The Open Road: A Second Chance Romance

by Quinn Loftis

  “Just stop it,” said Sam.

  “Stop what?” Charity asked, batting her eyelashes.

  “Stop your silly charade. You know damn well I won’t be going skydiving, and you know damn well Jason will not go and leave me behind by myself because he’s … he’s … he’s Jason freaking O’Neal, for crying out loud. You’re only doing this so Jason and I are forced to be alone together. We see right through you. We’re on to your little plan. It’s not going to work. So, fine, just go. Go jump out of your little plane. See if we care. We’ll have plenty of fun right here on the ground. And you know what, Charity? Maybe your plan will work. Maybe Jason and I will fall madly, deeply in love and run away together. How would you like that? Maybe we’ll go off to Tahiti somewhere, and you’ll never see us again. Then what would you think?”

  “Oh, look at the time, Jessica,” said Charity, hopping up from the booth and ignoring Samantha. “We’ll be late for our plane. Gotta run.”

  “I hope the plane crashes,” yelled Samantha at Charity and Jessica’s retreating backs.

  “That’ll be okay. We have parachutes.”

  “I hope they don’t open,” shouted Sam.

  “Enjoy Tahiti,” Charity yelled in response without turning around.

  “Those two really are pieces of work,” said Jason after the two women were out of sight.

  “They’re pieces of something alright,” said Samantha. “I’m sorry about this. We don’t have to hang out today. I can go back to the hotel. You’ve got your stuff going on, and I’ve got my stuff going on. Maybe we should just go our separate ways, especially after last night.”

  Jason let out a sigh. “Actually, I could use some company today. It doesn’t have to be weird.”

  “Why, what’s happening today?” Sam asked.

  “Today, I need to leave a flower in Nevada. I’d be honored if you’d come with me.”

  “Where?” she asked.

  “Close by, the Hoover Dam.”

  “I guess I can do that,” she replied. “As long as you promise no weirdness.”

  Jason held up his hands. “Listen, I’m sorry about last night. I meant what I said, but you’re right. You’ve got your stuff, and I’ve got mine. Let’s keep it that way. You only have one more day here and so do I. I’m leaving tomorrow, heading up north. I’m going to park in Seattle and take a flight to Alaska to continue the North American Tour. Let’s just enjoy the rest of our time together and part tomorrow as friends. No weirdness.”

  “Deal,” said Samantha, extending her hand.

  “Deal,” he agreed, shaking it.

  Samantha spent the hour-long drive to the Hoover Dam trying not to think about how the butterfly gymnastics team had returned to her stomach in full force when she shook Jason’s hand. Instead, she focused on the beauty of the desert mountains in the distance as the pair made their way out of the city.

  “How long will it take you, do you think, to finish up your trip?” she asked Jason when there was a lull in the conversation, which didn’t happen often. Talking to Jason was easy as talking to Charity, and he seemed to enjoy talking to her as well.

  “Not sure. Originally, I calculated a hundred days, two days per state. I sort of envisioned myself just passing through most places, but now I don’t think that’s feasible. I didn’t really take into consideration the week in Hawaii or four days in Vegas or anything like that. I’m sure there’ll be countless other places I want to hang out longer as I go along.”

  “At least you’re not rushed. You don’t have to hurry back to a job or anything. You can afford to take your time.”

  “Yeah, but I still think I should finish it up as quickly as possible.”

  “Why’s that?” Sam asked.

  “For just that reason. No one’s waiting at home for me. Actually, I don’t even have a home. I sold it, remember? It’s more than a little depressing. I’m wandering the country aimlessly with no real place to call my own.”

  “I can see that, I guess. But sometimes I feel like I’d give anything to not have a home.”

  “Derek?” Jason asked.

  “That and more. Growing up without a father and a mother who was in and out wasn’t really the best homelife for a child. Roanoke’s a nice enough town but it’s too small. Everyone knows me there and they know I’m nothing. I come from nothing. My family’s nothing. Sometimes, I wish I could move someplace where no one knows me. Get a fresh start, ya know?”

  “Yeah, that does sound good.”

