Cody’s brows creased. “We’ll see about that.
Now, let’s hit the road. It’s gonna be another
scorcher.”
* * *
Darla dug her sunglasses out of her bag and put
them on top of her head. A yellow and white beaded
chain hung from the ear pieces. Some would think it
was a little old fashioned, but Cody just saw it as
quirky. He liked what she had on. She wore two tank
tops layered—one blue and one white. She wore
short shorts that were cuffed at the hem and white
sandals. He noticed the sparkly ankle bracelet and the
tattoo of the butterfly. He wondered where her other
one was.
“Do you mind?” she asked, holding up the 70s
music disc.
Cody smirked. “Only if we get to listen to
country after that.” He gave her a little wink to let
her know he wasn’t serious—although he did like his
country music.
“Maybe we could listen to some jazz? Or maybe
some classical? You know, there is more to music
than just country,” she said smiling.
“Now don’t be slamming my boys,” he laughed.
Janis Joplin came on with her hoarse sound, and
he tried to get into it. He could picture a circle of
hippies passing the bong and listening to this.
He turned to her and started to mouth the words
but quickly changed his mind when he saw her
mouthing the words to Janis’ song. He shook his
head.
After a few songs, he couldn’t take much more.
“What else you got?” he said, hitting the eject button.
“I know—Janis is more of a taste developed over
time. No worries,” she said, digging into her bag for
something else.
For the next thirty minutes, they listened to
Madonna and even some 80s boy band music. After
a while, he didn’t even hear the tunes. He just
concentrated on the driving and a good thing, too.
The interstate was getting quite busy, and lots of big
rigs were traveling now that it was getting closer to
evening time. A couple of times they cut right across
the lane, and he had to tap on his breaks.
“What’s wrong?” Darla said, clearly awakend
from a little catnap.
“Nothing. This idiot just decided to come on over
and say hello!” Cody chuckled.
Darla patted him on the thigh. He looked over at
her, and her smile made him melt.
“Take a deep breath and let it out,” she said,
practicing it, too.
He listened to her take a couple of deep breaths
and soon he was doing it too.
“Hey, let’s take the next food exit and get some
dinner. I’m hungry,” Cody said.
“Sounds good,” she said not realizing what he’d
just done.
Cody chuckled. He was the master at changing
subjects.
After a dinner of country-fried steak smothered in
white gravy, green beans, and strawberry shortcake
for dessert, the duo hit the road once again.
“I figure we’ll drive for about two more hours
then call it a night. We should make Walter Reed by
noon tomorrow.”
“Did you get separate rooms again?” she asked.
“No. But you best behave yourself or I’ll be
sleeping in the truck.”
Darla let out a little giggle. “Cody Richardson.
You amaze me.”
It just dawned on him that he didn’t know her last
name. He knew Bryan’s was Weatherspoon.
Cody strummed the steering wheel with his
fingers to the Keith Urban song that came on the
radio.
“What’s your last name? Is it the same as
Bryan’s?”
Darla looked out the passenger window and
watched as the big trucks passed them. She didn’t
respond right away. Cody could tell she was thinking
about it. It must not be a good thing, he thought.
“Jacobson. That’s my last name,” she said softly,
still not turning from the window.
“Sounds like another story we should talk about,”
Cody said.
She finally turned away from the window and
looked his way. He took his eyes off the road for just
a second to look at her. She flipped her glasses up on
top of her head. She wanted to make sure they had
eye contact.
She started to mouth something but at the same
time that she began to talk Cody realized he’d taken
his eyes off the road for too long. He turned quickly
just in time to see red lights in front of him. He
slammed on the breaks causing the suitcases in the
back to come tumbling down, the plastic drinks
they’d gotten from the drive-in fast-food place to flip
out of the beverage holder, and ice and soda went
everywhere. Darla screamed.
Cody yelled out, “Hold on!” It all happened so
fast, however, and nothing he could say or do was
going to help them avoid the collision they were
about to feel.
Screeching tires, the smell of rubber burning, and
the sounds of metal on metal all played out within a
quick few seconds.
“Are you okay?” he yelled. “Darla. Are you all
right?” he repeated.
Darla was holding her head and weeping.
He unbuckled his seat belt and reached for her.
“Darla, I’m sorry. Are you hurt?”
