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single day, you know?”
    “So, where are you taking me?” he asked, suddenly sounding more excited.
    “You’ll know when we get there,” I said, matter of fact.
    “I’ll know when we get there,” he repeated.
    “Turn right at the next stop sign,” I directed, seeing the metal building that housed Salt River Recreation in the distance. It was still too early for the area to be bustling with people looking to spend their day floating down the river, so the parking lot was a ghost town.
    After that, we drifted into a comfortable silence again and I wished I’d picked up an energy drink before I’d left the house. I’d finally crashed after work the night before, but got a lot less sleep than I usually did when my body finally gave up. 84 hours was my record for how long I could stay awake, but it usually resulted in sleeping for 16 straight afterward. I’d been up for nearly 72 when I succumbed, but I’d only recouped about seven hours before I had to be up to meet Ryan.
    “What are we crossing over?” he asked, pulling me from my calculations and drawing my focus to where we were.
    “It’s called a river,” I said, like I was talking to a five year old.
    “I know that, smartass,” he laughed. “What river is it?”
    “Salt River, didn’t you read the signs?”
    “You’re supposed to be my tour guide, why would I need to read ?” he asked, as if it should’ve been the most understandable thing in the world to me.
    “I guess I’m falling down on the job, aren’t I?”
    “It’s okay,” he said, giving me a quick look. “I just like that you are here and I get to spend the next few hours loving the way you’ve made my truck smell like lavender,” he flirted with a wink, as I felt a whisper of touch against the hand I had on the bench seat between us.
    “Oh,” I blushed and looked out the window again. “Well, um, we are going to pass by Saguaro Lake soon. It’s man-made,” I said, slipping into my tour guide persona.
    “Man-made lakes,” he chortled, “now I’ve seen everything.”
    “Hey, this may be the desert, but everyone needs water to survive,” I explained, feeling defensive for a reason I didn’t quite understand. “They dammed up the river in a few places, made lakes.”
    “Okay, okay, I didn’t mean to offend your sensibilities.”
    “You didn’t, but once we get past all this stuff, the next time we cross a major road, you need to make a right. That’s the highway,” I guided, shifting my body to look more fully out the window at the mountains and hills we were driving through. “I wouldn’t look for it right away, we’ve got some time. We’ll be on the highway for about an hour, and then we’ll get out and stretch before the next leg.”
    “Okay, you can rest if you need to. Tildy told me you work doubles most days, you’ve gotta be tired.”
    “Nah, but I might zone out a little if that’s alright.”
    “Ha! Zone away, I guess,” he allowed. “Do you mind if I turn on some music?”
    “How very gracious of you and of course not,” I smirked, looking at him over my shoulder before laying my head against the door and letting my mind drift as the open strains of “The One That Got Away” by the Civil Wars filled the cab. “Good song,” I mumbled.
    I was glad to be getting away from the toxicity that was the trailer park where I grew up, but I couldn’t help but hope that Britton would hold up her promise and stay far away from our dad until I got home and told her all was clear. It’s why I’d stuck around after I’d graduated high school. Dad hadn’t worked in three years at that point and it was up to me to keep the bills paid and the house afloat. I did everything I had to in order to make that happen, so I knew what I’d be leaving Britton to deal with. She’d just turned fourteen and had been visited by the breast fairy that had skipped over me. She wouldn’t stand a chance. I mean, I had folded under the pressure at that age, so I had