I took her out one more time, although I’m not sure why I bothered, before locking up and heading back to my bedroom to watch TV. It was quiet except for the hoot, hoot, hoot of an owl. I wondered what Brick was doing right now, as I idly stroked Sweetie’s fur and flipped through a magazine.
An ad for Jared’s chain stores came on the television and I looked up to watch it. I recognized it as being an older one. He had been a very handsome man and still was. I wondered how he would have coped with a trophy wife who had lost her legs. Surely that would have cured his obsession for me.
The RV magazine had some beautiful pictures of Quebec and Nova Scotia and it occurred to me that after I saw Connor happily married that I had no agenda. I could go back to the RV that I was going to park in Texas, and then head north to see Canada.
Hmmm . . . I would need my passport for that and I had foolishly left it behind in the safe at my house—along with my birth certificate, and without that, no chance to get another passport. I could apply for a new birth certificate but that would take a long time and be very difficult without a permanent address to have it sent. My mind started processing things. I soon decided that if I could verify that Jared was still suffering from memory loss, that I might just risk a foray back into my house to get my papers before heading to Rhode Island to see Connor married. It would be easy to fly into Dulles, rent a car, and run in and out of the house to get those two things. I wished I knew if it had been Jared who had sent me his torn hospital bracelet. If it had been him, then he remembered me, and this just might not be the best idea.
I picked up Sweetie, held her nose-to-nose and whispered, “We’re going to see Angelina tomorrow! She is going to be so delighted with you!”
Chapter Thirty-six
I was up at the crack of dawn, or as my sister used to say when we were kids, the crap of dawn, anxious to get on the road so I could present Angelina with her gift. I was always conscious of “quiet time,” at the RV parks so I took my time and made as little noise as possible. I made sure I had everything done, so that when I turned the engine over, I was in gear and off of the site within a minute or so. Not everyone was as considerate as I was, but most RVers were.
Soon I was back on I-10, which would take me down into Texas and all the way over to Austin. By my calculations, I had about six hundred miles to go so it was iffy if I’d make it today but I was sure going to give it my best shot. Four hundred miles in a day was my typical limit but I hated the idea that I would be so close without making the effort to drive on. I was sure Angelina would hate that idea too!
I popped a book-on-CD into the player and settled in to listen to The People of the Book, while I admired all that the Lone Star State had to offer. It was a little odd listening to the voice of an Aussie and passing mile after mile of flat, dusty countryside dotted with scrubby brush. I could almost transport myself into the story I was listening to and envision myself in the Outback. The really good thing was that between cities the speed limit was 80 mph, but I was not quite comfortable at such high speeds, even though the Dolphin never balked at maintaining them. I did want to make up some time but I didn’t want to be unsafe about it. I’d come too far to run myself off the road and do myself and my Dolphin in.
When I stopped for gas just outside Fort Stockton, I added 800 minutes to my Tracphone and then, before I pulled back onto the highway, I punched in the new phone number Brick had given me. He’d told me that he’d been so angry with me before, that he’d smashed his phone to pieces with his fist the night he had seen me dancing with Craig. He answered on the second ring but in such a hushed voice that I wasn’t sure it was him at first.
“We’re staking out a booth at the Family Motor Coach Rally. We got a tip, so I can’t talk now, I’ll have to call you back.”
“Okay, I’ll keep my phone on and wait for your call.”
“You’re a doll. Drive safe.” And then he was gone.
We really needed to spend time talking and resolving some issues that had clouded the waters around our fledgling relationship, and to catch up on us. I missed him, but I was still a teensy, tiny bit mad and hurt that he hadn’t trusted me more and had readily assumed the worst, just because I was hanging all over this really handsome guy, with a dreamy I’m-in-Heaven look in my eye.
