Heartbreak Highway 1

by Harper Whitmore

  He laughed, “I doubt it. Take your first stop, a tour of a house….unless I was buying it for her it would bore her to death.”

  “Then why ask her to come along? I’m not trying to be mean, but she wasn’t really Granddad’s favorite person.”

  He shrugged. “No, they didn’t ever really see eye to eye. I think she feels bad that he died though. When I told her she gave me her condolences and seemed very sincere. As far as this trip, I didn’t really ask her. I was thinking like you were, that it probably wouldn’t appeal to her, but when I told her that you and I were going she said,

  “I’ll meet you in Asheville,”

  “What was I supposed to say?”

  “What did you say?”

  “I said okay.” he told her.

  “Oh,” Eva said.

  Marshall glanced over at her and then put his eyes back on the road,

  “Oh what?”

  “Just, oh,” Eva said. “No hidden meaning,” she lied. She was dying to tell him what a gold-digger she thought Simone was, and that from little things he’d told her that she didn’t think Simone was the faithful type. But, none of that was her place. She was too emotionally involved. She would run off any girl that got close to him, given the chance. She loved him and she thought he deserved so much more than these shallow women of his were willing to give him. Then trying to change the subject, she said,

  “How long will it take to get to Asheville?”

  “About four and a half hours, so settle in and get comfy.”

  “Well then, it’s a good thing I brought my iPad because I’m not listening to this “Tear in my Beer” Country Crap all night.”

  “It’s not country crap and no one is crying in their beer. It’s Country rock.” he said.

  “Okay, country whatever,” she said with a grin.

  “Country rock,” he told her. “Oh good, I was hoping to get to listen to Michael Jackson deny the kid was his tonight. It’s so heartwarming.”

  “Shut up,” she said with a grin. “He’s one of the classics and you know it. It beats the heck out of “Red red red redneck…” she sang it so he returned the favor,

  In a high-pitched voice he sang out,

  “The kid is not my son,” then he said, “Yeah, classic something” with a laugh. “What else you got on there?”

  “I’ve got some Aerosmith, Journey, ZZ Top, REO Speed wagon….Oh Prince…Little Red Corvette! You have to love that one.”

  He was laughing hard now and he said, “I’m sorry, how old are you again? I didn’t know you grew up in the eighties. Did you play that hot girl in Flash Dance?”

  She tried not to dwell on the fact that he’d referred to her as a “hot girl”, if she did, she would start tripping over her own tongue. Trying to stick with the teasing she said, “You’re just jealous of my impeccable taste in music,”

  “Yeah, that’s it,” he said with a grin. “I’ll make a deal with you…one country, one old-fashioned, washed up, please tell me you ain’t still touring with your big lips and ass-less chaps rock song.”

  “It’ll be a deal and I’ll even accept your jealous ranting’s about my excellent taste in music if you promise to stop half-way there so I can get some dinner. I’m starving.”

  “I could eat too,” he said. “Just tell me if you notice a Denny’s or anything coming up.” They drove along for a while, not talking, just listening to the music. Eva was the navigator and she tried her best to be fair with the music, but sometimes she’d already started singing along before she remembered to change it so she had to give him two in a row then.

  “Denny’s next exit,” she told him.

  “Okay, I’m there,” he told her. “So, what are you thinking about doing now that Granddad isn’t here? Are you going to look into more private nursing, or are you thinking hospital or something?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “Every time I try and think about it, my mind goes back to Henry not being here any longer. I start crying again and I lose the ability for rational thought.”

  Marshall nodded as he moved over two lanes to get ready for the upcoming exit, “I can relate to that,” he said, “When I went back to the house to pack, I just lost it. I went in his room and lay down on his bed like a little kid and bawled.” This was what Eva loved about being Marshall’s friend, and why she’d never take a chance on screwing that up. The rest of the world never got to see his vulnerable side. She did, and it was just as sexy as all of his other sides.

  “Granny was the first person I was close to that ever died. My chest still aches when I think about her three years later. Granddad was bigger than life, and as much as I loved Granny…it still didn’t compare to how I felt about him. I just wonder if my chest will ache forever, every time that I think of him.”

  “I don’t know,” he said as he pulled into the restaurant lot and parked, “I hope not. I hope that someday we can look back on what a full life he had and think about the fact that he got to live with his soul mate for sixty-five years and just smile without tears.”

  “Me too,” she said, “He would have hated making anyone miserable, especially us.”

  “Yeah,” he said with a grin. “I think that’s part of the purpose of this silly trip and this silly map,” he said.

  They stepped out of the car and as they walked into the restaurant Eva said, “Maybe, but I think he also wanted us to have fun…you know, experience life more. He was always after me to do that.”

  “That’s because you spent all of your time taking care of him,” Marshall told her as they sat down in their booth, “He loved you, but he hated that he needed to be taken care of. He felt like he was holding you back.”

  “He wasn’t holding me back,” she said. “You know and he did too, I’m just not a social butterfly. I’m not good with people.” The waitress seated them and took their drink orders and left them with a menu. When she was gone, Marshall said,

  “You’re fantastic with people when you want to be. You were great with Henry. Any other care provider would have walked out on the stubborn old crazy man years ago. Then there’s me,” he said.

