Chapter Eleven #2
“I think you are being a little bit dramatic,” I laughed. “Or maybe you just don’t know how to drive a fine piece of machinery.”
“It’s a piece of something, and it drives like a fucking school bus.”
“She is majestic,” I insisted.
Bob was laughing beside me.
I pointed at him. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”
He held up his hand. “I am.”
“This is my home. It just so happens to be on wheels, and I can drive it wherever I want.”
That was exactly what it was. Wherever I parked it, that was home. I could wake up in Iowa one morning and Wisconsin the next. If I didn’t like where I was, I turned the key and went somewhere else. Assuming the damn thing started. Which, supposedly, it did now.
Bob nodded. “I like that your home died in the island parking lot.”
I liked it, too. “Let’s go.” I tugged him toward the RV and climbed behind the wheel. Bob got in the passenger side, and it felt right having him right next to me. I cranked down my window and leaned out to look at everyone gathered around.
“Everybody in!” Shay yelled.
“Jesus Christ,” Prime muttered.
The RV rocked as everyone started climbing inside.
I looked in the rearview mirror to see Pearl and Shay immediately headed farther back like they were touring a luxury bus instead of an old RV with a shower barely big enough to turn around in. Prime followed Shay while Anchor stepped inside and looked around.
“I love this thing,” Pearl called.
“Thank you!” I chirped. “I love it, too.”
Piney was the last one on, with Cross and Lost deciding to stay on land—saying something about they’re needing to be survivors to search the wreckage—before the door slammed shut.
Bob buckled up and looked over at me. “Start your house, doll.”
I turned the key. The engine sputtered once. “Come on, baby.”
Bob looked at me.
“Don’t,” I whispered. “She just needs a little bit of encouragement.” The engine turned over, and I slapped both hands against the steering wheel. “Yes!”
A cheer came from behind us.
Prime’s voice rose above everyone else’s. “Why the fuck are we cheering?”
“Because we’re supportive!” Shay yelled.
“Or we need hobbies,” Pearl giggled.
I laughed and shifted into drive. “Everybody hold on.”
Bob reached for the dashboard. “Why did you say that?”
I smiled at him.
“Ramona.”
I hit the gas and the RV lurched forward.
Someone screamed behind me.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Anchor shouted.
“Sorry! I never said she was a smooth ride.”
Bob grabbed the dash with one hand and the side of his seat with the other.
I looked over, and his eyes were wide.
I burst out laughing.
“Eyes on the fucking road!” He motioned frantically ahead.
“We’re in a parking lot!” I laughed.
“Still a road!”
I drove slowly around the lot, ignoring the running commentary coming from behind me.
Pearl complained that I needed shocks. Shay wanted to know if we could take it camping. Prime wanted to know why anyone willingly lived in something that rattled this much. Anchor opened one of my cabinets and got hit in the shoulder by a box of cereal. Apparently, I’d forgotten to latch that one.
By the time I made a three wide circles, I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt. I pulled into the parking spot, straight this time, and killed the engine.
For a second, nobody moved.
Then Prime spoke from behind me. “Never again.”
Shay laughed. “That was fun.”
“That was seven minutes of wondering if we were going to tip over,” Anchor grunted.
“That might have been the best seven minutes of your day,” Pearl snickered.
“I was asleep twenty minutes ago,” Prime grunted. “Remind me the next time I hear you guys talking loudly to just stay asleep.”
Cross opened the door behind me. “That was fucking sketchy to watch.”
Piney huffed. “Try being in the damn thing. I don’t know how you drove this farther than a mile without wondering if this was the end.”
“Hey,” I laughed. “You’re the one who got it running for me.”
“And it might have been a mistake. I don’t want Bob kicking my ass if something happens to you in this thing.”
They all started filing out, but Bob stayed in the passenger seat.
I looked over at him. “Well? What did you think?”
“About?”
I rolled my eyes. “My RV.”
“It’s loud.”
“Bob.”
“It shakes.”
“Bob.”
“One of the cabinets attacked Anchor.”
“That was user error. Everyone knows not to open a cabinet when the vehicle is in drive.”
His mouth twitched and I narrowed my eyes.
“It’s nice, doll.”
