Chapter Seven

I sat in Tim Horton's for a while longer. I didn't really have anything else to do. I knew Greg would still be sleeping and there wasn't anywhere else to go in this town.

"Hey, why do you look so sad?" A voice said suddenly. I jumped, almost knocking over the little bit of coffee left in my second cup.

I looked up at the person and was surprised to find a very good-looking guy. He had dark brown eyes that seemed to sparkle. His hair was light brown. He had a dimple in his right cheek when he smiled. He was tall and lean.

"Oh, nothing-I mean, I'm not sad," I managed to stutter.

"Mind if I sit down?" he asked. He didn't wait for me to answer, before sliding into the chair across from me. He folded his hands around his coffee and stared at me. I was surprised at how direct he was. He didn't seem to worry about what I might think of him, he did what he wanted. I liked him already.

"I'm Ryan," he said.

"Hope," I said.

"I haven't seen you around here, are you visiting family?" Ryan asked.

"No, I'm traveling with my.cousin Greg, we are just stopped here for awhile," I told him. I didn't know why I called Greg my cousin. I knew he wasn't blood related to me in any way. Maybe it was just habit.

"Where are you headed?" Ryan asked.

"You sure ask a lot of questions," I said, smiling. I didn't know whether I should tell this guy anything. I didn't think he would call up my mother and tell her where I was, but I just wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell a stranger my travel plan.

"I'm sorry, I'm just curious, I tend to talk a lot when I'm attracted to someone," he said. He was looking straight at me; he never broke his gaze.

I felt myself blush, "Well, you don't waste any time getting to the point do you," I said.

"What can I say?" he said smiling. He shrugged his shoulders.

I glanced out the window and saw Greg some out of the hotel room across the street. He seemed to be looking around for something. Probably me, I thought.

"I have to go," I said, standing up and putting on my jacket.

"I guess my approach didn't exactly make you like me too much," Ryan said.

"Maybe I'll see you around," I said. I smiled at him before I left the Tim Horton's. I waved at Greg from the stoplight and he waved back quickly. He went back into the room before I could get to him.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"I just went over to Tim Horton's," I told him. I decided not to tell him about Ryan. It wouldn't matter if he knew about him or not.

"Maybe we should get going," he said, yawning.

"No, lets stay the night, you are obviously still tired and we already paid for the room," I said. I secretly hoped that I would see Ryan again.

Greg shrugged and lay down on the bed, "How's the cable here?" he asked.

"Non existent," I said, "There's only channel ten,"

"I'm starving, want to go to a restaurant?" he asked.

"Okay," I said, "I saw one down the street, it seems kind of fancy though," I said. Greg knew I liked to dress up sometimes and go to nice restaurants. I always used to beg Jason to take me to the city for a nice dinner, but he always refused. He would want to go and park somewhere and make out instead. When I thought about it now, I couldn't understand what I ever saw in him.

"Hope, I know you want to go there, but we have to save our money," Greg said. He actually looked sorry that we couldn't go to the restaurant. That was more than I ever got from Jason.

We ended up getting in the truck and stopping at the first McDonald's where we could get a chicken burger for a dollar.

"What are you looking for?" Greg asked.

I turned back to him. I hadn't realized that I had been looking out the window for so long. It was starting to get dark. We had been in McDonald's for a while now.

"Nothing," I said.

"You don't want to go back home do you?" he asked.

"No!" I cried. That was the last thing I wanted to do. After with my talk with my mother that morning, I didn't know if I would ever want to go back home.

"Hey! Hope!" I head a voice shout. I turned around abruptly. Who could be calling to me? I wondered. Then I saw Ryan walking over to our table. He had a huge smile on his face that showed off his dimple. He pulled a chair up to our table and smiled at me. It was like he didn't even see Greg sitting there. Greg raised his eyebrows in question at me.

"Ryan, this is Greg, my uh.cousin," I said. I didn't look at Greg to see his reaction to me called him my cousin. I didn't want to see how he felt.

"Hey, I'm Ryan Grove," Ryan said. He smiled at Greg warmly. He didn't notice Greg's sour expression. "Greg Cartwright," he said. He didn't smile. He looked into my eyes for a second and then he looked back at his French fries.

"When are you guys leaving?" Ryan asked, ignoring Greg's obvious discomfort.

"Tomorrow morning," I said.

"Are you headed anywhere near London?" he asked. Greg's head shot up and he stared at me with such intensity that I thought his head was going to explode.

"Well.yes, we are going to London," I said, tearing my eyes away from Greg. I trusted Ryan. I wasn't going to let Greg make me lie to one of the few people that was being nice to me for me instead of wanting to get close to him or my families money.

"Really?" Ryan asked, he raised his eyebrows, "Do you think maybe I could ride with you?"

His question took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting him to want to come with us to London. I glanced at Greg, he wasn't looking at me anymore, he was glaring at Ryan.

"Can I talk to you a minute Hope?" Greg asked, shifting his gaze.

"Sure, we'll be right back," I told Ryan. Greg pulled me over to another table near the ketchup dispenser. We were out of Ryan's view.

"Who is this guy?" Ryan asked.

"I met him at Tim Horton's, he seems nice," I said slowly.

"He could be some kind of axe murderer!" Greg exclaimed, trying to be quiet.

"You are overreacting," I said rolling my eyes.

"How do you know? You just met this guy!" he said.

"Give him a chance okay? Don't be so judgmental all the time," I said. Anger was rising in my chest. I hated it when Greg got like this. He was a modest guy but he knew it when girls liked him. He tended to get possessive when he was dating someone; he thought they shouldn't even look at anyone else if he was around. He was like this now and we weren't even dating! He had always been protective of me. If he had caught Jason in my room with me during the party, he wouldn't have hesitated to shoot him in the chest. At least Tyler had used a little control.

"He can help us with money," I said, trying to plead Ryan's case.

Greg sat back and crossed his arms over his chest; he looked like a little kid how he was pouting.

"Fine," he got up and walked out of the restaurant. I sighed and stood up to tell Ryan he could come with us.

"Great! I'll bring money to help with gas and food," he said.

"Why are you going to London?" I asked.

"I'm going to find my Dad," he said. He got a faraway look in his eyes when he said that.

"Oh, well maybe the person we are going to visit will know him," I offered, "What is his name?"

"Fred Jamieson," he said.

***A/N: I know it is a little confusing about all the last names. It really does make sense though, let me explain: Maxine was married to Michael Jamieson who was Zack(Skye's Dad) and Fred's father. Gregory's(Senior) last name is Cartwright which makes Anthony and Trevor's last names Cartwright which makes Greg(Jr.) last name Cartwright. Skye's last name WAS Jamieson because her father is Zack Jamieson. But she married Derek which made it Brooks, now she is married to Trevor which makes her last name Cartwright and Hope's last name is Cartwright because she though her father was Trevor. I know it's a little confusing, but there's the explanation if you needed it.***