A few hours later I pulled off into a rest area. After walking Sweetie and feeding us both, I fell back on the sofa for a quick nap. Sweetie was curled behind my knees, her head resting on my thigh, when I heard my phone ringing. I really didn’t want to move her, as she seemed so perfectly comfortable and quiet for a change but if that was Brick calling, I did not want to miss his call. He could have some very good news to impart.
Gently lifting Sweetie, I reached over to the console and picked up my phone. The caller ID screen had the typical Private Number message that usually meant Brick was calling.
“Hi!”
“Hey Beautiful. Where are you now?”
“Somewhere in Texas. This state never seems to end.” I heard his knowing chuckle and smiled from the sheer pleasure of the sound.
“It’s big, no doubt about it. But really, where are ya?”
“Before I stopped to rest I had just passed a sign for Fort Lancaster State Historical Park. I think it’s about fifteen miles ahead.”
“So you’re at the rest stop just west of the Fort on I-10?”
“Yup. I’m here, in my Dolphin, just me and Angelina’s dog.”
“Where’s Stumpy?”
“I let him go in New Mexico.” I smirked to myself because it sort of sounded like a refrain for a country song.
“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. But you did the right thing you know.”
“I know.”
“Well hold tight, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“How, what . . .?”
“Just sit tight.” I looked at my phone and saw that we were no longer connected. What was that all about, I thought, as I went back to the bedroom area to wash my face, brush my teeth, put on some lip gloss and redo my ponytail. Visions of State Trooper cars, sirens blasting down the highway ramp and into the rest area parking lot, came into my head. He’d done this before, so I wasn’t all that awed by his resourcefulness, until I heard the sound of a helicopter over head. I mutely shook my head, as I went from window to window trying to gage where it was.
The sound got louder and louder, and soon the question was answered. It was landing in a field to the right of the main building, in a parking lot reserved for overflow. I wasn’t surprised when just minutes later, there was a knock on my door. Before I could answer it, Brick barged in, tossed a bouquet of flowers on the counter by the sink that was at the top of the stairs, and made a beeline for me.
I was surprised when I was grabbed, lifted off my feet, forced backward and then tackled onto the sofa. Brick’s hands cupped my face and bone jangling kisses rained all over my face. “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa!” I managed to utter between frantic kisses.
“No. No. No!” he returned, and then his hands were all over me as if taking inventory. “God, I’ve missed you. You just don’t know how much.”
I felt as if I did, as I had missed him everywhere but in my dreams.
Then his hands started to slow, alternately taking long leisurely strokes up and down my arms and caressing the side of my face. I thought it curious that I could still hear the whap, whap, whap of the copter blades, the length of two football fields away. Instantly my mind interpreted what that meant and I let out a long sigh. They weren’t dropping him off. He wouldn’t be staying. They were enroute somewhere and he’d made them detour. As if to verify this, he muttered against my neck between skin tingling, nipping kisses, “I can’t stay, but God I want to. You’re driving me crazy, you’re all I can think about.”
I managed to squirm up and lean back on my elbows, “What about Robert Byrnes?”
“Oh yeah, he’s definitely on my mind. But when I think of seeing you, I don’t think of smashing your face in.”
“Do you have any idea how common the name Byrnes is, and that everyone who has a son thinks it’s quaint to name him Robert?”
“So you haven’t found him?”
“We’ve found fourteen Robert Brynes, two who are actually vendors at RV shows, but so far, not the one who has Jillie. We’re on our way to Wyoming to check out two more and to find a teenager who left home to meet a man she met on the Internet who said he’s a back-up singer for Coldplay.”
“What’s he really?”
“A fifty-five-year-old bank teller from Laramie.”
“Why do these girls keep falling for that kind of stuff?”
“Rock stars are what dreams are made of, and at this age, teenage girls spend all their time dreaming and fantasizing about boys. They think they’re smart, that no one can fool them, and they’re afraid to tell anyone or ask advice because they don’t think anyone will understand how they’re feeling. How quickly they become committed to these perverts indicates a severe lack of attention at home. So these kids are usually loners, with parents who aren’t always there for them.”
