“Stop,” she mouthed.

Chase laughed softly as he cocked his head at her. “What’s your issue with swear words?” She shrugged. “I just think they’re unnecessary. And rude.”

“Why are they rude?”

She tilted her head. “Come on, Chase.”

“I’m serious,” he said, leaning on the table with his forearms. “What makes them rude? Explain to me why poop is not a bad word, but shit is.”

Andie’s lips twitched. “Poop?”

Chase smirked before he said, “You know I’m right. They’re just two different words for the same thing. Why is one bad? I mean, if that’s the case, why isn’t porridge a bad word for oatmeal?”

Andie blinked at him. “Shouldn’t we be passing a joint back and forth while having this conversation?”

Chase burst out laughing, sitting back against the booth. “Do you have one?”

“Not on me, I’m afraid,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

He smiled as he shook his head, picking up his burger and taking another bite. “You know,” he said around his mouthful of food, “you didn’t answer that one, so technically, it should be my turn again.”

She waved her hand over the table, giving him permission to proceed.

Chase thought it over as he chewed. “Favorite saying?” he finally asked.

Andie pursed her lips, looking up at the ceiling, and his eyes automatically dropped to her mouth, noticing how full her lips looked when she did that; he pulled his attention away almost immediately, studying the French fry in his hand as he swirled it through the ketchup on his plate.

“Everything happens for a reason,” she finally said.

“What?” Chase scoffed as his eyes flashed back to hers. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s total horseshit,” he laughed. “That’s just some crap people say when something bad happens and they have no way to explain it. It’s a pathetic way to try and make somebody feel better. And if anything, it has the reverse effect.”

Andie shrugged. “I disagree.”

“Anytime anyone has ever said that to me, it just made me want to punch them in the face.”

“That’s because you’re an asshole,” she said matter-of-factly before taking a bite of her sandwich.

Chase’s mouth dropped. “Was that a profane word that just left your mouth?”

“That one was warranted,” she explained, and he smiled.

“Tell you what,” he said, placing his burger on the plate and leaning in on his elbows. “If you can convince me that bullshit saying has any merit, lunch is on me.”

Andie looked at him for a second before she carefully placed her sandwich on the plate. “When you were a kid, did you ever get grounded?”

“Of course I did.”

“What for?”

Chase laughed. “Lots of stuff.”

“Try and remember one specific time.”

He looked up at her; she sat poker faced as she waited for an answer. He had no idea what any of this had to do with anything, but he figured he’d humor her.

“When I was seventeen, my mother found my fake ID.”

Andie smiled. “How long were you grounded?”

“I can’t remember now. A couple of weeks, I think.”

“Were you pissed at her?”

“I’m sure I was.”

“But do you understand why she was upset over you having a fake ID?”

“Of course,” he said, taking another bite of his burger.

“Why was she upset, then? Explain it to me.”

He stopped chewing, lifting his eyes to hers. “What the hell are you doing? Running a guilt trip on me for something I did when I was seventeen?”

“No, I’m just making a point. Why do you think she was so upset?”

Chase exhaled. “Because it was illegal. And the shit I was doing with it was illegal too.”

“So if you understand why she was upset, then why were you mad when she punished you?”

Chase looked at her as if she was crazy. “Because what kid wants to be punished? Plus, at the time, I didn’t think it was such a big deal. Everybody had fake IDs.”

Andie smiled slowly, and he suddenly felt as if he had just stepped into a trap.

“So at the time, you couldn’t understand why your behavior deserved a consequence, and you were angry about receiving one. But now that you’ve grown up, and you have some perspective, you can understand how having a fake ID would get you into trouble, and you probably appreciate the fact that you had a mother who cared about you enough to make sure you were doing the right thing.”

Chase dropped his burger on to his plate. “What’s your point, Andie?”

“All I’m saying is, sometimes things happen, and we don’t see them clearly, either because we’re not at the right point in our life, or we’re too closely involved to understand. But just because we can’t see the reason behind things doesn’t mean there isn’t one.”

Chase felt his back straighten. This conversation was starting to make him angry. “So when people die, when good people die before their time, there’s a reason for that?”

“I don’t know,” Andie said. Her expression turned empathetic as she tilted her head. “It doesn’t seem fair, but…maybe it’s like we’re in our ‘teenage’ years right now, and we’re not able to see the big picture yet. Maybe after we die, it’s like we grow up, and we finally get the perspective we need to understand why things happen in life. Kind of like how you didn’t understand or appreciate your mother’s punishment until you became an adult. You see it differently now. You understand. Maybe after we die, it’s like that.”

Chase stared at her and she looked back at him, waiting. There was such openness and sincerity behind her expression, and that look on her face, combined with the words she had just said, suddenly made him feel like there was a lump in his throat.

He cleared it quickly, picking up his burger again. “Shouldn’t we be passing a joint back and forth while having this conversation?” he grumbled.

“Do you have one?”

He looked up to see her smiling at him.

“Not on me, I’m afraid,” he said with a small laugh.

Andie sighed, picking her sandwich up and taking a bite. “Oh, and Chase?”

He lifted his eyes to hers again.

“Will you be paying for lunch with cash, or credit?”

Chase felt a slow smile creep over his lips, and she mirrored his expression before picking up her drink and taking a delicate sip.

He sighed heavily, shaking his head in amusement.

“Cash.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Andie stood at the gas pump, her arms above her head as she twisted to stretch her back. The little beep sounded, signaling that her credit card was approved, and she turned to the pillar where the paper towel dispenser was mounted on the wall. Grabbing a few, she kept them in her hand as she removed the nozzle from the gas pump and inserted it into her gas tank.

Chase exited the small food court in the center of the rest stop with a white plastic bag dangling off his wrist. As he approached the car, he reached in and pulled out a bottle of water, holding it up in offering. She mouthed a thank you, and he nodded in acknowledgment before he slid back into the passenger side.

It was getting late, she thought as she yawned for the third time. She would have to stop soon. She had looked at the map of South Carolina a little while ago; if she could make it another hour or so, they could stop in Yemassee for the night.