Promises To Keep

CHAPTER TWO

TWO MORE DAYS, McKenna thought, leaving the store. The last thing she needed for the trip was a lightweight jacket. She’d found one that was warm, but not bulky. It was red and swung inside the bag she carried.

She stopped along Main Street to look in the window of a small boutique. A royal blue gown expertly displayed on a mannequin stood in the window. McKenna gasped at its beauty. She could see herself wearing it. If she was going to a ball, it would be perfect. But her car was small and now she had a passenger. There was no room for anything superfluous. Not even a gorgeous royal blue gown would fit into the single bag she was using for this trip.

Not to mention her plans didn’t include any evening functions requiring such a dress. Turning away, McKenna wasn’t expecting anyone to be so close to her. She ran directly into the massive chest of a man. Strong arms came out to steady her. The bag dropped to the ground as her fingers grabbed and found hefty biceps and held on.

“I am so sorry,” she began, looking up at the man she’d walked into. “Parker!” He was the last person she expected or wanted to see.

“McKenna,” he replied, letting her go.

“Excuse me. I should have been paying more attention.”

He glanced at the blue ball gown. “Apparently you were.”

She smiled quickly, only allowing her lips to widen and close. Parker Fordum had to be the most boring man in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. McKenna had had run-ins with him in the past and did not want either a repeat of them or to spend more time in his company than was absolutely necessary.

“As neither of us is hurt, I’ll say goodbye,” she told him. She reached down and retrieved her bag, then moved to leave, but Parker stopped in front of her.

“I hear you’re planning an adventure,” he said.

“I am.” She raised her brows, meeting his gaze, ready for the challenge she knew would be reflected there. She wasn’t disappointed. She had to look up, as Parker stood a head taller than her five feet, five inches.

He was a good-looking man. She had to admit that. His eyes were piercing and at times they could be comforting. She’d seen him look at Lydia with happiness then changing to a soft warmth.

Reflecting his European ancestry, Parker had thick dark hair, a square jawline and features that commanded attention. His arms were long, extending from broad shoulders. Equally long were his strong legs. While she wouldn’t call him athletic, Parker and Marshall often went skiing together and they had a regular Saturday morning basketball game. She didn’t know who, if anyone, he played with now that Marshall was gone.

For all his attributes, college professor described him best, the phrase like a tattoo. In her presence, at least, that was the personality he showed. Granted it was also laced with hostility. She didn’t blame him for that. She was hostile to him, too. The two of them just didn’t hit it off.

“California, by way of Route 66?” His voice interrupted her assessment of him.

“How did you know?” McKenna asked.

“How often do we have the female owner of an international automotive parts corporation restoring a Corvette in her garage and planning to drive it from here to the Pacific?”

“I suppose word is all over town about my trip.”

“I don’t think it made it to downtown Chicago, but the entire township of Woodbine Heights has had the privilege.”

“Adrienne or Sara?”

“Sara.” He nodded.

McKenna had no doubt her sister-in-law would be telling the tale, including her opinion of how harebrained the scheme was.

“Don’t worry about what she says,” Parker told her. “The idea of driving Route 66 is fascinating.”

“You think so?” she asked. McKenna forced herself not to blink. Was this the real Parker Fordum she was talking to?

“Absolutely,” he said.

McKenna looked at Parker to make sure he wasn’t being facetious. She knew people could say one thing and mean another. But his appearance seemed to be genuine.

“I envy you.”

“What?” McKenna couldn’t be hearing the straitlaced, put-everything-into-a-box Professor Parker Fordum was envying her.

“Taking off for the wild unknown with only your wits as backup. It’s a brave thing to do.”

She was about to thank him, but his next words stopped her.

“And a foolhardy one.”

“Excuse me?” McKenna pushed her hand through the plastic bag’s handle. She should have known he was setting her up. Parker was always true to character. How could McKenna have thought for a moment he would agree with her motives? She was going and she didn’t need or want Parker’s opinion.

“Don’t you understand who you are?”

“Of course I do.” And she knew who she was not. She wasn’t someone who was going to be talked out of what she wanted to do.

“You are the owner of a billion-dollar business. You are female.”

“Thank you for noticing. I might have missed those two points, especially as I come out of the shower each day. And I don’t care to hear any more from you.”