  They rode the rest of the way in companionable silence. Sam was lost in her thoughts, and she assumed Jason was too. A new start? What would that be like? Now that she’d cut the tether between her and Derek, at least mentally, Samantha thought maybe she could do something with her life. Maybe she could go to paralegal school like she’d planned or even farther. Maybe she could become an attorney herself, just like Brent. Could she take such a risk?

  They turned off the main highway and took the road to the dam.

  “Traffic isn’t as bad as last time I was here,” said Jason. “They were building a bypass around the dam when Bethany and I visited. They must have completed it.”

  As they drew closer, Sam saw a large lake on her left, but she couldn’t see the actual structure itself. After driving through a quick security checkpoint, Jason pulled the rental car into a parking garage. They got out of the car and followed signs past a visitor center/gift shop and took the walkway out onto the top of the dam. Walking up to the guardrail, Sam could hear the roaring waters of the Colorado River flowing through an opening in the concrete far below. Sam crept up to the barrier and looked over. She wasn’t ready for what she saw. It looked like miles and miles of concrete extending to a slim ribbon of water. Sam was immediately overcome with vertigo, stifled a squeal, and stepped back.

  “Wow, that’s high,” she said.

  Jason was unfazed. “A little bit over seven hundred feet, I think.”

  “Yeah, that’s about six hundred and ninety too many for me.”

  He chuckled. “Wow, you really are afraid of heights. It’s quite safe. You can’t fall.”

  “I definitely can’t fall over here,” she replied, standing about six feet away.

  “Oh, c’mon,” he said, extending his hand. “How many times in your life are you going to get to see something like this?”

  “Just this once, hopefully.”

  “Suit yourself,” he said, turning back to the view. “I count one, two, at least three hats down there on the ground. I said you can’t fall, but I guess I can’t make the same promise about my cap.” Jason was wearing his familiar faded red ball cap and he placed one hand atop it and pushed down, ensuring it was safe from the wind whipping around the dam. Sam must have been curious because she scuttled across the sidewalk. In the next instant, she was clinging to Jason’s arm in spite of herself.

  “Don’t let me go,” she said breathlessly, her nails digging into his skin. Cautiously peering over, she saw, far below, a large flat concrete structure sat at the base of the dam. Out of that flowed the river, running fast and blue. On top of the flat structure, various personal items could be seen that tourists had dropped either voluntarily or with a little help from the wind.

  Jason chuckled again. “Uh, you’re hanging on to me. I couldn’t let you go if I tried.”

  “Okay, well, don’t let me let go of you.”

  “Gotcha.”

  They stood that way for some time. After Sam got over the initial shock, she was able to converse somewhat normally. But she didn’t let go of Jason’s arm. Jason dug into the breast pocket of his flannel shirt and removed the pressed purple lilac. “Here, hold this,” he said, extending it to Sam. With her left hand, she increased her squeeze on Jason’s arm, and with her right, she took the flower. Jason dug into his pocket and got his phone. Very carefully and with some difficulty, he turned on the camera.

  “Hello, America,” he said. “I’m at the Hoover Dam today.” He held the phone so the vie
wers could see the cliffs behind him. “Bear with me. I’m trying to do this without dropping my camera over the edge. I’m going to leave a flower here at the dam. This will make the seventh flower, the seventh state Bethany and I have posthumously visited. Notice in the distance that huge bridge. When Bethany and I were here five years ago, they were just starting. They built it from one side to the other. You could see the road coming out from the cliffs on each side and a big empty space in the middle. Guess they got it done. If you ever get a chance to visit Vegas, definitely make time to drive out here. It’s amazing.

  “I’ve got Samantha here with me today. I’m sure you remember her from the roller coaster upchuck incident. Her friends abandoned her in Las Vegas, so I told her she could come with me today to leave the flower.” He turned the camera slightly so the viewers could see her clinging to him. She couldn’t focus for very long on the camera. She was simply too scared at the moment.

  “Hello,” she croaked and gave a very quick wave with the hand holding the flower.