  “What about you?”

  He shrugged, “You’re good for me, Eva. You always have been.” Marshall looked into her eyes as he said that. Eva put her face in her hands and her elbows were on the table, holding it up. She fantasized briefly about just leaning in across the table and kissing him right on his sexy, shaved….

  “Oh my God! You shaved,” she said.

  “Thank you, finally. We’ve been driving for an hour and a half. How could you not notice?”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, “My brain has been a little preoccupied today. It looks really good. Granddad would be proud.”

  “Well, he’d be happy I shaved, but pissed because I still didn’t cut my hair.”

  “True,” she said, “Because you didn’t follow his instructions to the letter.”

  “Controlling old coot,” Marshall said with a laugh. Then he looked into her eyes again with that intense, ice-blue gaze and said, “I’ve enjoyed spending the day with you though, and now the night.” He grinned when he said the last. Eva was caught up in his stare when the waitress brought their food. She wanted to stomp down on her foot. She didn’t though and she thought that spoke volumes about her ability to control her impulses. She’d have to keep practicing now that she thought about it. She wasn’t sure that she could be in such close quarters with Simone for so many days and keep herself completely in check. For Marshall…she was going to try.

  They finished their meal and Marshall raided the vending machine on the way out.

  “What are you doing? I’m stuffed and you ate more than me.”

  “It’s a road trip. You can’t have a road trip without fun food.”

  “Fun food, huh? I’m not going to be able to fit in my jeans when we get back, am I?”

  They were almost back to the car when she said that. Marshall stopped and suddenly got behind her. She stopped t
oo and looked over her shoulder and said,

  “What are you doing?”

  “I was just checking out the logistics. I think you’d be okay going up a size,” he said.

  Eva felt her face go hot, “Stop it,” she said, with an embarrassed giggle. She took a step backwards and positioned herself behind him once again. He was grinning, but he didn’t say anything until they got to the car. Then as they both got in he said,

  “You were just checking out my ass, weren’t you?”

  Eva rolled her eyes and shook her head, but the truth was, she was checking out his ass and it wasn’t the first time.

  Chapter 5

  After driving for another hour or so, Marshall and Eva decided that driving all the way to Asheville in one night would be a little much since it was already getting so late. From Wilmington to Asheville was about three-hundred and fifty miles.

  “What about Florence?” Eva said, looking at the map for a good place to stop for the night.

  “Where’s that?” Marshall asked.

  “It looks like if we stay on Route 95 we’ll run into it in another half hour or so. It’s about the halfway point to Asheville.”

  “Okay, maybe you should start calling about a hotel room for the night then. The later it gets, the harder it might be to get one along the coast line.”

  Eva pulled up all the hotels in Florence online and began calling them. The first two she called were booked up. The next one only had one room with a single bed. The next one only had one room also, but it at least had two double beds. She had them on speaker phone and Marshall was nodding, telling her to take that one. Eva booked it and after she hung up she said,

  “I don’t think us staying in the same room will make your girlfriend happy.”

  Marshall shrugged, “She’ll live,” he said. “We’ve been friends since we were twelve, if we were going to sleep together, we would have done it by now, right?”

  Eva snorted and said, “Yeah, right.”

  She was still holding out hope that someday Marshall would come to his senses and realize that his best friend was all he ever really needed. If that happened, she’d be the happiest girl in the world. If it didn’t happen…well, at least she still had her best friend.

  Marshall sang along with his country music and Eva played around online on her phone the rest of the drive. She saw that she had a new message from Helen. It said,

  “When you get to Asheville, don’t forget to check out the hot air balloons. There is nothing more romantic than breakfast in a hot air balloon.”

  Eva smiled when she read it, then she wrote back,

  “Thanks Helen, I’ll check it out. Although, since Marshall and I are just friends, I’m not sure that “romantic” is what we’re looking for.”

  “I know dear, it was just a figure of speech,” Helen wrote back. But the seed had been planted in Eva’s head. The idea of doing something romantic with Marshall really did appeal to her, even if he didn’t realize it was romantic.

  “I think this is the exit, right?” Marshall said, bringing her out of her fantasies.

  Eva looked at the map again,

  “Yeah, this is it,” she said. “Go right at the stop sign and the hotel is about half a mile up on the right.”

  “Marina Inn?” he asked.

  “That’s it,” she said. Eva was looking at the Inn as they drove into the parking lot. It was gorgeous. She could see the Neuse River on the far side of the parking lot. It looked like it ran right along behind the hotel. There was a huge lawn on one side of the property that just looked like a serene little park area and on the other side was an outside bar marked with huge wooden Tiki statues. It was, of course called “The Tiki Bar” and it had a sign that boasted “live entertainment.”

  Marshall parked and they left their luggage in the car while they went inside to register. They found out that their room was a one bedroom suite with a view of the river and a large balcony. Eva found herself getting excited, it had been way too long since she’d been anywhere, and she had never been anywhere like this before.

  Marshall paid for their room, refusing to take any of Eva’s money. Then the bell man followed them out to their car to get the luggage. When they approached the car, the bell man let out a low whistle.