McKenna moved to pass him. Again he blocked her path.

“If you were only going on a driving trip, I’d say hail and farewell.”

“But...” she prompted.

“But you’re planning to work your way to the coast, doing only what you can afford.”

“Parker, I’m taking enough money with me to get me there. It’s not like I’m planning to sleep in a field or cook over an open flame. And Jim Talbott is expecting me.”

“That’s good to hear, but what about the safety factor? The world isn’t as safe as you might think.”

Leave it to him to put everything on a nice neat little graph.

“I’m well aware of the dangers and I’ll be careful to stay away from them.”

“From kidnapping?”

“You think someone wants to kidnap me?”

“Why not? You’re a wealthy woman. You’ll only have Lydia as backup and she’ll panic the first time she sees a bug, let alone someone bent on harming the two of you.”

“What are you talking about?” The bag on her arm was getting heavy. She wanted to be gone. She and Parker had never agreed on anything. Sara may have told him her opinion, but McKenna was leaving in two days and nothing he could say would keep her from going.

“Even though this is a small town, your movements haven’t been lost on the population. Especially with everyone knowing now about this trip. And a red-and-white ’59 Corvette will be easy to spot. If some guy takes it into his head to subdue you and hold you for ransom, what could you do about it?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe I could use some of my self-defense training and slam him to the ground with a kick to the groin and a chop to the larynx. Or maybe I should bring you along as my personal bodyguard. The only problem with that is the car only has two seats and they’re occupied.” Her voice virtually oozed with sugar. “The trunk is available but it isn’t big enough for someone with shoulders as wide as yours, or legs as long.” She stepped around him. “See you when I get back.” To herself, she added, but preferably won’t.

* * *

BY MORNING, THOUGHTS of Parker weren’t McKenna’s main concern. The call came half an hour ago. Lydia had fallen and was in Mercy Hospital.

McKenna turned into the parking lot. The lights of an ambulance momentarily blinded her. The car skidded to a stop next to a white van. Slamming the car door, McKenna ran to the hospital entrance. The revolving door hampered her hurried efforts. Inside, she rushed straight to the room number Adrienne had given her.

Parker Fordum came out of the door as she reached it. McKenna stopped, frowned. She did not want to physically run into him a second time. She remembered his arms around her, the feel of his hands as they steadied her.

“McKenna,” he said by way of greeting, his head bowing in a curt nod.

“How is she?” McKenna felt obliged to ask.

“She’s waiting for you.” He nodded in the fashion of someone used to tipping a hat, but as long as McKenna had known Parker she’d never seen him wear one. He stepped around her and walked down the hall. McKenna watched him go, but he didn’t turn to glance at her. She’d been dismissed as if she was one of his needy students. Impulsively, she wanted to stick her tongue out at him, but someone might see her and it was a childish act.

“Lydia, are you all right?” McKenna asked breathlessly when she entered her friend’s room. Lydia lay in bed looking pale and drawn, although she smiled. Her right leg had a cast on it up to her knee.

“McKenna, I’m fine. I fell off the attic ladder. It was so stupid. I was getting down a case for the trip and my foot slipped. Both the case and I came crashing down.”

“Are you going to be all right?”

“I’m okay now. The doctor says my leg will heal just fine.” She smiled and McKenna thought Lydia was trying to put her at ease. By her expression, Lydia must have thought she looked panicky.

“I’ll be up and dancing again before you know it.” Again Lydia smiled.

“Why didn’t someone call me last night?”

“You couldn’t have done anything. I was in surgery and then I was asleep from the anesthesia. I had Parker call you this morning.”

“Adrienne called me.”

“Maybe he got to her before you. And you know Adrienne. She’s probably called everyone by now.”

“Can I get you anything? Are you in any pain?”

“I could use another pillow.”

McKenna pulled a pillow from an empty bed and lifted Lydia forward to put it behind her.

“That’s much better.”

McKenna settled into the chair next to the bed. Lydia’s face looked less pale than it had when McKenna had first seen her against the white sheet.

“I’m not going to be able to go on the trip with you,” Lydia said.

“Forget about the trip. You’re going to need help when you get home.”

“I’ll have plenty of help at home. Other than Sara and Adrienne practicing their remedial nursing skills, Emory was here when I woke up.”

