Chapter Seventy-Three

“Maybe I should drive” Stephanie said as she watched Richie adjust the seat and the rearview mirror.

“Why?  You did all the driving around for the last few days.”  He buckled his seatbelt.  “And I like to drive.  Don’t worry.  I’ve been doing it a long time.”  He smiled cheekily at her.  “I’m nearly an expert.”

She set her purse on the floor between her feet.  “I’m not worried you’re going to get us into an accident, just that you might get us lost.  You don’t exactly know where we’re going.”  They had decided to drive from New York to New Jersey and Richie wanted to do the driving.

He started the car and turned to look at her.  “That hurts, Sweetheart.”  Not that she didn’t have a point, but still, it wounded his pride more than a little.  “Besides, we have the GPS and” he pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket “this.” 

She took the paper from his hands while he backed out of their parking spot.  “Where did you get this?”  It was printed directions from her parents’ house to his mother’s.

“Your brother printed it for me last night.”  He pulled into traffic and headed toward the gas station across from the hotel.  “Now you can stop worrying that I’m going to get us lost.”  He stuck his tongue out at her playfully.

“You stick that out, you’d better be prepared to use it” she muttered while she fiddled with the GPS.

He gave her a sidelong leer, “what was that?”

Her mouth quirked up in a smile and she picked up his hand that was resting on the console between them.  “Pretty sure you heard me” she replied as she let the tip of her tongue lightly graze a fingertip.

He turned his hand and cradled her chin in his palm.  “I’ll show you just how well I can use my tongue later, Sweetheart.”

Her pulse quickened at his not-so-idle threat.  “I’d hold you to that, but I’m not having sex with you in your mother’s house, oral or otherwise.”

He pulled into the gas station, alongside one of the pumps and turned the car off.  “Why the hell not?”

She watched as he put the window down and struggled to contain her smirk.  “For the same reason we didn’t stay with my parents.”  No way was she having sex in the same house with a parent running loose.  No telling what could or would be heard or, god forbid, seen.  So nope, wasn’t going to happen.  Sorry.  She watched him, knowing what he was waiting for and nearly let her laugh loose. Taking a deep breath she fought for composure.  “What exactly are you waiting for?”

He frowned as he kept watch for someone to come and pump the gas for him.  “Is anyone working here today?”

She couldn’t hold back her laughter any longer.  “Richie.”

He turned to her.  “What is so funny?”

“Look around.”  She continued to chuckle while he did.  “Notice anything?”

He looked again, understanding starting to dawn on him.  He shook his head and smiled at his own stupidity.  Only in New Jersey is it against the law to pump your own gas.  Nearly everywhere else, it was self-serve.

“”You have to pump your own gas here in New York, Rockstar.”  She laughed again, unbuckled her seatbelt, grabbed her purse and stepped out of the car.  She beat him to the pump by a step.

He covered her hand with his, “I got this.  Why don’t you go in and get us a couple of bottles of water?”  He opened the gas tank, unscrewed the cap and proceeded to fill the tank.

She leaned up and kissed the corner of his mouth.  “Sure.  You want anything else?”  When he shook his head she turned and headed into the mini mart.

He was already in the car waiting for her when she got back.  “All set?”  He was itching to get on the road already.  Three hundred miles was no short distance to travel in a car.  He glanced down at the printed directions.  Six hours would get them to his mother’s around mid-afternoon.

She buckled up, put the bottles of water in the cup holders between them.  “Let’s do this.”

~

Shifting in her seat, Stephanie watched the scenery go by out the window, watching for the exit she knew was coming up soon.  “Take the next exit, please?”

“Why?”  Richie glanced up to the rearview mirror, flipped the blinker on and changed lanes.

Stephanie shifted again.  “Bathroom break.”  She’d had juice and tea with breakfast and had downed most of her bottle of water.  Her bladder was protesting its fullness.  Besides, Clarks Summit was the halfway mark and it was as good a place as any to stop and stretch their legs.  And, she leaned over to check the gas gauge.  They could top off the tank too.

When she mentioned the bathroom, Richie realized she wasn’t the only one in need of a stop.  “Okay, tell me where I’m going.”

She directed him off the exit and around into town, pulling into the Sunoco station on the corner.  She had stopped at this particular gas station more than once on a trip through Pennsylvania.  Unbuckling her seatbelt, she stepped from the car with a slight groan and a stretch.  The Nissan Maxima was comfortable enough to ride in, but it was still a car and they had another three hours or so to go.  It felt good to stretch.  It would feel even better to pee. 

Taking care of her bladder, Stephanie washed her hands and stepped out of the bathroom and right into Richie’s arms.  She smiled up at him, “well, fancy meeting you here.” 

