulls a few faces, answering me a little while later once he’s cranked the hood and checked for damage, “Well, your engine is fucked,” he mumbles, grabbing his cell from his shirt pocket as he goes to make a call. I hear him speaking to what I assume to be a towing company. This day just seems to be getting better and better.

Kicking the stones around
at the side of the road as I wait for him to tell me what the plan of action will be from here, I feel him place his arm around my shoulders, turning me around so we’re facing each other. The sympathetic smile he’s wearing has made my stomach drop to floor. This is not good news, I just know it.

“How do you fancy riding to your father’s in the
truck?” he asks with a gleam in his eyes, showing me that for some reason he’s enjoying this whole scenario. “Unless you feel like just walking the rest of the way, that is.”

“What about my car?”
my voice is a little higher in pitch than I’d intended. I can’t just leave it at the side of the road, and even though it’s let me down today, I kind of love my car. She’s usually extremely reliable. “Don’t you need to get back home? Neil, I can’t expect you to—“

Lifting his hand and placing his index finger gently on my lips to h
ush me, he rolls his eyes, grabs my shoulders, and then steers me towards the truck.

***

Upon entering the outskirts of Salem, I have to admit, I really can’t wait to see my father.

The tow company arrived just under an hour after Neil made the call to them
, telling us they’d call once they’ve discovered the route of the problem. They didn’t look too optimistic when they did a quick check under the hood though. That’s certainly one bill I’m not looking forward to receiving.

It’s almost four o’clock, so I’m a couple of hours later than what I’d planned. Luckily
for me Neil had borrowed Corey’s truck for the weekend, and although his plan was to use it to drive to and from Olympia, he has been kind enough to drive me all the way out here instead.

“I owe you, Neil,” I tell him as we round t
he final corner onto the street where my father lives. “I’m sorry I messed up your weekend plans.”

“
Alex. Fuck off,” he says with all seriousness. Nice. He has such a way with words. The wide grin appearing over his face and the wink he throws when he looks over in my direction, has me laughing though.

Digging him in the ribs
with my elbow as he parks on the driveway, I can already see my father appearing in the porch way. He looks pale.

My father is only forty three, but he looks a lot older. He always looked so good for his ag
e, but since my mom passed away time hasn’t been so kind to him, “I’ll grab your case, you go see your dad,” Neil tells me as he climbs out of his side. Making his way around to my side and offering his hand out to me, he helps me down from my seat.

Kissing him on the cheek and noticing his cheeks redden
slightly, I turn and walk towards my father. His arms are out wide, waiting for me to embrace him, “Always so beautiful,” he says, and kisses me on the forehead, before wrapping his arms around me tightly.

Damn that word. After the event
s of the day, I haven’t dwelled so much over Brandon as much as I would have if things has been more straightforward. It’s the small things that tend to remind me, and now I feel like I’ve just been sucker-punched really hard in the chest.

“I missed you, dad, “I say, squeezing h
im tightly, only stepping back when I hear Neil’s footsteps approaching us from behind. “Dad, this is Neil. Neil, this is my father.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you, s
ir,” Neil greets him, shaking his hand as he places my case beside me.

I notice my father’s gaze darting betwee
n the two of us, and I already know what he’s thinking, but he’s wrong. He thinks we’re together. The over protective look in his eyes is giving it away, which makes me laugh and roll my eyes before the three of us step inside.

Leaving my case in the hallway, we make our way into the lar
ge kitchen. It looks as though our arrival has disturbed my father’s dinner preparations, “So, Neil, seeing as though you rescued my daughter from the middle of the highway, will you be joining us for the remainder of the weekend?”

Neil glances between me
and my father a couple of times without answering. I’m sure he’d rather be spending what’s left of his Saturday and tomorrow with his family and other friends, instead of sorting through my mom’s things with us, “Neil already has plans, dad,” I answer for him.

“Actually, by the time I drive
from here to Olympia, I’ll pretty much miss what we had planned …” Neil says, leaning against the countertop and watching me hesitantly. “It’s really nice of you to offer, Mr. Harper, but I wouldn’t want to intrude. I think I’ll just head back to campus.”

“Nonsense,
I wouldn’t hear of it. We have plenty of room and I don’t think Alex has thought about how she’ll get back to Seattle tomorrow without a car either,” my father states, while keeping his eyebrows raised on me. He’s right, I hadn’t thought about that at all. I wish the garage would just call and put me out of my misery already.

My father leaves
early on Monday morning to visit some relatives in Florida, hence why I was originally only coming back for two days.