“Well I am so glad they have you in their corner.”
“And I am so glad I had a chance to see you. I am so sorry I can’t stay and make love to you until we’re both exhausted but you do know that I want to fuck you silly, don’t you?” He took my hand and wedged it between our bodies.
“Hard to deny with the evidence at hand.”
He chuckled and gingerly pried my hand away. “Your hands, your lips, you don’t know how much I dream about them and what I want you to do with them.”
“Well next time, plan on staying a little longer and I may take requests.”
He flexed his arms and levered himself up. “Believe me, it’s harder than you know, leaving you right now. Give Angelina a hug for me. Where’s this mutt you’re giving her?” He got up and adjusted his trousers while I went to get Sweetie who had been cowering in the corner by the refrigerator ever since Brick had rushed in and manhandled me.
I picked her up and stroked her, “Some watch dog you are. He could have molested me.”
“Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve,” Brick muttered against the back of my neck as he reached over to scratch the puppy’s ears. “He’s cute.”
“She.”
“Okay, she’s cute.”
“Yeah. I can’t wait to see Angelina’s face.”
As soon as I said that, I regretted it. We both were thinking the same thing . . . Jillie. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see Jillie’s face? I turned and looked into Brick’s eyes.
“It’s just a matter of time,” I whispered.
“I know.” He kissed my hair, my ear and then turned to kiss me full on the mouth. “She’s going to love you just as much as I do.”
I had no time to absorb that statement or its significance. At that exact moment, the pitch of the copter blades thumping over in the field changed and was now being accompanied by a shrill whine. We both knew what it meant. He quickly kissed my forehead, ran down the steps and out the door, and across the field to the waiting chopper.
A crowd had gathered outside my RV to see what all the commotion was about and I wasn’t too fond of crowds lately. I secured everything in the RV and cranked the engine. I now had another bouquet of flowers in my makeshift holder over the bathtub. I had just thrown Craig’s arrangement out this morning so I was pleased to have a replacement, especially as this one was from Brick.
Pulling back onto the highway, I watched the helicopter rise high in the sky and then move out in a diagonal line, heading north. I wondered when I’d see him again and said another prayer for little Jillie and the teenager Brick was on his way to find. A warm feeling came over me as I allowed his words to repeat in my head, She’s going to love you just as much as I do. It was an intensely warm feeling that caused me to shiver with delight.
Chapter Thirty-seven
It was just past one when I pulled in front of Daniel and Julia’s house. They lived in a nice suburban house, in a small community that only allowed RVs on the property for loading and unloading purposes, the day of, or the day after a trip. But Daniel had insisted that I come here and spend the first night in their driveway before he took me to a local campground where he had made reservations for me.
Everything was quiet and dark as I looked at the low ranch-style rambler with the wide white planking and cornflower blue shutters. The house whispered Julia’s soft touches: the ruffled curtains blowing behind a partially opened window, flower pots on both sides of the generous steps leading up to the porch, colorful butterfly bushes beneath the porch railings, and a beribboned eucalyptus wreath in the center of the front door, the door that was opening as I stared at it.
I watched as a little girl in pink pajamas with dark bouncy curls came running down the front lawn toward the RV. Angelina, her smile as bright as the moon shining above, came running to the door of the RV. I unlocked it just as she knocked and it flew open. She was in my arms, hugging me around my neck for all I was worth and babbling something that sounded like, “didn’t think you’d ever get here, ever, ever, ever.” She felt soft and warm from her bed. Visions of her nose to the glass while she waited for me to arrive, swam inside my head as she breathlessly told me she had “waited and waited,” but then fell asleep. “My ears woke up when I heard you coming up the street. I could hear the Dolphin! It’s louder than a car. I am so glad you’re finally here! I’ve missed you so much!” Her arms around my neck were tight and it didn’t seem that she planned on letting go anytime soon, so I picked her up in my arms and held her to my chest while I watched Daniel and Julia cinching their robes and stumbling out the door of the house.