Chapter Ten
Darla sat on a gurney inside the ambulance and
Cody leaned up against the cab to his truck giving an
account of what had happened to the highway patrol.
Cody glanced over to the opened ambulance doors so
he could keep an eye on what was going on with
Darla. After he’d given a full report, he wandered
over to the ambulance trying to stay out of the way
the best he could. He could hear protests coming
from the inside. She felt fine and wanted to join
Cody. Cody stood back and listened, trying to stay
out of it. If they wanted to transport her to the
hospital, he would see about catching a ride. A tow
truck had been called and soon would be taking his
truck to the nearest garage. This was going to really
put a damper on their trip.
“I have to say, I’ve never seen gauze worn so
well by anyone,” he said.
Darla reached up and touched her forehead. “I
think the medics got carried away.”
Cody pointed to her lip. “That looks like it hurts.”
“My tooth went clear in, the medic said. I need to
put ice on it to keep the swelling down.”
“The tow truck should be here any minute. We’ll
get a ride with him and find a hotel and plot out our
strategy.”
Darla nodded. She winced. “My neck—it really
hurts,” she whispered.
Cody walked up behind her and gently massaged
her neck and shoulders. He could feel her relax.
“Oh, yeah. That feels so good. Oh, wow. You
have magic fingers,” she said.
Cody laughed. He heard a large truc
k and looked
up. “I think this is our guy.”
Cody and Darla squeezed in the front seat with
the heavy-set driver. The cab of the truck was messy
with Styrofoam cups, bags, and other wrappers of
fast-food places. Darla winced when she saw all the
clutter. She was sitting in the middle and leaned into
Cody as closely as she could. The stench coming
from the cab—a combination of body odor and stale
food—had Darla’s stomach feeling a bit queasy.
After bouncing around in the seat for almost
forty-five minutes, the tow truck pulled into the
garage. Cody popped open the cab door and jumped
down reaching his hands out to Darla to help her
with the large step down to the ground. She tossed
her hair behind her ears and then stretched a bit,
hoping to ease some of the achiness out of her body.
“Where the heck are we?” she asked.
Cody shrugged. “Beats me.”
The driver came around their side. Darla hadn’t
realized how scary he really looked. Her eyes
widened as he spoke.
“Across the street is a motel. They usually have
Cody glanced over at the hotel. He looked back
at the driver. “Tomorrow, huh? Okay. I’m really
anxious to get back on the road. I don’t really care
about the physical damage. I can take care of that
later. If you could just get her running again, we can
be on our way.”
The driver grunted. “I’ll do the best I can.” Then
he spat a wad of something on the ground and
walked off.
Cody and Darla gathered their things from the
back of their truck and walked across the street to the
hotel. Cody couldn’t believe the dump they were
about to stay in.
“This looks like something out of the movie
Psycho,” he said.
The two entered the motel office, Darla slightly
behind Cody. This place gave her the creeps. Behind
the counter was a thin man in his forties with dark
hair and eyes. He talked in a slow manner, and he
looked strangely at Darla, giving her goose bumps.
Cody checked them in under his name and took
the key. “Is there a place for food around here?”
The man walked out from behind the counter. He
pulled a curtain that exposed a small room with a
dining room table that had eight chairs around it.
“Dinner is at six.”
Cody quickly glanced over at Darla. Her eyes
were the size of oranges. He didn’t know her that
well but he knew her well enough that she didn’t
want to eat here. “Is there a convenience store within
walking distance? We’re just looking for some
snacks.”
The man clenched his fists. Cody took his arm
and put it across Darla’s chest. He was in protective
mode, now. Cody glared at the man. His gesture told
the clerk he better not show any more signs of anger.
“Suit yourself. Across the street at the gas
station,” he said walking back to his counter.
Cody spun around and grabbed Darla by the arm.
“Come on,” he said.
Cody unlocked the door and entered the room.
“Let me check things out first. You stay right there,”
he said.
Darla looked around, her eyes darting all over to
make sure no one came up on them. She didn’t trust
this place or these people.
“Okay, clear,” Cody called out.
Darla slowly walked into the room. One full-size
bed in the middle of the room, one small dresser with
a television on top, and a small, musty smelling
bathroom would be their rest stop for the night.
“I don’t think we’ll get much rest tonight. This
place gives me the creeps!” she said.
Cody looked inside the small closet. “Me, too.”