  “Oh my God, she is a beauty!”

  Marshall grinned, proudly, “Yes she is,” he said, “My grandfather and I restored her.”

  “She is one gorgeous lady,” the man said, and then he looked over at Eva and said, “At least you got yourself a lady who outshines her, otherwise you might be in trouble.”

  Eva felt her face color with embarrassment and she waited for Marshall to correct the man and tell him that she wasn’t his girlfriend. Marshall didn’t do that. Instead he smiled, looked Eva up and down like he’d done earlier and then while making eye contact with her he said,

  “Yep, it’s a good thing.”

  Eva’s face was burning up now. She held his gaze for a few seconds, but finally she had to look away. She wondered what had gotten into him. He flirted on occasion, but today he’d been really laying it on thick. Maybe it was just the road trip, or the roller coaster emotions that had been produced after finding out Granddad was gone. That was probably it; she doubted that Marshall had just woken up this morning with the hots for her after all these years.

  The bell man led them past the Olympic sized pool and along the river walkway to their suite. He unlocked the door for them and Eva’s breath was taken away. The main room was a small living room with a fire place, a comfy looking couch and two antique looking high-backed chairs that faced a plasma television with a fifty-inch screen. To their right was a kitchenette, complete with a refrigerator and microwave and a cute little breakfast nook table that was surrounded by big open windows that overlooked the river.

  The bell man showed them to the bedroom where there were two double beds with large, fluffy white down comforters on top. There were glass doors that led out onto a balcony with two lounge chairs covered in over-stuffed red padding and it looked right out onto the river. The boats were lined up and lit brightly and Eva could hear soft jazz music coming from one of them.

  The bathroom was huge. It had a sunken tub and a glass shower. There were two fluffy white robes hanging on a hook and thick white guest towels. Eva was in love with this place and she made a mental note to come back again someday when she was really on vacation. It was amazing what you could find practically a few miles up the highway from where you’ve lived your whole life.

  Once the bellman was gone, Eva dropped down onto the couch and sunk into the cushions. “Wow,” she said.

  Marshall smiled at her, “You like this place, do you?”

  “Are you kidding? It’s amazing. What’s not to like?”

  “Not a thing,” he said with a grin, “Let’s go check out the Tiki Bar.”

  “Really?”

  “Sure, why not? We’ve got all night, we’re not driving….we’re over twenty-one….”

  Eva laughed and said, “Okay, you’ve stated your case. Let me change first.”

  As she started to turn towards the bedroom, Marshall reached out and grabbed her by the wrist,

  “Why are you going to change? You look great,” he said.

  Eva smiled, embarrassed again. She wasn’t good at taking compliments.

  “Are you sure? Shouldn’t I fix my make-up or my hair?”

  “Come on,” he said, tugging at her arm. “You’re gorgeous, just like you are.” Eva grabbed her purse and room key on the way out. Marshall turned loose of her wrist, but instead of letting go completely he slid his hand down and took hers in his. He led them along the river path and to the outdoor bar. It was a lively place with a live band playing top forty hits. “What do you want to drink?” he asked Eva.

  “What are you having?” she asked him. Marshall laughed and said,

  “Huh uh, you don’t get to say, “I’ll just have what you’re having” tonight. You’re on vacation, l
ive a little. What kind of drink have you always wanted to try?”

  Eva thought about it, other than the “normal” drinks like beer, wine or margarita’s, she didn’t really know of any other drinks. She rarely went out and much of what she knew about drinking came from books or television….or her mother. She shook off that depressing thought and remembering one of her favorite episodes of Sex in the City, she said,

  “A Pink Lady?”

  “One Pink Lady coming up,” Marshall told her. He left her at a small high top table and went to the bar. Eva watched him for a few minutes. Sometimes she looked at him and her heart ached. She had done so well for so many years, not blurting out how she felt about him. Suddenly, it had become almost impossible. She was sure it had everything to do with losing Henry. Eva and Henry had talked a lot, and she was sure that he had a good idea about how grateful she was for all he’d done for her over the years….but she hadn’t said it. She hadn’t told him straight out how she felt and now she had to live with that regret. She wondered if regret felt the same when someone was still alive…but maybe married…to the wrong woman.

  She tore her eyes away from him and looked around the cute little bar. The building was erected like a hut and seemed to be made out of bamboo and palm fronds. Everything gave off a cool, relaxed vibe from the hand-made furniture to the lava lamps that lit the place softly in colored lights. The band was on a slightly elevated wooden platform in the far corner and in front of them was a small dance floor.

  “Here you go, one Pink Lady,” Eva looked at the frothy pink drink with the cherry on top in front of her and found herself wondering what was in it. She was too embarrassed to ask, so she just picked it up and took a sip of it through the straw. To what would be her detriment later that evening, she loved it.

  “Good?” Marshall asked her.

  “Very,” she said, “You just got beer? I thought we were “living” on vacation.”

  He laughed and said, “My stomach and fruity drinks don’t get along very well. I’d hate for you to have to hold my hair back while I throw up all night.” Eva laughed too and said,