21
The next morning, they said goodbye to her family and packed all their stuff into her Jetta, since it got better gas mileage than Mark’s truck. While everyone else exchanged hugs, Max hung back, looking grumpy, as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t.
Gracie wasn’t quite ready to forgive him, but she didn’t want to leave with any hard feelings hanging over them. He had a heart condition, after all. What if something happened while she was gone?
So at the last minute, she darted over to him and dropped a kiss on his weathered cheek. “I’ll see you soon, Dad. No four-wheeling without a helmet.”
He grabbed her arm. “I don’t like this, not one bit,” he burst out. “Stay here, Gracie.”
A twinge of intuition told her there was more that he wasn’t saying. “What are you talking about,