Darla sat on the edge of the bed. “I doubt these
sheets have been changed in a long time. This room
smells.” She scrunched up her nose.
“I pray he gets the truck running by tomorrow.”
Darla quickly looked up at him as he spoke the
words.
“I’m sorry. But praying is what I will do,” he said
as he walked over to the window and pulled the
drapes open.
Cody spun around and was about to ask her if she
wanted to walk over to the garage to get snacks. She
had her eyes closed, and she was chanting
something.
He watched her as she quietly sung some words
that he couldn’t quite make out. It was easing her
mind about being stranded at this place. He watched
on in amazement.
“I’m going to walk over and get some snacks. Do
you want to stay or go?” he asked, hating to break up
her little hymn.
She quickly opened her eyes. “You’re not leaving
me here alone.” She jumped off the bed.
The two headed across the street. Cody pushed
open the door, and a bell went off. The driver of the
tow truck was behind the counter watching TV and
eating a sandwich. He looked up when he heard the
bell.
“We just came for some snacks,” Cody said.
The driver nodded.
spooky,” she whispered. “I don’t see anything I can
eat, either.”
Cody eyed all the items. “What about beef
jerky?”
Darla frowned. “I don’t eat meat, remember!”
“You might have to today if you don’t want to go
hungry. Just saying …” He headed down the next
aisle.
Darla grabbed a bag of sweet potato chips and
read the back. She made a face but kept them in her
hands. She walked a little farther to the one and only
refrigerated area and scanned the contents. Soda,
beer, water, cheese. She reached inside the
refrigerator and grabbed a couple of waters and some
cheese sticks. She could see Cody up at the counter
waiting for her. She strolled up and placed her four
items on the counter with his. One by one the driver–
clerk rung up their items. He was so slow that they
wondered how many passersby came through and
ever bought anything. As they headed out of the
small store, Cody turned around at the last moment.
Hope to hear something about the truck early
tomorrow,” he said.
The driver grunted.
Cody and Darla watched TV while they snacked
on chips, cheese sticks, and candy.
“I bet I’ll have an upset stomach over this crap,”
she said, motioning to the wrappers from their loot.
Cody laughed. “Tomorrow we’ll have a
wonderful meal. I’ll pray on it. And you … you
can—”
Darla reached out and touched his hand. “I’ll
pray on it, too. I’m exhausted. I think I’ll take a
shower and hit the sack,” she said, getting up and
heading toward the bathroom.
Darla pulled back the sho
wer curtain with force.
The rust-stained bathtub and black mold growing on
the tile told her it hadn’t been used in a while or
cleaned in a while for that matter.
“This place really does remind me of the Bates
Hotel in Psycho!”
Cody belted out a laugh. But deep down inside he
knew it really was no laughing matter.
“You go ahead, I’ll stand post in case anyone
with a big knife comes in,” Cody said.
Darla whirled around. Her eyes were dark with
an intense feeling of fear. “Okay, Cody, that really
isn’t funny!”
Cody walked over to Darla and wrapped his arms
around her. “You’re safe with me. I promise.” He
kissed the top of her forehead.
Cody gently pushed away from Darla and studied
her face. She looked scared, and it bothered him.
“Seriously. I won’t let any harm come to you.”
A half smile appeared on her face. “I know,” she
softly spoke.
Cody started to unleash his hold of her when she
grabbed his hands and wouldn’t let him. “Cody?”
Cody slanted his head and locked his gaze with
hers. “Yes?”
She leaned in slightly and kissed him on the
mouth. He held her there by reaching up and putting
his hand behind her head, paying careful attention to
her injuries. He swept his tongue on the inside of her
mouth, holding her tighter and tighter as they kissed.
She let out a small moan. He quickly stopped the kiss
and moved her back, still holding onto her arms.
“Are you okay. Did I hurt you?” he blurted.
She let out a little giggle. “No, silly. I was
enjoying it.” She reached up and kissed him on the
nose.
Cody shook his head. “I guess I’m just a little
paranoid.”
“No worries. We’re taking it slow, remember?”
Cody furrowed his brows. “We are? I thought we
were taking a break, stepping back, and assessing the
situation … relationship … or whatever you want to
call this thing we are doing,” he said.
“I changed my mind.” Darla headed to the
bathroom. She quickly turned around. “That’s a