Headlights in the Rain
It had been months; too many months if you asked him. Sadly, no one had bothered. He missed her and the waiting was killing him. “Just a few more weeks,” he whispered to himself. “Just a few more weeks. Then you can see her again. C’mon. It won’t kill ya.” He sighed. “The hell it won’t,” he mumbled loudly. Their prearranged date, set for Valentine’s Day, was much too far in the future for his taste.
He’d last seen her here in October. It was now New Year’s Eve. A dark, rainy New Year’s Eve to boot. “What a way to start a new year,” he thought sourly. “Just what I didn’t need tonight.” The clouds were thick, grey and showed no signs of letting up anytime soon.
Blake let the curtains fall back into place and paced the hotel room. He and his band should’ve been on their way back to Nashville, back home, by now but the nasty weather was keeping them in Vegas for one more night. “There are worse places to be stuck, I suppose,” he grumbled, unconvinced. At least his band mates were enjoying themselves. Someone had to.
Music floated up from his hip suddenly. Snatching his phone up, he glanced at the display. Seeing her name appear, he grinned. “It’s about time, babe. I’ve been waiting weeks to hear from you!”
“Sorry, Cowboy, been out of the country as you are aware. Kinda hard to make calls from Peru, ya know.”
“I suppose,” he teased, not wanting to let her off the hook quite yet, “but it’s still no excuse.”
“Jerk,” she teased back. “So, what’s new with you?”
“Nothin’. Just stuck here in Vegas for the night.”
“Can you get ‘stuck’ in Vegas?” she asked. “Most people I know would kill for a reason to stay over.”
“Well, if it weren’t for this freak rainstorm, I could be on my way home tonight. I need to go home. I want to go home. This trip has worn me out.”
“Gettin' old there, Cowboy.”
“HEY! That’s not nice!”
Ali laughed at his outrage. “Easy boy.”
“It’s hard to be calm when I’m here in the rain and you’re… um, where are you?”
“Home.”
“Home? Not at your headquarters?”
“Nope. I’m home for the first time in ages. Well, actually more like eighteen months, unless you count a day here and a day there, but I don’t.”
“Hmm. So, where’s home for you?”
“Henderson.”
“Hendersonville? Tennessee? Why didn’t you…?”
She cut him off before he could get too excited. “No dork. Nevada.”
“Huh?”
“I think you need some sleep. Henderson, Nevada. I’m probably about fifteen miles from you, at most, depending on where you’re staying.”
“Oh.” Then: “OH! You’re HERE! So, why aren’t you here then?” Meaning with him. Preferably naked.
“Because,” she said, as if explaining the facts of life to a two-year-old, “I didn’t know where you even were until you answered the phone, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. There is that.”
“Are you always this thick?”
“Not always.”
“Just usually?”
“Right. So, how long until you get here?”
“Gonna tell me where you are first?”
“Nope. Ya gotta guess.”
~*~
After checking his website for the venue he’d been performing at, Ali got into her Jeep and headed down to the infamous Las Vegas Strip. Traffic was atrocious and took her almost forty-five minutes to make a routine, twenty-minute trip. Eventually, she pulled into valet and left her keys with the attendant. He took the keys from her and moaned, “So much for the fireworks, huh?”
She nodded in sympathy. One of the nice things about living in Las Vegas was the fireworks. You got them on the 4th of July, of course, but also on New Year’s Eve, at every casino opening, and anytime the gambling moguls thought it would work to their advantage. “No fear, they’ll shoot ‘em off tomorrow if they can’t tonight.” And it was true. Anything to bring the people back out.
Stepping off to the side, avoiding all the foot traffic, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed.
“Yeah?”
“Hey Cowboy, I’m down at valet. Where are you?”
“Standing right behind you.”
Grinning, she flipped her phone shut and stuffed it into her pocket. “How’d ya know?”
“You’re too smart for your own good.” He pulled her into a tight hug and held her close. “I knew it wouldn’t take you long to find me.”
“So? Dinner or what?”
“Dinner definitely,” he said, reluctantly letting her go. “I’m starved. They’ve got a good steak place here. C’mon.” He reached for her hand and led her into the casino.
~*~
“Glad to see your appetite hasn’t changed any.”
“Stuff it, Blake. I like to eat.”
“And apparently, you aren’t shy about it either.” She threatened him with a forkful of baked potato. “I’m not complaining, I swear!” he laughed, hands in the air, waving in mock surrender.
Ali lowered her forkful of potato and smiled at him. “I’ve missed you.”
“Me too. I mean, you.” Blake sighed and shook his head. “One more time – I’ve missed you too.”
“Amazing. You write beautiful love songs that woo millions of women but can’t tell me whatcha mean for diddly.”
