Free Forbidden by Leanna Ellis

instrumental, it did not hold her attention either but cocooned her in a sheltered world all her own.
    She rested her hands in her shrinking lap, her arms tucked around the mound of her belly. A sudden kick of her baby nudged her arm and jarred her out of the cobwebs of her thoughts. A glimpse of a billboard, advertising a restaurant in Baltimore, caught her attention. Baltimore? As in Maryland?
    She sat up straighter and gripped a leather strap along the door. What was she doing here? Why had she agreed to come? For Josef, but what could she do for her husband now? Where were they going?
    â€œI need to stop.” She spoke before thinking, meaning the car, the trip, this madness.
    Akiva glanced over at her, his brows slanting into a frown. “What for?”
    The baby kicked again, and she pressed her hand against her belly. “Because…I have to stop.”
    Akiva’s gaze shifted downward toward her belly. “I’ll look for a gas station.”
    She nodded and kept her gaze trained on the windshield, searching for an exit, but all the while trying to think of what to do, where to go, how to get back home. “Where are we going?”
    â€œTonight?”
    â€œ Ja , tonight.” She could think no farther.
    â€œKnoxville or thereabouts. We’ll see how far we can make it. But I wasn’t planning on making stops.”
    â€œKnoxville?” She swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. Knoxville, Tennessee? Her shoulders tensed with indecision. “How far are we going in all?”
    He tapped his index finger against the top of the steering wheel. “I’ll let you know.”
    â€œIs there a hurry?” she asked.
    â€œAren’t you in one?”
    She lifted a shoulder and settled it back into place. “ Ja , I suppose.” She smoothed a hand over her belly, straightening the blue fabric of her dress and the overlaying apron. He’d said if she helped she could return home to have her baby. The sooner the better. “I reckon I didn’t think we’d go this far…or for so long.” A weight of worry pressed into her chest. “My family will be worried. I should have told them—”
    â€œI left them a note for you, so they wouldn’t worry.”
    A flurry of whispers invaded her thoughts. She glanced at him then, studied his profile: the straight edge of his nose, the firm jutting of his jaw and chin. He didn’t seem the type to leave a note, to reveal his inner thoughts, to broadcast his intentions, and yet she had no reason to doubt him. “You left a note?”
    â€œOf course. I didn’t want to cause any problems. Your sister will understand and keep your folks from worrying overmuch.”
    Rachel drew a steadier breath as a swirling cloud swept over her, but the questions, excuses, and reasons she should turn back pushed her clear. “But I need to get home. The baby is coming soon.”
    â€œNot that soon.” He nudged the wheel gently to the right, and the car veered off the highway and onto a side road. Up ahead, a gas-station sign tilted at an odd angle, and the lower right corner was broken. “Want me to get you something to drink while you visit the ladies’ room?”
    She hadn’t realized she was thirsty or hungry. She hadn’t realized a lot of things. It was as if a cloud bank crept over the edges of her mind and turned her around. “That would be nice, danke .”
    He pulled to the side of the brick building. One lone, dilapidated car was parked toward the back, and she figured it belonged to whoever was working inside. Could she speak to that person? Would he…or she help her call home? Or at least a neighbor? Akiva parked, and Rachel stared straight ahead. On the side of the building were two doors, both with oval signs, one with a male figure, the other with a lady’s shape.
    â€œI’ll meet you here,” he said.
    Disappointment congealed inside her. She