Fallen Blood (12 page)

"Nonsense." The trucker said, "Fifty bucks cover it?"

Heather reached over and took the money as Brian was about to tell the man no again.

"Thanks, Bobby, we appreciate it." She smiled at him.

"It's the least I could do. You two kids need all the help you can get. Well, good night, I'm going to go get a quick bite to eat first." Bobby said, as he headed toward the little cafe that shared the same parking lot with the motel.

"Heather, you didn't need to take that..."

"Do you have any money, Brian? Because I sure don't, and he was asking to help us."

"We can do this without help, Heather, you just have to trust me."

"I do trust you...somewhat, but I just don't understand some things."

"I know, and I'm going to try and clear it all up for you if I can."

She stared at him for a second, and he wondered what she could possibly be thinking. Did she think he was lying, and just putting it off, or did she really believe him? She nodded after a moment.

"Are you sure I'm not going to be taking a nap again real soon?"

He swallowed hard when she said that, but before he could answer her, she turned and headed off to the little cafe that Bobby had just went off to.
Well this is going to be awkward.
Not only did she seem to notice something was up, but by going to a public place, she was putting it off and letting him squirm for a bit. He was just going to have to, he guessed. At least he had time to think about what he was going to say, not that he thought it was going to help. He had been going over it in his head the entire ride.

Bobby looked up from a cup of coffee as Brian walked into the cafe. The trucker lifted his cup to him when he saw him. Heather had already taken a booth, since the sign at the door said seat yourself. He wasn't really hungry for food right now, but he thought maybe a piece of pie would be nice, and since Heather had fifty bucks, he wouldn't have to suggest anyone.

"Thought you were going to get some sleep, what's with the coffee?" Brian asked Bobby as he went past him.

"It's decaf." Bobby smiled, then did a fake yawn with his other hand.

The waitress was just getting to Heathers booth as he slid in on the other side of the table.

"So, can I get you some coffee, Love?" The little waitress asked Heather.

Heather shook her head. "How about a coke and some fries."

"Alright." She started writing on her little tablet. "What about you, Hun?" She asked Brian.

"Um...Some water and maybe some cherry pie?"

"Sorry no cherry, how about strawberry rhubarb?"

Brian nodded "Sure, that would be good,"

"Alright, I'll have that order up in a jiffy." She walked off.

"So you're going to tell me." Heather looked at him expectantly.

"Not here. When we get to our room." Brian said as he looked around

"Why not now?"

"Because it's a secret."

"Brian, you're very strange. Like a mystery in a mystery."

"Why do you say that?" His stomach was starting to feel queasy. He intended to tell her everything...well, almost everything, he figured he'd leave the dreams out. But he didn't expect her to be the one in control about it. He wanted time to ease into it. To let her get used to some of the ideas involved.

"Well, let's see...where do I start?"

"Heather, I'll tell you later, I promise."

She smiled at him. Warm and genuine, and he was surprised that her hand slid across the table and grabbed his. "Brian, I know, I trust you now." She pulled back her hand, but the feel of her touch remained. It had been warm and soft, and he would have sworn that he felt a little electric charge surge through him when they touched.

The waitress interrupted his thoughts as she slid the pie in front of him. "I figured you wanted it now." She said, as she put his cup of water down.

"That's fine." He said.

"Yours will be up in a minute, Sweetie." She smiled at Heather as she left.

"So what brought on this change of heart?" He asked, as he cut a piece of the pie off and ate some. It was actually pretty good. He had to admit, though he didn't eat much any more, he still had a sweet tooth.

"What change?" She feigned innocence, and he kind of liked this game she was playing.

"The trust?" He asked as he took another bite of pie.

"Well, you have rescued me how many times?" She smiled, perking up. "I'd say that makes you my hero."

"Well, yeah, I guess..." He was sure he had to be blushing, and from the look she gave him, he guessed she noticed it as well.

The waitress walked up and slid a massive plate of fries in front of Heather. "Anything else?" She put a bottle of ketchup on the table.

"Yeah, could I get a bottle of mustard, too?"

The waitress gave her a strange look and crinkled her nose for a second. "Coming right up."

"Mustard?" He asked conspiratorially to her.

"What? It reminds me of Hamburgers, and I like to mix it up and dip in it when I'm not really that hungry." She smiled, as Brian made a face.

"Why not add a some relish or pickles while you're at it?” he asked.

She laughed and gave him that smile again. "I think that would be pushing, it silly."

The two of them sat there and finished their respective food in silence for the most part. Brian was grateful for that, as it gave him more time to think about how and what he was going to tell her. He kept thinking that maybe he should just put it off, but the way she was acting, he felt the cat had been let out of the bag, and he was just going to have to live with it now. He was done with his pie first, so he tried to look around the cafe and seem preoccupied with his thoughts, He could see Heather out of his peripheral vision looking up at him as she swirled a french fry in her concoction of condiments. He tried to act like he didn't notice, but he was sure she could tell.

Bobby got up from his meal and waved at them after paying his bill, then left for his room, Brian supposed. Looking over at Heather, he could see that she was still swirling her fry, quite possibly the same one she had been for the last few minutes, just staring at him, frowning. It occurred to him that she, too, was thinking about what she was going to say when they got back to the room.

