“You don’t need me to promise,” I said. “But I will.”
“Good luck, then, Lorelei, and watch yourself. The road ain’t no place for a grown man, much less a young girl,” he added.
“Thanks again,” I said, and watched him walk off.
I looked out the window when my dessert arrived and saw him getting into his truck. Moments later, he pulled away and disappeared on the highway, swallowed up by the same darkness that awaited me, a darkness without promise except for the promise of more danger and unhappiness.
“Excuse me,” I heard just as I lifted my fork to eat some of the apple pie I had ordered.
A young man in a gray pinstripe suit and black tie poured his smile down at me like someone hoping to wash away any resistance to speaking to a stranger. He had wavy, neatly styled dark brown hair and soft hazel eyes that seemed to sparkle in the restaurant’s bright lights. Clean-shaven with that well-manicured GQ look, he leaned against the back of the booth a little arrogantly. He was someone who knew how good-looking he was, and Daddy had once told me that those sorts of people spent most of their time posing for imaginary cameras. “Usually,” he had said, “they are a lot more vulnerable than they could ever imagine.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve been in the booth right behind you,” he said, pausing as if I were to understand everything from that fact.
“Yes?” I said again, practically demanding that he come to his point and tell me what he wanted.
“Being alone and bored,” he explained, “I permitted myself to eavesdrop on your conversation with that truck driver who gave you a ride.”
“I’m not sure that was something you had a right to permit yourself to do,” I told him, and he laughed.
“You sound more like a lawyer than I do, and I am one. Anyway, I overheard that you were heading to San Francisco and waiting for the bus.”
“So?”
“I’m heading there myself. I could give you a ride.”
“I see.” I shifted my eyes back to my dessert. I was dependent on the kindness of strangers at the moment, perhaps, but I still had to be careful. I couldn’t just immediately agree to go with him before I knew more about him, could I? Moses the truck driver’s warnings were still fresh in my ears.
The young man didn’t get discouraged by my lack of enthusiasm and gratitude and walk away. I looked up at him again.
“Have you ever ridden on these buses?” he asked.
“No.”
“You don’t want to get on one of these buses if you can help it. The lowest element of traveler takes the bus. It’s no place for an attractive young girl. All sorts of creeps will bother you, and the bus driver won’t care. I know what I’m talking about, believe me.”
“Really?” I asked. “How do you know? Did you used to ride buses?”
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sp; He laughed. “No, but clients told me, and I heard from other people, especially young girls who had had some horrendous experiences. In one case, I had to sue the bus company for negligence.” He nodded at the seat across from me. “Mind?”
“No.”
He sat. “I really am a lawyer,” he said, obviously to make me comfortable.
I still looked skeptical, so he reached into his inside jacket pocket to produce a business card and handed it to me. It read: “Keith Burton, Attorney at Law, Burton, Marcus, and Lester.” It had a San Francisco address.
“I was down this way because I had to do a deposition. You know what that is?” he asked, taking back his card.
“Yes. You were getting testimony for a case.”
“Exactly. It fell to me to make this trip since no one else wanted to do it and I’m the youngest partner,” he said with a smirk. “The deposition took longer than I anticipated, or else I’d be back by now. These things always drag on. I could have stayed overnight but decided I’d rather go home. You’d be doing me a favor if you came along. It would be great to have some company. I’m tired of my CDs, and I hate talk radio. Anyway, I just found out I have to be in court tomorrow, so I have little choice in the matter.”
He signaled the waitress.
“Could you bring me another cup of coffee, please?” He smiled at me. “Please,” he said, nodding at my apple pie, “don’t let me interrupt your eating. I had a piece of that, too. It’s great. The only advantage in coming out to these off-the-beaten-path places is usually they have food that tastes like real home cooking.”