I smiled. “Thank you. Would you maybe go on an adventure with me?”
He reached over and rested his hand on my thigh. “There’s kind of a lot going on with the club right now.”
I reached up and laid my hand on his cheek. “After the chaos is over. We could take a long weekend, and just… drive.”
He leaned into my hand and turned his head to press a kiss to my palm. “Would that make you happy?”
“Yeah.” No hesitation from me. My RV with the open road in front of me and Bob seemed perfect.
“Whatever you want, doll.”
That one word did something to me.
I closed the space between us and kissed him. His hand slid higher on my thigh as he kissed me back.
I pulled away before we could get too carried away with half the club standing right outside. “Come on.”
I opened my door and climbed down.
Bob followed me out.
Piney was waiting beside the RV. “How did I do?” he asked.
“She lives.”
“I mean, I guess you could say that.” Piney pulled a grungy towel from his back pocket and wiped his hands.
“Thank you.”
His expression changed slightly. “You’re welcome.”
I looked back at the RV. “I should probably get some more clothes and stuff while we are out here.”
Bob nodded. “I can stay here. You guys can head back.”
“Lost can stay with you,” Anchor replied. “No reason for you to be out here without backup.”
“I don’t need—” Bob started.
Anchor held up his hand and cut him off. “I’m not saying you need backup because you got hurt. I’m saying it because we all need backup.”
Bob agreed, but I could tell that he was annoyed.
Piney walked toward the clubhouse with Cross while Shay tried to convince Prime that we needed to plan an actual camping trip.
Anchor had his arm over Pearl’s shoulders and was close behind them.
“I just need like five minutes,” I promised Bob. I leaned up on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
I jumped into the RV and closed the door behind me.
My clean underwear supply in Bob’s room was getting dangerously low, and I needed another pair of jeans and a couple of shirts.
Somehow, I’d ended up standing in the middle of the RV for five minutes looking around.
Everything was exactly where I’d left it. My blankets were rumpled on the bed. A sweatshirt hung over the back of the small dinette seat. My coffee mug sat upside down beside the sink.
Home. I reached out and ran my fingers over the counter.
For years, this had been the one thing that was always mine.
If a job sucked, I left. If a town didn’t feel right, I left. If I woke up one morning and wanted to see somewhere new, I left. Nobody had ever been waiting for me anywhere else.
I grabbed two shirts from the small closet and shoved them into the bag.
Then underwear. Socks. My favorite sleep shorts.
I stared at them in my hand. I had spent so many mornings in this RV in these shorts. Slow mornings with just a cup of coffee and nothing but freedom surrounding me.
And now the RV was fixed, and I was packing a bag to take back into the clubhouse.
That should have made me sad. It should have at least made me feel something. Instead, I shoved the shorts into the bag and just felt… happy.
A knock sounded against the open door, and it banged open. I looked over to see Bob leaning in. “You planning on moving back in?”
There it was.
I glanced at the duffel bag, then at him. “No.”
His face didn’t change much, but I saw it. The slight release in his shoulders. The way his mouth almost smiled.
I grabbed my bag and walked toward him. “Just getting some clothes.”
He stepped aside so I could come down. When my feet hit the pavement, Bob took the bag from my hand. He slung it over his shoulder and started toward the clubhouse. He held out his hand, and I fell into step beside him. I noticed Lost by the path that led to the haunted house.
“My RV runs,” I said.
“Yep.”
“I can leave whenever I want.”
His steps slowed, only slightly. “Yep.”
I looked at him. Bob kept his eyes ahead. “You want me to leave?”
His head snapped toward me. “Fuck no.”
I smiled.
He frowned. “Why are you smiling?”
“Just checking.”
“Checking something that is pretty damn obvious, doll,” he grunted.
I laughed. “I just wanted to be sure.”
“You’re staying.” It wasn’t a question, but I took it as one. There wasn’t anything demanding in his voice this time. No joke either.
I looked back at the RV. It sat beneath one of the parking lot lights, old and running again. For the first time since I’d driven onto Skull Island, there was nothing physically keeping me here.
I turned back to Bob. “Yeah.”
His fingers tightened around mine. “Good.”
Bob didn’t let go of my hand, and I didn’t go back to the RV.