  “As you can see, she has the lilac. She’s going to leave it for me. On the count of three, Sam is going to stick her hand out over the edge and let it go. Ready? One, two, three.”

  Samantha didn’t move.

  “Sam, I said three.” Jason turned the camera so the screen showed Sam’s face. Viewers could see a look of terror there. “Sam, America is waiting.” She trembled, shaking her head slightly. “I forgot to mention, America, Sam’s a little afraid of heights. Here, let’s try this again. I’ll help.” He took his own right hand and grabbed the back of Sam’s hand. The movement pressed their bodies close together. It caused her to shift her weight to keep the death grip she had on his arm. “Here we go, nice and slow.” He guided Sam’s hand out over the concrete barrier and under the guardrail. All the while, Jason held the camera at a distance with his left hand, keeping the scene in view. “Okay, good, now, on the count of three, just let it go. One, two, three.”

  Sam opened her hand and the flower fluttered into the wind. Jason let go of Sam and held the phone so it tracked the falling flower, which caught on the wind and began spiraling away from the dam. Eventually, it became a speck and then it was out of sight.

  “There you have it, America. One more flower gone. Hopefully it will hit the river and float away. I can’t tell from here. It’s already too small to see. Tomorrow, I’ll be back in the RV. Until then, I’ll see you on the open road.”

  Jason cut off the camera and stowed his phone back in his pocket. Neither he nor Sam said anything for a long time.

  “Thank you,” she said at last, “for letting me be a part of this. It’s very special.”

  “Thanks for agreeing to come,” he said. “It does make it easier, having someone with me. I’m going to miss you and the girls tomorrow.”

  “I’ll miss you, too,” she said.

  After taking in the view a little longer and exploring the rest of the top of the dam, Sam accepted Jason’s invitation to take the Hoover Dam power plant tour. They paid for the tickets at the window and waited around for a few minutes in the gift shop for the tour to begin. Then they were presented with white hard hats and instructed not to remove them for the entirety of the tour. Samantha blushed when Jason grinned at her and told her she looked like a cute little construction worker.

  For almost an hour, Jason and Samantha, along with a throng of some twenty other tourists, followed a guide throughout the bowels of the gargantuan structure, listening to her espouse all manner of fascinating facts. She spoke of tons of concrete, millions of gallons of water, and wattages of various amazing amounts of power. Samantha was pretty sure she hadn’t actually done anything like this since a field trip to the Roanoke Museum of History in junior high school. And then she hadn’t heard a word the tour guide had said. She’d only been concerned with trying to catch Phillip McNulty’s eye, hoping he would ask her to the spring formal.

  Now, in her early twenties, Sam found that nothing had changed. She thought the entire tour was fascinating but well beyond her comprehension. She’d never had a technical mind, and math was her worst subject. She’d always been more of a reading/English type girl.

  Much more interesting than megawatts and kilowatts was the man walking at her side. Samantha kept catching herself glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. She pretended to be listening intently to the guide, but really, she was sizing up Jason’s flat stomach and secretly wishing she could think of another excuse to once again grab onto his strong arms.

  Jason, for his part, was wholly engrossed in the tour. He listened intently and even asked the guide a few questions. Occasionally, he would make statements to Samantha, such as, ‘That’s amazing,’ or ‘I can’t believe that.’ She would simply nod and agree, having no real clue what he was referring to.

  Toward the end of the tour, they came to a room holding massive turbine generators. The guide informed them they would have a few moments to stand in front of the generators for photos if they wished. People began making their way in front of the giant structures, taking each other’s pictures.

  “Would you like me to take your picture?” an elderly woman asked, approaching Samantha and Jason and extending her hand. “Let me see your phone.” An elderly man followed in her wake. It was obvious from a glance this was her husband, the most obvious clue being that he appeared to be holding the woman’s purse.

  “Oh, sure, thanks,” said Jason, unlocking his phone and pulling up the camera. He passed it over to the woman, and he and Samantha moved in front of the generators.

