I stared at her for a moment. She'd lost her ever-loving mind. Ignoring the twinge of unease and—dare I admit it, even to myself?—hope caused by her observation, I grabbed my suitcase and pulled it off the bed. "You're being ridiculous. He kicked me out of his house."

"I'm just worried about you. I don't think he's going to let you run away."

"Well, he has no idea I am, so he can't stop me." I looked around one last time. "Ready? I have a bus to catch."

She looked like she wanted to say more, but in the end, she just said, "Yeah," and got up to join me...