Chapter Fourteen

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Hour 5 on the trip, and everyone was hungry again. Orson managed to keep his complaints to a minimum, but Embry wasn't shy about expressing her discomfort. The road was just a twisting, winding road, surrounded by trees and forest. The next exit wasn't for another 5 miles, but I knew if I didn't stop soon Embry was going to have a full-on meltdown.

"Rest stop! Mile ½ up ahead!" Darby reads the sign. "I've been holding in my pee for like half an hour, I didn't want to say anything because we were on a roll," Darby says. I pull into the rest stop, and it's filled with Mini-Vans and RVs, all traveling down the highway, I pull into a spot, and we all pile out of the car. Orson follows Darby inside the building, and I unstrap Embry from her seat.

"We've got 9 hours left buddy," I say, shutting the car door and walking into the building.

"The bathrooms are gross," Darby sighs, already waiting in the hallway with Orson.

"Shocker, truck stop bathroom is gross," I laugh, before taking Embry inside and letting her use the bathroom. I hold her over the seat before taking her to the sink and washing her arms and legs. When we leave the bathroom, Darby, and Orson both have an armful of vending machine snacks.

"Let's go—We're getting weird looks," Darby says.

"I wonder why," I chuckle. We leave the rest stop together, and I help Orson and Embry back into the car. Orson hands over some snacks to Embry, who tucks them in her seat for later. I climb back into the front seat, starting the car again and pulling from the space. We were nearly at Millbury—When we arrived, we'd check into the Airbnb that Misha got for us, and then go out for food. After that, we'd walk around Millbury, and then tomorrow we'd visit their mother's grave after breakfast, and spend however much time Orson wants to, before heading back on the road home.

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The town of Millbury was like any other small town in America. All the stores were brick with white rim windows and flowerbeds. The streets were nicely paved, and the sidewalks looked cleaned—And it looked like a great place to live. I drive through the hills up to the Airbnb, which was a small two-story townhouse in a cul-de-sac, with a nice white picket fence. I park the car in the driveway, and while I get Embry and Orson out of the car, Darby gets the key from the lockbox.

"This place is beautiful," Darby gawks, as we enter the townhouse. The walls were all nicely decorated with pictures of mountain ranges and fluffy clouds. Everything was clean and smelled like fresh cleaning bleach and roses.

I return to the car and grab our bags, returning inside to Darby holding my phone out to me. "Boss man wants to speak to you," she smirks. I take the phone, answering the buzzing phone.

"Hello? Hi!? Did you make it?" Misha questions.

"Don't you have meetings?" I question.

"My meetings finished 2 hours ago—Is everything okay? The Airbnb is good, right?" Misha questions.

"Everything is fine, we just got to the Airbnb, and it smells nice," I tell him.

"Good, Good," he sighs.

"You don't have to worry about us Misha, Millbury isn't a bad town—It looks like something out of a Hallmark Christmas movie," I tell him.

"Sorry, I just—After everything that's happened, I'm just a little worried," Misha sighs.

"I understand, I just think Orson needs some time to himself," I tell him. "You didn't do anything wrong; you're doing a great job, I mean—Speaking to your mother is a great start,"

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