RV There Yet? (15 page)

Thanks to Cobbler's squawking all night, I'm pretty tired in the morning. But of course, she's sleeping peacefully on her perch while I have to get ready for church. I have a notion to rattle her cage. That would teach her. But since it's Sunday and I'm going to church, it doesn't seem the thing to do.

After attending a little service in an amphitheater on the campgrounds, we enjoy a great morning of singing and worshipping together. Then after lunch, much to my surprise, I'm able to talk Millie and Lydia into taking a hike into the woods.

“This feels so great,” I say. “Without my regular Pilates workout, my legs were turning to pudding.”

Lydia laughs. “You work too hard. I think you look great.”

“Remember what Greta said—you can't worry about things all the time,” Millie says.

“This coming from the baseball bat queen,” I say dryly, stepping over a fallen branch in the path.

“Even Girl Scouts know to be prepared. I don't worry about what may happen, but I keep things on hand just in case.”

“Guess I'm the only worrywart here,” Lydia says with a sigh.

“Don't be so hard on yourself, Lydia. We're all struggling with issues.” Rob flits to my mind.

“Even you, Dee?” Millie asks, surprising me. “When are you going to tell us the truth about Rob?”

Millie's not one to beat around the bush. She won't stop nagging me until I throw her something to gnaw on for a while. “I didn't want to break up, okay? Are you happy?”

“So why did you?”

“He—” I stop myself.

“Another woman?” Millie asks.

“Something like that.” I can't bring myself to tell them he's married. Not yet. What will they think of me?

“Nothing more painful than being left for someone else.” Millie's voice grows soft.

My ego makes me want to defend my position, but there is no way to do it without making me look worse. So I keep silent.

“Want me to hurt him?” Millie asks abruptly.

Lydia gasps. I look up in surprise.

“I will. You just give me the word.”

“Millie, I think you're half-serious.”

“Can't stand by and do nothing while someone hurts my friend.”

Millie's threat of violence truly touches me. Shame on me, but there it is.

“I'll be fine, Millie. It's just everything right now. My business, my—well, everything. I wonder if I will ever know love again.” And I wonder if I have the right to. Guilt washes over me anew. Maybe if I could forget what happened, I could find peace.

“I'll be praying for you, DeDe,” Lydia says.

“Thanks.” I prayed last night, though I don't know why He would listen to me.

Birdsong echoes throughout the forest. Our steps crunch upon broken sticks and debris in the path. A bluebird swoops overhead and lands on the branch of a shagbark hickory tree. Cupping my hand over my eyes, I snatch a look at him against the bright afternoon sky peeking through the trees.

Though it's hot outside, the air within the forest is bearable. Well, aside from that whole exercise thing.

“One down,” Millie shouts.

Lydia's sitting on a decomposed log bordering the path. Millie walks over and joins her. A healthy shine covers them both. That's a nice way of saying they're working up a good sweat.

“Pretty good workout, huh?” I smile. They don't. Popping the top of my bottled water, I take a drink.

“I didn't rest well last night,” Lydia says.

“More night sweats?” I ask.

She nods.

“Oh, man, those are the worst,” Millie says.

“We can rest awhile, Lydia, if you'd like,” I say.

“How much farther is it?” Millie asks.

“Hey, I thought that was my line,” I tease.

Millie gets it and smiles.

“Probably half a mile to go.” After checking the trail brochure, I look up and nod. “But we're in no hurry. Sit and rest a moment.” A soft breeze blows against my face.

“This is nice,” Lydia says. “I'm glad you thought of it, DeDe. I needed this. The truth is, I'd rather get a root canal than exercise.”

I laugh. “Spoken like the wife of a dentist.”

“You know, Greg never could understand why I hated going to the dentist, especially since he was one. Just never got over that fear, I guess.”

“Is anybody else getting hungry besides me?” Millie asks.

“I am,” Lydia says.

“Me too. Hey, you want to eat at the Potawatomi Inn?” I ask.

“That might be fun,” Lydia says.

“Let's do it,” Millie agrees.

Once we get back from our walk, we eat an enjoyable lunch at the inn, then spend the rest of the afternoon sunning beside Lake James. Millie and I go out on the paddleboats, but Lydia doesn't like to go boating since she can't swim. She stays on the beach and looks through a new cookbook she bought at the gift shop.

We have such fun we decide to stay over another night and leave in the morning. Tomorrow we'll stop by the outlet mall that's nearby before we leave.

Since it's Sunday, we weren't able to get the motor home in for repairs on the radiator, but we figure as long as we have water, we should be okay. We can stop at gas stations and rest stops along the way to fill him up if we don't want to use our water supply.

That should get us by until we find a repair shop or settle in at Estes Park. Right?

11

Millie gets behind the driver#8217;s seat today, giving Lydia a break.

“Want me to drive?” I offer, hoping all the while they don't take me up on it.

“You're not old enough,” Millie quips.

“I'm good with that.” I settle into my seat and brush a crumb of toast from my mint green shorts.

“But you will be old enough on the way home.” Millie smirks and snaps a picture of my outrage.

“I can't get over Greta traveling by herself,” Lydia says, waving farewell to our new friend. The motor home creaks and groans as we ease over the gravel to exit the park.

“Yeah, that is something. But they say people do it all the time,” I say as if I'm suddenly an RV expert. Turning to wave at Greta, a whiff of the sea wafts from my top, compliments of the ocean-scented potpourri I picked up before leaving Florida. If only I could imagine myself on the beach instead of in this—this—never mind. It's better if I don't work myself into a mood.