He chuckled and pressed a smiling kiss on her lips.  “I think we’ve done this once before” he said remembering the night she walked out of another bathroom and into his arms.  A night that had changed everything.  For the both of them.

Wrapping her arms around him, she gave him a long, tight squeeze telling him that she remembered.  Stepping back she met his eyes and, just like that night, everything around them ceased to exist.  It was just the two of them in standing in the minimart of the small town gas station.

“Excuse me.”

Nudged by a stranger, Stephanie stumbled into Richie, and the moment was lost. 

He righted her, and held on to make sure she had her balance.  “You all right?”

She smiled and nodded.  “Yeah.  I’m gonna get another bottle of water.  Meet you outside?”

He patted her on the ass as she moved by him and the bathroom door opened.  “Two minutes sweetheart.”

~

Back on the road, Stephanie fiddled with the radio. “You don’t mind if I change the station do you?”

He shook his head, “go ahead.”  It didn’t really matter to him what they listened to.  Music was music to him.  Except for that rap shit.  He just did not get it.

He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel when she stopped on a channel and the voice of Ratt’s lead singer, Stephen Pearcy, filled the car.

Out on the streets, that's where we'll meet
You make the night, I always cross the line
Tightened our belts, abuse ourselves
Get in our way, we'll put you on your shelf
Another day, some other way
We're gonna go, but then we'll see you again
I've had enough, we've had enough
Cold in vain, she said

I knew right from the beginning
That you would end up winnin'
I knew right from the start
You'd put an arrow through my heart

Round and round
With love we'll find a way just give it time
Round and round
What comes around goes around
I'll tell you why

He couldn’t help himself, he started singing along.  He glanced over at his passenger. She was singing too, not so he could hear her, but he could see her mouth moving.  “What channel is this?”

“Hairnation” she replied.  “Best channel on satellite/xm if you ask me.”

The next song started and he cringed, immediately recognizing the opening guitar lick.  “Can we change this one?”

She shook her head and smiled widely, “not a chance.  This is one of my favorites!”

He tried to block it out, not to sing along, but, as it was one of theirs, it was nearly impossible.  Thirty years of songs were embedded in his brain, no matter how hard he tried to erase 7800° Fahrenheit from his memory.

After the smoke clears
When it's down to you and I
When the sun appears
And there's nothing left but goodbyes
We'll just turn and walk away
How could we let it end like this
Just turn and walk away
Should we seal it with a kiss

It's too late
Now you're out and on the run
It's too late
Held up in love without a gun

Silent night
We hold up our candle light
Silent night
The night our love died
No words to say
And we're both too tired to fight
Just hold me close and don't let go...

The song finished and another one started.   Richie reached out and adjusted the volume before speaking.  “All the songs we’ve written and that one is your favorite?!”  He shook his head in disbelief.

“No” she corrected him.  “I said it was one of my favorites.  I have too many to pick just one.”

He checked his mirrors and changed lanes in anticipation of their exit coming up.  “You really don’t have a favorite?”

“Nope” she said and leveled her gaze at him.  “Do you?”

He thought for a minute.  “Are we talking just favorite song in general, or favorite of the band’s or of my own?”

“All of the above.”

~

The three hours passed in a blur while they listened to the radio and talked.  By the time they got into New Jersey and were on the Garden State Parkway Stephanie had laid her head back against her seat and drifted off. 

It wouldn’t be long now.

Richie slowed for the traffic and reached over, stroking her cheek lightly with a long strong finger.  Her skin was so soft and she was so beautiful.  He was sure his mother was going to love her as much as he did. 

His hand drifted down to where hers lay on her lap.  He laced their fingers together and was surprised when she squeezed his hand lightly.  “I thought you were sleeping.”

She blinked her eyes open slowly.  She had felt him touching her and she had wanted to savor it.  “Drifting in and out really.”  She rolled her head to look out the window.  “We’re nearly there, aren’t we?”

He maneuvered the car into the right lane and exited the Parkway.  “Ten minutes out, Sweetheart.”

Keeping their hands entwined, she straightened in her seat and flipped down the visor to check the mirror.  She ran the fingers of her free hand through her hair and reached down for her purse.  She popped a breath mint and found her lipstick. 

It had been a while since he had driven to his mother’s, but he recognized all the landmarks.  Another jug handle, a right at the next light and he was pulling into the driveway of a modest two story home.

He turned off the car and looked up at the house.  The house he had bought for his parents when the band had made it big.  He still owned their old home in Woodbridge, but he had wanted to his parents to have a nicer place and when he could afford it, he bought it for them to thank them for always being there, always supporting him, no matter what.

Untangling his hand from hers, he opened his door and with a backwards look at Stephanie he stepped out.  “Come on, Sweetheart.  Ma’s waiting.”