Read Online WORTHY, Part 1 by Lexie Ray - Free Book Online

my head. “The rain—and the flood—would’ve washed anything away, I’m afraid. Our footprints are long gone.”
    “Not footprints,” he said. “Maybe tires. Like an ATV or a bike or something. What if I was involved in a crash or something? Or maybe someone riding something hit me, though I couldn’t imagine why I’d be walking all the way out here.”
    The mention of a crash made my world shrink to a pinpoint. I was aware that Jonathan continued to talk, but his words blended into sounds of the woods—birdsong, the creaking of the trees. Everything went away as panic climbed my throat, threatening to strangle. I had to get out of here.
    “A crash?” I was incredibly pale, my eyes bugging out of my head. “That—that can’t be. That’s impossible.”
    “You’re probably right,” Jonathan said, sighing and standing up, dusting off the knees of his pants. He noticed the look on my face right away. “What’s wrong?”
    My hand went to my throat as if I could open it up, will the oxygen in to help my lungs get more air. I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
    “ Michelle?”
    “Can we walk?” I managed to choke out, each word falling out of my mouth like a prayer. “Walk away from here?”
    “Of course.” Jonathan quickly took me by the elbow—a practiced gesture, I happened to notice, one that spoke of good manners. There was another clue. He took care of his body, and his body knew how to conduct itself appropriately, with good manners, whether he knew it or not.
    “I’m sorry,” I said as he helped me across the creek. I was supposed to be the strong one here.
    “Don’t apologize,” he fussed. “You’ve been working really hard while I’ve been lying around on my ass —butt—all day. Of course you’re tired. I’m selfish, Michelle. You need to tell me what your limitations are. I don’t want to exhaust you like this.”
    “I’m not exhausted,” I protested. “It’s just that—that…” God. To even think about thinking about the incident was hard. I certainly couldn’t talk to Jonathan about my fears, could I?
    “You don’t have to think up any excuses,” Jonathan said. “I’m not worth it, Michelle. You’ve done enough. Let’s contact a police station or something to come pick me up at your cottage. I need to become someone else’s problem. You don’t need this problem anymore.”
    “I’m sorry,” I said, my eyes tearing up unexpectedly. “I know you’re upset about not finding anything at the place I found you. We can go back. I’m sorry I panicked. Let’s go back and look some more. Come on.”
    Jonathan snagged my arm as I tried to do an about face back toward the creek.
    “No, Michelle,” he said. “There’s nothing there for me.” He peered into my face and I squirmed away. “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing,” I said quickly. “Nothing.”
    He cocked his head at me. “You know, I’m pretty tired,” he said, plopping down on a log. “What do you say we take a break here? Not a bad place for a picnic.”
    “If you say so,” I said. “If you’d like to.”
    “I would like to,” Jonathan said. “I’d like you to, also.”
    I plunked down on the log beside him, keeping him on my right side and setting the backpack in between us.
    “Ready for some lunch?” I asked brightly, trying to shake off the last of my panic, the claws of my despair. I couldn’t handle thinking about car crashes. I needed something else to focus on.
    He shook his head as I started to take the lunches out of the backpack. “I’m ready for you to tell me what’s going on with you,” he said.
    I froze. “What do you mean?”
    “What was that back there?” he asked. “You looked freaked out, like you’d seen a ghost, after I mentioned a theory about a crash.”
    “I don’t really talk about that,” I said, my voice sounding shrill to my own ears.
    “Why not?”
    “Because I don’t want to,” I said, hating how sharp my voice was. I knew I was being