“Putting words on paper is so much easier. Ya don’t have to have a conversation. Ya just talk to the paper and it stays quiet.”
“Mmm. Imagine that, something that doesn’t talk back.”
He glared at her and thought better than to say what he was thinking. Instead, he grabbed the dessert menu out of her hands. Ignoring her protests, he perused the night’s selections and settled on some cheesecake.
~*~
Resisting the urge to lick the whipped cream from the edges of her mouth, she lifted the napkin to her lips and dabbed at it, hoping she got it all. Blake watched her intently, smiling self-consciously the entire time.
“What?”
“Ya shoulda let me get that for you.”
“Do you ever think about things before you say them?”
“Yeah.”
“Bet that was one of those things that sounded better inside huh?”
Ignoring her, he smiled. “Take me home with you.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. I’d take you back upstairs but the entire world would know by daybreak. And this is not something I want to share with the whole world.”
“Just my neighbors?”
“Sure, as long as they’re not too nosy.” He leaned in closer to her. “Please?”
She gave in to the smile building behind her lips. “Can’t resist a man who says ‘please.’ Pay for dinner and we’ll go. Although,” she paused, looking at him, “you’re not gonna be impressed.”
“With you? Too late.”
“No, my house. It’s kinda small.”
“I grew up in a small house. I like ‘em.”
“And that’s why you live on 200 acres?”
Blake blushed. “Well…”
“Come on, Cowboy. I’m just teasing.”
Swatting playfully at the back of her head, he followed happily.
~*~
Ali chatted aimlessly on the drive back to her modest place on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Between singing along with the radio and talking about her latest trip, she stole glances at her some-times-between-times-boyfriend. Wishing she could get him more permanently, she sighed.
“What’s the matter, Cookie?”
“Just thinkin’.”
“’Bout what?”
“You and me and a dog named Boo.”
“Funny.” He let the silence fill the car temporarily. He knew what she was thinking because he had the same idea. Not that it’d ever work, but he was more than willing to try. Instead of speaking his mind, he stared out at the stretch of freeway before them. The darkness of the night overpowered the streetlights overhead. Visibility was almost nothing but Ali was an accomplished driver. She’d driven in much worse.
Contemplating what was to come, and ultimately how it’d end, he stared at the play of the headlights in the rain. The halogens were broken up into shards of light by the storm. Solid for a moment, then shattered by the wind and rain. The gusts of wind and downpour of rain echoed Blake’s scattered thoughts and torrent of emotions. He looked at Ali as she concentrated on the road.
“Next exit, almost home.” She glanced quickly at him and frowned. “Don’t think so much. It’s not good for you.”
“Sorry. Just wondering how I’m gonna leave you later.”
“Easy. Don’t.” She grinned mischievously. “Well, not until you have to, anyway.”
Blake grinned despite himself. “Works for me.”
“Good, because we’re home.”
Ali turned into the drive and paused, waiting for the garage to open. “All ashore,” she teased, pulling in and closing the door behind her.
~*~
He sat on the edge of the bed and watched her getting dressed in the moonlight. It was time to go. The call had come half an hour ago, probably when they discovered he wasn’t in his room. Taking her hand as she passed, he pulled her close to him.
“As much as I’d like to, I doubt your band is going to want to wait another hour or two.”
“You don’t have to drive me back. I can call a cab. Stay here and stay warm.”
“Uh-uh. The storm’s died down and besides, I don’t know when I’m gonna see you again. I can’t just let you walk out my door.” She looked away from his pleading blue eyes. “Anyway, at least this way it feels like I have some kind of control.” She let out a long breath. “Here, put your shirt on. We’ve gotta get moving.”
“This sucks.”
“You said it, babe.”
The words had only barely left her mouth before she found herself flat on her back, with Blake smiling down at her. He was still shirtless, looking good in nothing but his jeans. He had his cell phone in his hand and a grin on his face.
“What are you doing?”
Stealing a quick, chaste kiss, he quieted her. “Shhh…” He dialed and listened intently. “Hey. Yeah. It’s me. Look, head on home without me. I’m gonna stick around here for a bit.” Silence. “No, I’ll catch a plane in a few days.” More silence. Blake laughed. “Noooo, nothing like that. What makes you think I’d be shacking up with someone?” He gave Ali a look that spoke volumes. “Nope, I won’t forget. Ha, ha, very funny. Yeah. Have a safe trip. See ya in a few. ‘Kay. Bye.”
Smiling, he closed his phone and tossed it onto the nightstand. Placing a small kiss on her forehead, he whispered, “Happy New Year, babe.” He snuggled down close to her. “Now I don’t have to leave until you throw me out.”
Ali laughed and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of his dark curls against her face as he buried his nose in her neck. “As if that’s going to happen!”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “As if.”
No comments:
Post a Comment