Lydia had been on-again, off-again in love with Emory Woodson for as long as anyone could remember.

“I’m just sorry you’re going to have to cancel.” Lydia adjusted her pillows.

“Cancel,” McKenna said. “I’m not going to cancel.” The words had come out automatically, as if she were used to getting her way.

Even hearing that Lydia had fallen didn’t make McKenna respond with talk of cancelling her trip. Lydia was going to be fine. And besides, McKenna had planned to go alone and only agreed to let Lydia come to satisfy their friends. She’d be alone again, but she was going.

“You’ve waited this long—”

“I’m not waiting any longer,” McKenna interrupted.

“But I’ve gotten used to thinking of us both going. You know, Thelma and Louise.”

“Sorry. I was going alone initially. I’ll just go back to the original plan.”

Lydia pushed herself up a little farther. “I knew you’d feel this way. Even though you’d never think of doing this if Marshall was still alive.”

“Probably not. With Marshall we’d be involved in expanding the business. I don’t want to spend thirty years inside a factory, developing newer and newer products, and never see the world.”

“Why is that road so important to you?”

“It’s not the road.”

“It is,” Lydia contradicted. “If it wasn’t that road, would you take the highways or even fly? You want to take that car over that road.”

McKenna stared at the wall behind Lydia for a while. “It’s been a wish of mine for a long time. And Marshall’s, too.”

“Marshall never said anything about wanting to drive 2,400 miles, or wanting to drive that road.”

McKenna refrained from telling her that there were some things that husbands and wives shared that other people knew nothing about.

“Why do you think Marshall had that replica in his office?”

“He liked cars,” Lydia replied.

McKenna shook her head. “He didn’t just like cars. He loved cars. Loved everything about them—the smell of the oil, the sound of a perfectly pitched engine, the squeal of the tires against the road. Every year he couldn’t wait for the new models. Even the new paint colors excited him.”

“I know,” Lydia said. “Marshall lived and breathed cars.”

“I asked him once about the car. Why he had the replica on his desk.”

“Did he say he wanted one, wanted to take it on a road trip?”

“Not in those words. He said it represented a dream. He wanted the freedom the car represented. Not that he regretted marrying me. I wasn’t the tether holding him in place. It was the business. We had so much responsibility because of it, the welfare of our employees depended on us. He took that seriously and said driving away wasn’t in his plans any longer.”

“When was this?” Lydia’s voice was soft. McKenna felt as if she was trying to protect her from the memory of things she and Marshall would never do.

“Shortly before he died. You remember the business was taking a slight hit. We’d begun the custom work and we were pouring a lot of financing into it.”

Lydia nodded. “And then he was gone.”

McKenna felt her eyes tear up. “And then he was gone.”

“And you decided to fulfill his dream.”

She smiled at Lydia, a genuine smile. “It wasn’t just his dream, Lydia. It was mine, too. I didn’t build that car in memory of my husband.”

Lydia gave her a scant look.

“Well, not totally. Building it was my idea, only mine. It was a way to help me deal with Marshall’s death, take my mind off everything. Once I started, it became me. I wanted to do it. I wanted to put all those pieces together and complete it. And I wanted to take it on the road. Men aren’t the only ones who think taking off into the wild is their birthright.”

Lydia held her hand and squeezed it. Then she released it. “I’m sorry that I can’t go with you now.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll have no problem being on my own.”

“Well...you won’t be going alone, actually”

McKenna raised her brows, curious. “I won’t?”

“Parker is going to accompany you.”

McKenna couldn’t believe her ears. “Parker!” She almost screamed. “Parker Fordum?” She stood up and took a step back. “You’ve got to be kidding.” McKenna’s stomach churned at the thought of Parker sitting next to her in the small car.

“McKenna, Fordum is on sabbatical. He’s a perfect replacement,” Lydia said.

“Lydia, he’s old, has no imagination and he wants to label and define everyone into a neat, little box. That’s not the kind of person I am or the kind of trip I’m going on.”

“He’s not that old. He’s younger than you are.”

“That’s not what I mean. He acts old, set in his ways. He’s too much of a by-the-book person. He would never fit into the way I want this trip to be.”