Lydia shakes her head. “Not me. I would never be brave enough.”

“Well, remember, there are clubs you can get involved in with other campers that help. Towing services, all that kind of stuff,” I say.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“You need to take more risks, Lydia.” My makeup bag is nearby. Unzipping it, I root around for my foundation.

“That's what Greg used to say. He always wanted to try new things. I'm sure there were other things he wanted to do, but he knew I would be too afraid to try.” She thinks a moment. “I've never been the adventurous type.” Our eyes lock. “But maybe you've noticed that?”

My gaze shifts toward the ceiling, then back to her. “Maybe a little.”

It's time to make Millie's day here. “Hey, Millie, where are we going to stop tonight?” My lips are squeezed tightly together so I won't laugh.

“Are you sure you're not fifty yet? You're beginning to repeat yourself.”

“Nope, still in my forties.” I'm wearing that little fact like a badge.

“We'll go through some of Illinois and then stop around Davenport, Iowa, tonight,” Millie says. “We're a little over halfway to the camp.”

“Which reminds me, that's in a different time zone, so we'll have to remember that,” Lydia says. She glances at the map. “There's road construction going on between Angola and Fremont, so we may be redirected. We could take Highway 20, which goes over to this Amish area, and we can connect with our main route around Elkhart.”

“If you're going off the beaten path, it's a good thing I'm not driving,” I say, opening a bag of chips.

“You've got that right,” Millie says. “Hey, can I have some of those?”

Getting up, I lean the opening of the bag toward Millie. She grabs a handful. Lydia doesn't want any, so I resume my slug position on the sofa.

“You know, I think I'll call Le Diva and check on things,” I say, already punching in the numbers.

“Great,” Lydia says. “You can tell us what that new shop is up to.”

“Hi, Shelley? This is DeDe. How are things going?”

“You remember Katie Graham, the girl who used to work for us?” Shelley asks.

“Oh yeah. I liked her a lot. Did you run into her or something?”

“You're not going to like her after this.”

“Uh-oh, what's wrong?”

“She's going to work at the new chocolate shop.”

A gasp catches in my throat. “Is she past the confidentiality time frame?”

“Yep. I checked. It's only for three years.”

I had made an appointment with my attorney to change that. He had a last-minute emergency and had to cancel. Then all that happened with Rob and it simply slipped my mind. That slip could cost me my business.
Thanks for ruining my life, Rob
.

“You still there?” Shelley asks.

“I'm here.”

“Don't worry, DeDe. You've changed quite a few things since she was here.”

“Yeah, maybe. The Belgian chocolate is much better than what we had back then.”

“Yes, and you've changed a few of the filling recipes. The cordial and fruit fillings are your best sellers, and you've changed those a little. Definitely improved the taste.”

“Listen, Shelley, call Mike's office and let them know we need a new confidentiality agreement drawn up. This time I think we should make it for five years. What do you think?”

“Really? Five years? I don't know.”

“Well, Shelley, if we're going to have competition in town, we need to get tough. We can't afford to lose people and have them join up with the competition. That could put us out of business real quick.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right.” Shelley scribbles something on paper. “I hate to bring this up, but, um, Rob called again.” It makes me mad that my heart leaps here. Why can't I control how I feel? I said I wouldn't go back to him. Why do my feelings betray me? How can I even entertain thoughts of him after what he's done?

Quickly I step toward the bedroom so no one can hear me. “What did he say?” I whisper.

“He said you won't answer your cell phone, and he needs to talk to you.”

“It's all about him and what
he
needs.”

Shelley is quiet here. She knows about as much as Lydia and Millie. Funny how I keep this part of my life from everyone. Just can't bring myself to talk about it.

“He also says to tell you—” She pauses.

“Yes?”

“Again he said to tell you that he's sorry and he still loves you. He said he will do whatever it takes to make it work.”

My heart beats wildly. If only that were possible.

“You still there?”

“I'm here. You haven't told him where I am, have you?”

“Just that you're on vacation with friends. Why?”

“Oh, I'm sure it's nothing. I just thought I saw him.”

“Well, I didn't tell him.”

“Thanks, Shell.” After a moment's hesitation, I change the subject. “Hey, listen, once I get to Estes Park, I'm sure there's a place where I can receive a fax. Tell Mike I'll have him fax the document when I can, and I'll sign it for him so we can execute it immediately.”

“Okay, will do.”

We talk a little longer about the new store that's soon to open. Shelley does her best to relieve my concerns, but let me just say if there are no chocolates in my future, things could get ugly.

We slow to a near stop.

“Oh no, Lydia. You've taken a wrong turn somewhere. We shouldn't be on this road. You'd better not try to go in any farther,” Millie warns.

“What's wrong?” I duck my head to look out the front window.

“We took a wrong turn somewhere. Now we're stuck in some kind of old railroad overpass,” Millie says.

“I can't believe they still have these.” Lydia's upset, and now that I see how tightly we're wedged inside the overpass from top to bottom, I can see why.

“You'll have to back it up,” Millie says as though it's not a problem whatsoever.

“I can't back it up! I'll damage something.” Lydia's voice is on the verge of hysteria. The color of her face is blending with the purple in her blouse.

“Well, you have to do something, or we'll have to camp out here.” Millie just won't let up.

“I'll just go forward,” Lydia says. Her chin is definitely hiked here.

She presses on the gas, which produces a loud, screeching noise but not much movement. I'm guessing the RV is getting scalped.