They both had a glazed look in their eyes, and Julia’s long hair was tousled and arrayed around her face. It occurred to me that I might not have woken them up, but that I had interrupted something else in progress. With Angelina still in my arms, I hugged them both and apologized for the late hour.
“We’re just glad you’re here, doesn’t matter when,” Daniel mumbled as he ran his hand through his hair. Yes, this was a man who could have used just a few more minutes. The rosy blush of Julia’s fair skin confirmed it, that, and the whisker burns on her pale throat. I watched as they linked hands and he brought her hand to his lips—their eyes communicating a secret promise.
“Carrie, Um, I keep forgetting . . . Jenny, it’s wonderful to see you again. Come into the house. I’ll fix some coffee,” Julia said.
“Forget the coffee, I’ll bring in some wine. Got some great stuff I loaded up on in Oregon.”
“Even better,” she looked at Angelina clutched tightly in my arms and smiled, “Angie, where are your slippers?” Her little feet, wet with dew, were swinging at my hips. “You’re getting wet grass all over Jenny.”
“Oops! I was in a hurry and forgot them.” Her tiny hand covered her mouth and she looked like the little imp I knew she was.
Julia leaned over and brushed the grass cuttings off the little feet. It was such a tender ministration that I knew instantly that mother and daughter had completely re-bonded, despite the years that they’d been apart.
All of a sudden Angelina began bouncing on my hip and furiously patting her hands on my cheeks. “Where’s my puppy? Where’s my puppy? Where is she?”
We were all in the cramped area that served as a foyer, so I backed up with her in my arms and plopped her down on the sofa. “She’s in her carrier in the bedroom, but she hasn’t been walked for a while, so before you two meet I’d better get her leash. You go outside with your mom and dad and I’ll bring her out.”
She was off my lap and in the bedroom before I could blink. I could hear cooing and giggling sounds coming from the bedroom and then Angelina, the carrier between both hands, came down the hall. She was walking on her tiptoes, holding the carrier gingerly in both hands and peeking inside. “She’s sooo cute!”
I opened the gate and took Sweetie i
nto my arms, attached the leash and led her down the stairs. She promptly did her business, and I gave Angelina her snack so she could reward her. Then she was whisked into Angelina’s arms and held to her chest while she kissed Sweetie on the nose and let her lick her face all over. A strange look came over Angelina’s face and we all watched, as a dark splotch grew large on her pink p.j. top, just under the puppy’s bottom. She had been christened the exact way the puppy had christened me so many times.
“That means she likes you, she doesn’t do that to just anybody!” I said with a chuckle, and watched, as Angelina’s look of uncertainty became a huge grin.
The sound of Angelina’s laughter filled the front yard and echoed off the RV while the three of us linked arms and watched her play with her puppy in the grass.
“Thank you. You just don’t know how much she’s been looking forward to this,” Julia said.
“I can imagine, and no thanks are necessary. She’s a sweet girl and she deserves to be this happy always.”
Daniel squeezed my shoulders and leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. “You’re responsible for at least three people being ecstatically happy. Now get that bottle you were talking about and let’s go inside.”
“You have to work tomorrow, remember,” Julia said with one eyebrow raised.
“Always the mother, even to me. I’ll just have one glass and then you and I have some unfinished business to take care of. And don’t worry, I’ll get up in the morning, too,” he said with a grin. The double entendre was too obvious, I burst out laughing.
I watched as Julia blushed crimson and turned to hide her face in Daniel’s shoulder. His robe gaped and I saw he was bare-chested underneath. All that bronzed skin and curling hair made me think of Brick and of all the things we were missing out on right now. I was happy for Daniel and Julia, truly I was, but a little melancholy for myself. I wanted what they had.
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