I swallowed. “I think that might be exactly what he did.”
CHAPTER 31
* * *
BELLA
I couldn’t have planned it better myself.
A few days later, Miller, his boyfriend, Trent, and I drove up to Vermont. The two of them were going to stay at some B&B for the night and check out the fall foliage, while I showed up unannounced at the hotel where Christian was staying. Coach had told me he was going up to sign his new contract with New England, but when we pulled in at the hotel, Christian’s SUV was pulling out of the parking lot.
“Turn around quick!” I shrieked. “That’s Christian’s SUV we just passed coming in.”
“Are you sure?” Miller said.
“I’m positive. I saw him driving.”
Miller took a sharp turn and hit the gas to follow the SUV. But we were a half-dozen cars behind him.
“He’s got a bike in the back,” Trent said. “I can see the tire sticking up.”
I leaned forward from the backseat to look.
“Is he going home?” Trent asked.
Miller shook his head and pointed. “Not if he’s heading north. He just put his blinker on to get on 95, heading the opposite way of home.”
“Oh my gosh.” I gripped the seat. “I think he might be going to the campground. We took bikes there the last time we were here.”
“You want me to follow him?”
I nodded. “The campground is only about ten minutes from here, if I’m right.”
Since the road was a single lane each way, it was hard to stay close to Christian. We got stuck at a light, and by the time we moved again, Christian’s SUV was no longer in sight. We didn’t see it again until we pulled onto the road leading to the campground, and then it was already on the other side of the locked chain, blocking passage.
“Pull up to the chain,” I told Miller. “I’ll get out there.”
“What are you going to do? Chase him down on foot?” Miller asked. “You’re not exactly the fastest runner, and you got lost walking through the Museum of Modern Art.”
“I’ll be fine.” We stopped, and I jumped out of the car.
Miller rolled down his window and yelled after me. “What if Wi-Fi doesn’t work in there, and you can’t find him, and you can’t call me?”
“I’ll take my chances! Go enjoy your day. I’ll be fine here even if I don’t find him. I’ll call you later!”
It took a lot longer on foot than it did on bikes to get where I was going, even jogging. But when I arrived at the clearing with the picnic bench where Christian and I had stopped the last time and had our first kiss, I found him sitting on the table with his feet on the seat. He was facing the other way, and my heart beat wildly as I approached from behind.
When the leaves crunched beneath my feet, he turned. “Bella? What are you doing here?”
I smiled. “Looking for you.”
“How did you know I was here?” He looked past me. “And how the hell did you get here?”
“Miller drove me up. He dropped me off at the entrance. We went to your hotel first, but you were pulling out, so we followed. My grandfa—” I paused and was about to say his name instead, but then I remembered the conversation he and I’d had two days ago. Test results didn’t change anything. “My grandfather told me what hotel you’d be at.”
“Your…grandfather?”
I nodded and pointed to the table. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”
Christian scooted over. He watched my every step like I was a puzzle he was trying to put together.
Sitting down on the picnic table, I sighed. “He still wants me to call him my grandfather. And I still feel like he is. I realize that’s probably a little strange, considering I now know he’s the father of the man who killed my mother. But he’s my family.”
Christian smiled sadly. “Not strange at all. We don’t get to choose our genetics, so family is a gift from God. And that’s what Coach is—to me, too.”
“That’s a really good way of looking at it.”
I searched for the right words to say what I’d come to say. “I’m so sorry, Christian, for running away from you.”
Christian swallowed. “I don’t need an apology.”
“You might not need one, but you deserve one. I’m sorry I pushed you out of my life. And I’m sorry I said hurtful things, like accusing you of not telling me so your contract negotiations would go better.” I shook my head. “I never really thought you would do something like that. I was just overwhelmed and confused, so I did what I do best and retreated, taking back the trust I’d given you.”
“I should have told you sooner.”
I sighed. “Yes, you should’ve, but I do understand that you were trying to protect me. The last time my world fell apart was when my mom died. My aunt said she’d take care of me, and then she died too. Then I went to live with my cousin, and she didn’t want me around. So I learned to not rely on anyone. Since I was a teenager, I’ve thought my fear of getting close to people was because I was afraid of losing them. But I think maybe I was more afraid that there was no one out there afraid of losing me.”