Winter Embers [ Book 2 ]

Chapter Two

          Claire pretended to sleep during the remainder of the trip to avoid any further awkward conversations with Ben. He eventually got off at a stop in Florence, about and hour and a half outside of Columbia. They said their goodbyes and Claire was just settling back into her seat when Ben, who was about halfway down the length of the bus, turned and started back towards her.

          "Did you forget something?" Claire asked, glancing towards the seat he had been occupying. Her eyes searched the general area to see if something had rolled beneath the seat or been left behind but she didn't see anything but a few lost pennies stuck to the floor by some unknown goo.

          "Sort of," he said, handing her a slip of paper. "I know we barely know each other, but I'll be in town for about a week. If you need anything, or get bored, just give me a call. Maybe we can have lunch, or dinner, or something."

          Claire looked down at the paper and saw a phone number written in neat block writing across a Greyhound napkin. Before she could say anything, Ben turned and hurried off the bus. Claire's fingers tightened, leaving creases in the napkin as a feeling of unease crept over her.

          She didn't want this, or rather, the responsibility that came with keeping it. Even if he himself admitted to their lack of familiarity, the paper in her hand suggested he was open to changing that.

          Something Claire wanted no involvement in and by keeping the number, she felt like she was giving him hope.

          She didn't think that was fair.

          Claire loved Alek, no matter what doubts she might feel from time to time, and this brief encounter only served to strengthen that belief.

          Claire watched as Ben climbed off the bus and retrieved his back. When he paused to wave at her from the sidewalk Claire rose to her feet and started down the aisle towards the door.

          She'd simply apologize for any confusion or any mixed signals, and give the number back.

          By the time she reached the sidewalk, however, Ben was gone and Claire didn't have time to try to hunt him down before her bus left. Sighing inwardly, she folded the napkin and tucked it into the back pocket of her jeans. Claire decided then that she would call him, one time, just to tell him that he shouldn't expect to hear from her again.

          

          It was late afternoon when the bus rolled into the station in Columbia. This gave Claire just enough time to get to the lawyer's office before he closed for the day, then she had to make the hour drive out to the plantation house she hadn't seen in over five years.

          She couldn't help but wonder how much had changed, and how much might have stayed the same. With a feeling of anxious anticipation, Claire waited as the driver pulled her suitcase from the storage bin under the bus.

          The afternoon was unseasonably warm, or so she overhead a woman tell her companion as they wandered past. The lawyer's office was only a few blocks from the bus depot, so Claire decided to walk rather than call a cab.

          Unlike New York, this part of the country didn't often see snow and, as a result, the sidewalks were clear of the gray sludge she was used to seeing back home.

          The woman, Claire decided, had not been exaggerating. By the time she reached the end of the first street, Claire had shed both her parka and the sweater she'd been wearing beneath it. She stuffed them into her suitcase and continued on her way, a cool breeze sweeping across her bare arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake.