Free Rocky Ride (Thompson & Sons) by Vivian Arend Page B

little too far. Playing chicken with their fathers’ tractors ended badly—we destroyed property and the tractors. Unfortunately, one of the gang had pot in their pockets, so when the RCMP showed up and we all got hauled into the station we had that to deal with on top of it all. I ended up alone in a holding cell all night, and a juvvy arrest that’s since been purged from the records.”
    “Wait—” Alone ? “Where were the rest of the guys? And weren’t your parents called?”
    Mitch nodded even as he got them on the road and headed back north. “All our parents were. The rest of the group got bailed out, including the friend with drugs. Everyone, except me. Mom and Dad came to the station, found out what I’d been up to, then went home.”
    “Holy—really? That sounds so not like what I know of your Dad.”
    “I think if it had been Dad alone, he’d have caved, but my Mom—the woman had nerves of steel.”
    Anna twisted sideways on the bench seat to face Mitch. “You weren’t even sixteen, right? If your mom was still around.”
    “Summer I was fifteen. Mom was already fighting cancer. She looked me in the eye and told me I could be anything I wanted to in life. And that some times things would happen that weren’t fair, but that a lot of the time what happened to me would be a result of my actions.”
    “Consequences.” Tough lesson to learn at any age. “So they left you overnight.”
    “Picked me up in the morning, took me out for the biggest breakfast I could eat. Told me they loved me, but if I ever got arrested again, they’d be damn disappointed.”
    He shut up then, lips pressed tight, both hands clutching the wheel tight as if he needed his full concentration to drive. Anna stared out the window for a bit, letting the warm air from the heater blow over them as she leaned against his side. The miles flew past, the sunlight shining on the wintery wonderland already growing fainter. Days were getting shorter all the time.
    Time sped past. A steady blur of night and day, more work and more play, but all of it spinning together and mixing into one grey mass that was indistinguishable from the next.
    The never-ending forward roll right now made her wonder where exactly she was headed. She had her job, in spite of the frustrations. She had her family, no matter that they weren’t always on the same page.
    The goals she’d set over the past years didn’t feel like enough anymore.
    Because of Mitch…
    Where was this going? Was this going anywhere, the relationship between the two of them? He’d said he wanted more, and that the physical side wasn’t enough.
    Mitch was a good man. He had a family who loved him and cared for him. He had things he was passionate about, more than just burning up the highway on his bike.
    He was opening up more as time passed—and there was that theme again. A constant loop in her brain. Time was passing. In the end, things would be different than they were now.
    Where was this going? What did she want?
    Could she offer him more than what he already had?
    “Why did you call me, Mitch?”
    He stiffened, and Anna kicked herself. The question had come out of the blue for him. She softened her tone and caught his arm carefully. “I mean, I’m glad you did, but…”
    “Why not one of the boys?” He cracked a real smile for the first time since she’d picked him up. “Can you imagine giving them this kind of ammunition to hold over me during every fight from now to eternity?”
    Anna held his arm reassuringly.
    Mitch glanced at her. “I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong, and I hoped you’d be able to help me. I’m sorry if that was taking advantage of what we’ve got happening.”
    “Of course it wasn’t. I’m glad it was so simple to spot what had gone wrong.”
    There was a short pause before he spoke softly. “Can we keep this on the quiet? I don’t want to upset Katy.”
    Oh. Katy must have been the one who wrote down the wrong numbers. “When