“McKenna, he’s not like that at all. Parker is a warm, funny individual who loves adventure. Give him a chance.”

McKenna was shaking her head before Lydia had finished speaking.

“You can’t go alone. It’s too long a drive and too dangerous. And Parker could help out if the car breaks down.”

“Is he a mechanic? Does he know the first thing about a car, about a ’59 Corvette, other than how to drive one? And it has a standard transmission. Can he even drive a stick?”

“You still need someone to help you,” Lydia insisted.

“No, I don’t,” McKenna said. She was sorry she’d ever mentioned the trip to her friends. Maybe it would have been better if she’d just called them from the open road and told them she was off and would be back when the adventure was over. She sighed. It was too late for that now.

“I don’t need his help. I built that car. If it breaks down, I can fix it.”

“McKenna, I’m not doubting your intelligence, but you might just need someone with strength to help you along.”

“Lydia, it’s more than that. You and I are women. The whole dynamic changes with a man. We can’t stay in the same hotel room, so that means more expenses. I’m not familiar with his habits, his likes and dislikes in food, his pet peeves. You and I had agreed to eat simple, healthy food and to exercise everyday so we wouldn’t get run-down or develop any health problems. I rarely even talk to Parker other than sharing a polite conversation at a party.” She’d always cut short or avoided conversation with him altogether. And then there was the matter of Marshall and Parker.

“Then you two can spend the time getting to know each other.” Lydia put her hand up when McKenna began to speak. “He’s already agreed to spend part of his sabbatical on the road with you, so don’t mess this up. You don’t leave for two days. You’ll have time to get used to the idea.”

“What idea?”

McKenna turned to find Parker Fordum in the doorway, holding a bouquet of flowers in a glass vase. She stiffened at his unexpected presence, then forced herself to relax. While she and Parker were like oil and water, he and Lydia had been friends since their college days. McKenna usually tried to be at the other end of the room whenever they were at the same event. She couldn’t imagine spending weeks on the road with him. Alone.

“The idea of traveling a long distance with you,” Lydia responded truthfully.

McKenna wanted to glare at Lydia, but she transferred her attention to Parker and said, “I was a little surprised when Lydia told me you agreed to stand in for her on our trip.”

“She’s very persuasive.” His voice was almost a drawl, yet McKenna knew he’d spent his entire life in and around Chicago.

So he didn’t want to go, she thought. McKenna took a step forward, coming up against the bed. “She tells me you’re on sabbatical. I bet you’re trying to finish a book. I wouldn’t dream of taking you away from that. I know how proud you are of the books you write. And you probably have a deadline to meet. I can complete my trip alone. That was my plan from the very beginning.”

“The book’s done,” he said. It sounded like a dismissal. “I have some editing to do. I can do that in the car when I’m not driving.”

“And there’s safety in numbers,” Lydia chirped. “Since I can’t go, McKenna, I’d feel so much better if I knew you were safe with Parker.”

Safe with Parker, she thought. How could she be anything else. He was the epitome of boring. Yet McKenna felt trapped. She couldn’t say what she really felt—that she’d rather spend the weeks having the hairs pulled out of her legs one by one than sitting in a car with Parker clicking away on a laptop as she chauffeured him from Chicago to Los Angeles. This was supposed to be a fun trip. It was her adventure. She didn’t want it spoiled.

“I have my credit cards in case of an emergency. I’ll be careful. Nothing will happen.”

“That’s not exactly true,” Parker said.

McKenna clamped her back teeth together to keep from shouting at him.

“Other than the car breaking down, there are hundreds of things that can happen to a woman traveling alone.”

McKenna groaned. “Not that eighteenth-century damsel in distress story? You’re not my knight in shining armor.”

“No, but I’m all you’ve got.” His voice was stronger than McKenna had ever heard it. She stared at him as if he’d grown horns.

After a long moment, she glanced at Lydia. Her friend looked tired and McKenna felt guilty that the argument was contributing to her condition.

“Lydia, I have to go now. I’ll be back later.” The implication was she’d return when Parker was not in residence. Then she turned to Parker. “Can I see you outside?”

“McKenna,” Lydia said, stopping her. “I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, Lydia, you don’t need to apologize. And if you want, I can postpone the trip,” she told her, feeling true compassion for her friend.