"Are you going to finish that?" He asked her.

Her eyes seemed to snap out of a dream when he asked her, and she dropped the fries and pushed the plate away.
"No, I think I'm full now."

"Okay, I'm assuming you got the bill?"

She smiled mischievously at him. "What? You're not paying for our first date?"

Was she serious? About any of what she just said? The thought ran through his head like a freight train. He wasn't sure what hit him harder, the fact that he was supposed to pay when she took the money, or that this had been a date.

"Um," he said, "You got all the moolah." He smiled

She smiled right back at him and leaned closer to him. "I do...don't I?" She giggled and slid out of the booth and slowly walked toward the front.

Crap...She's going to make me suggest that waitress, isn't she?

Slowly, he slid out of the booth. Pausing, he looked around the place to see how many people were there. He counted four. A young couple and what looked like two other truckers. None of them were by the cashier.
Well that's good news.
He didn't want to have to tell the whole place to forget them. Walking to the cash register, he ran his fingers through his black hair. He immediately felt it drop back down in front of his face once again, partially obscuring one side of his face.

"Was everything alright?" The waitress asked, as she took the check from him.

"Yeah...it was good."

She smiled at him. "Okay, your total comes up to six-ninety-five," she said.

Brian leaned forward and locked eyes with her.

"Here." Heather spoke up. "Take it out of this," and handed the waitress a twenty. She quickly counted out the change and handed it back to Heather, the entire time Brian felt his heart rushing. It was hard to calm himself down, usually his adrenalin would spike right before he suggested someone, he wasn't sure what the reasons for it were, but it did, and after it would just drop to normal, Now it rushed through his body like a trapped tiger, looking for an escape. He literally had to lean against the building's wall outside to catch his breath.

"Silly, I wasn't going to leave you hanging." She laughed. He supposed she thought it was just one big joke, and he might have thought it was funny too if he could just calm himself a bit.

"Hey...Don't have a panic attack on me Brian...I was only joking." She started patting his back when he leaned forward and grabbed his thighs trying to catch his breath.

"Breathe." She said to him, squatting down and trying to look into his face. "Take deep breaths. Come on, you can do it."

After a few more moments, he was able to get it under control. It took some effort, as he never had that happen before. It was a new experience, and one he hoped to never have again.

"Alright, I'm good." He said, as he took a few steps away from the cafe.

"Brian, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it would upset you this much."

"I'm fine.” He said, as he started looking for their room number. "Come on, let's get to our room."

"I hope this doesn't mean you're not going to tell me." She said, as she followed after him.

The room was lackluster, just like the last one. A dresser that a small TV sat on, a small table with one padded chair, a closet, one door that most likely went to the bathroom, and one queen-sized bed. He had no idea what they charged for their rooms, but he was guessing it wasn't worth it, whatever it was.

"I'm going to take a shower first, if you don't mind.” She said. heading for the bathroom. "I feel like I've got layers of filth on me after staying in that awful jail cell."

Brian switched on the TV and flipped through the channels. The late night news was on one of the three channels that the TV got. Ridiculous that the place didn't have cable, and from the reception he bet they didn't even have local satellite.

"Brian, there's only one real towel in here." Heather called out.

"That's okay, go ahead and use it." He sat down on the beds edge and watched as the news rattled off the top story's for the night. Surprisingly, there was no mention of the shoot-out they had been in, or the escaped prisoner. Whoever was involved in covering this up most have had high connections.

"Are you sure? How are you going to shower?" She peeked out. Brian could see that her shoulders were bare, and from all appearances she had nothing on.

"Um." He felt a tightening in his chest, and he could feel heat rising to his face. "I can always just use yours." She gave him a weird look, then pulled her head back in and shut the door. He heard the shower turn on, and the sounds of curtain rings sliding on the shower rod. He really couldn't get her out of his mind, the thought that she had been naked just out of sight did not make the wait for the shower any easier. He felt like his heart was beating almost as hard now as it had been just moments before, outside the cafe. Except now his heart was beating for other reasons. He heard her start to hum, then to sing while she showered.

The temptation to open the door and see if she needed help, or just to look was almost overwhelming, even maybe, if it were possible to relax, he could travel in and be with her. But he knew that wouldn't be the same, as he had seen her that way before when he had traveled to her. It didn't make him feel the way he was feeling now.

"Brian!" She hollered from the shower.

He walked to the door and hollered back, "yeah?"

"Don't forget, you're supposed to tell me afterward." She laughed inside. He wasn't sure what she was laughing about. What had he said or done that was funny? He was really starting to realize he didn't know anything about girls. If anything, he was more in the dark than he ever was before.

"I won't," he said, and tried walking back to the bed, adjusting his pants in a way that allowed him to walk comfortably. He sat back down and tried to concentrate on what the news stories were about, but he never could seem to recall what they were saying. All his mind kept going back to was her, just beyond that door, naked as a jay bird. It was like a dream come true. The shower turned off and he could hear the curtain sliding open. The door opened and her arm stuck out with her clothes all wadded up in them.