  “C’mon, man, she won’t bite ya, will she?” the elderly gentleman asked Jason. The man stood next to his wife, waiting for her to take the picture. Sam and Jason inched closer to each other. Jason put his around Sam and pulled her in tightly. The familiar butterflies returned to Sam’s stomach.

  “You two make a cute couple,” said the woman holding up the phone. Neither Jason nor Samantha corrected the woman. “Got it,” she said, handing Jason back the phone.

  “Can I take your photo now?” Jason asked.

  “Bah, forty-nine years together, I got enough pictures with that woman,” said the man, clutching the purse and hobbling away. The woman followed after him.

  “Marital bliss,” said Sam.

  “It’s beautiful,” said Jason laughing.

  Jason and Samantha arrived back in Vegas late that afternoon. Charity had texted on the drive back, saying they were tired from their skydiving adventure and were turning in early, knowing they had a long flight the next day. Samantha knew that was entirely poppycock. If Charity wanted to, she’d party all night and go straight to the airport terminal the following morning, fly home Sunday, and be fresh as a daisy at work Monday morning. No, Charity was feigning exhaustion so Sam would have more time in Sin City alone with Jason. It worked. After she read Jason the text, he invited Samantha to see a Cirque du Soleil show and she readily agreed. Somewhere along the way, she wasn’t sure if it had happened last night or sometime during the day at the Hoover Dam, Samantha had decided Jason was a blast to hang out with, and she would spend as much time as she could with him before leaving on Sunday. She was having a great time, and she was already dreading returning to the real world of ex-boyfriends and stalkers awaiting her in Roanoke.

  They ate dinner before the show, which wrapped up around midnight. Jason walked Samantha back to her hotel room. As they made their way through the hotel casino, Samantha began to get anxious. They’d had fun together chatting and laughing all day, but nothing terribly romantic had passed between them, definitely nothing like what had happened on the parking deck roof the night before. Would Jason want to discuss what was happening between them? Would he want to kiss her? Samantha experienced a jumble of emotions. She had no idea how to handle the situation. She felt like she was driving a school bus full of screaming kids through a crowded city she’d never visited before.

  They paused outside her hotel room door. “Well, this is me,” she said.
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br />   “Listen, before things get awkward,” Jason began. “I’ve had a wonderful time today. But you said earlier, ‘You got your stuff, and I’ve got mine.’ I think that rule still applies, doesn’t it?”

  Samantha nodded.

  “Tomorrow, we go our separate ways. So, we can just chalk this up to a really fun weekend and go on with our lives, right? We’re both better for the experience, aren’t we?”

  Samantha nodded again.

  “Meet me for breakfast tomorrow?”

  Samantha nodded a third time.

  “Great,” said Jason, quickly pecking her on the cheek. “See you tomorrow.” He turned and sped off the way he came, leaving Sam staring after him before he rounded a corner and was out of sight.

  After a few moments, she realized she was standing in an empty hotel hallway staring into space. Sam dug in her purse and found her hotel key card. She shoved it into the slot, waited for the light to turn green, and stepped into the dark hotel room. Samantha could hear the heavy breathing of her two roommates in one of the shared queen size beds. She closed the door softly and locked the security latch. Then Sam leaned against the door and closed her eyes, again wondering what the heck had just happened.

  As she and Jason had walked to her hotel room, Samantha had guessed at what Jason might say when he dropped her off. She’d anticipated he might again reiterate that they were simply two friends having a good time and they should keep it that way. And he’d said exactly what she thought he would. But she hadn’t expected him to be so matter-of-fact about it. The logical part of her knew he was right. So, why did she feel so sad?

  Had she been secretly hoping for something else? Anything else would have been ridiculous. She knew it was foolish to imagine more with Jason than just friendship, long-distance friendship at that. But now, after spending a few days with Jason, it was impossible for Sam to ignore the fact she liked him, really liked him. Samantha hated the idea of falling for anyone at this time in her life, much less someone she knew she couldn’t have. But, all of a sudden, Sam knew she had indeed fallen, as surely as if she’d been pitched over the guardrail back at the Hoover Dam. She was plummeting headlong to certain heartache, and there was nothing she could do to break her fall.