Free Throwaway by Heather Huffman

very
pointed look.
    Jessie wasn’t sure if she should be offended
or flattered. She wasn’t used to people caring one way or the other
about her. It was almost like having an odd little family in Vance
and Harmony. She impulsively gave Harmony a quick hug.
    “I promise I won’t play in traffic, Mom.”
    “Thank you. Now, can I treat you to Ho’s for
dinner?”
    “Sure,” Jessie agreed with a grin. Ho’s might
be a little out of their way, but the Chinese food was good and it
made Jessie giggle to eat there.
    Tuesday morning dawned clear and bright. An
added bonus was the absence of the oppressively sticky humidity
that usually clung to St. Louis air in late August. In its place
was a warm summer breeze that promised fall would be right around
the corner.
    She curled up in her easy chair, carefully
writing a note to Spence explaining that she’d been hired for an
extended stay. She occasionally paused in thought, chewing on the
end of her pen absentmindedly while trying to decide the best way
to keep Spence from going berserk on her when she returned.
    It finally dawned on her that there would be
one sure-fire way to set his mind at ease. It just so happened it
would also be a good way to keep better tabs on Spence as a police
informant. Gabe wouldn’t like it much, but there was no reason for
him to know about it ahead of time—that would probably spoil their
time together.
    So she scribbled out the rest of her note,
shoved some bills in the envelope as a down payment on her time,
and dropped the envelope in Spence’s bowl. She had a little time
before she was supposed to meet Gabe, but she was getting restless
in her apartment.
    Harmony was at class, so Jessie scrawled out
a quick note to her—a condensed version of her note to
Spence—before beginning the process of zigzagging her way to the
little coffee shop where she’d promised to meet Gabe. Maybe she was
being overly cautious, but she felt better taking an indirect
route.
    The coffee shop was a trendy place in the
county with a decent assortment of java and gelato. It was the time
of day when the crowd was a mix of housewives taking a break from
errands and business people meeting outside the office. Jessie
couldn’t have felt more out of place if she tried.
    She ordered herself a smoothie and sat in the
back corner, burying her nose in a copy of the Riverfront
Times—more to look less conspicuous than because she was dying to
catch up on current events in her fair hamlet.
    She’d regretted not wearing a watch and was
debating wandering around the little strip mall to kill time when
at last Gabe was standing before her with an amused grin on his
face.
    “What?” she eyed him warily.
    “I’ve been watching you for five minutes and
you haven’t turned the page once. That must be a riveting
article.”
    “Five minutes? Why didn’t you say hi, you big
dork.”
    “I was waiting for my coffee,” he held up his
cup as a defense. “Besides, I like watching you.”
    “Voyeur.”
    “You’re all kinds of sassy today, aren’t
you?”
    “Just uncomfortable,” she admitted, gathering
up the papers she’d scattered on the table. “Can we go now?”
    “Are you excited?”
    “Ask me again when we’re on the road.”
    “Do you mind if we eat dinner early?” he held
his hand out to Jessie, who gratefully accepted it and followed him
to the door.
    “You’re in charge.”
    “Where’s your bag?”
    “I didn’t bring one,” Jessie hoped he
wouldn’t be too put out with her. “I was kind of hoping I could run
in somewhere along the way to buy a few things.”
    “Um, sure,” he seemed a little confused by
her request, but was intuitive enough not to ask her reasoning.
    She hadn’t realized just how soon he meant
when he’d asked if they could eat early. Jessie was glad she’d been
too nervous for lunch, because it felt like they’d barely gotten on
the road when he was exiting at a little town called Eureka and
pulling into an old brown