A Life Less Ordinary (8 page)

“You
don’t think you should just sit Hub down and ask him what’s going on?  Maybe
he’s having trouble at work.”

Daisy
shook her head.  “We haven’t been talking much lately, and when we do, it just
turns into an argument.”

Max
thoughtfully considered her then said, “I just don’t want you to blame me if I
find something you don’t like.”

Daisy
raised an eyebrow.  “Why would I blame you?  Are you sleeping with him?”

Max
laughed.  “If I were, I’d make sure he wasn’t being followed.  In fact, I’d be
able to catch me in the act...”  He frowned, replaying what he’d just said. 
“Okay, that sounded way better in my head.”

Daisy
laughed.  “I’m sure it even made sense.”

Max
airily waved away her comment.  “Yeah, it did.” 

He
sobered and sighed, looking at her with sympathy. 

“I’m
sorry, Daisy.  I’m sorry you feel you need me to do this.”

Daisy
smiled sweetly at him.  “Me, too.  But it’s better than doing nothing.  And if
he won’t tell me what’s bothering him, well, then I guess I just need to find
out what’s going on in another way.”

Max
nodded and stood.  “I’ll see what I can do,” he said.

“That’s
all I ask.”

~~~~~

“Are
you always this talkative?”

Manny
glanced over at Zeke.  It was the first thing he’d said in the last hour.  Not
that she’d been exactly chatting up a storm as she drove.  She raised an
eyebrow. 

“Are
you?” she asked.

Zeke
sighed, shook his head and looked out the window.  “This is gonna be a
long
six months...” he muttered.

Manny
winced.  “I’m sorry.  It’s just...it’s been a very long time since I’ve tried
to create a purely social relationship.  And just as long since I’ve had
anything even remotely interesting to talk about.  Honestly?  I just have
nothing to say right now.”

Zeke
eyed her thoughtfully.  “Okay.  How about we play a game then?”

Manny
shrugged.  “Okay.” 

What
the hell, she thought.  It had to be better than driving in this strained
silence for the next six months.

“Okay,”
Zeke said, shifting so he faced her more fully.  “This game is called ‘Ask Me
Anything’.  We take turns asking each other questions.  The first one who
refuses to answer buys the next tank of gas.”

This
could be either dangerous or extremely entertaining, Harvey said, one eyebrow
raised.

Possibly
both.

Manny
hesitated for a moment, then gave a determined nod.

“Okay,”
she agreed.  “You start.”

* * * * *

“Who
the hell would have figured she’d answer every question!”

Zeke
paced rapidly around the gas station parking lot, his free hand waved in the
air to emphasize his point even though his listeners couldn’t see him.  Leah
and TJ shared amused glances as they leaned closer to the speakerphone and
laughed as he continued.

“This
is the third damn tank of gas I’ve paid for – and this crappy van drinks it
like it’s running on beer!”

“If
that van runs on beer, you’re driving a fortune!” TJ quipped.

“Oh,
ha – ha.  See how much you laugh when you get the bill, funny man!”

“It’ll
be worth it if your readership keeps up,” Leah said. “They’re going nuts on
last night’s blog.”

“I
did reach new heights of cruelty,” Zeke acknowledged smugly.

“Or
do you mean new lows?” TJ asked.

“Whatever,”
Zeke shrugged, “so long as people are reading.”

“Keep
it up,” Leah said.  “Well, not necessarily the nastiness – but people want to
know about everything.”

“Especially
about vans that run on beer!” TJ added, and Leah rolled her eyes and lightly
smacked him on the shoulder.

Leah
said, “When you have a chance to check the comments, you’ll see that people are
hoping for funny stories, not just cruelty.”

“I’ll
do that,” Zeke promised, “and I’ll make sure I’m not always so nasty.  I need
to keep the readers on their toes, and besides, she’s so...she’s like...she’s
just like a maiden aunt.  I mean, you can’t be too nasty to her or she’ll – I
don’t know – make you write ‘I will respect my elders’ a thousand times.  But
if you’re good, she might give you cookies and milk.”

“Oh,
man,” TJ groaned, “I feel for you, I really do.”

“Hey,
I still don’t think she’s gonna last more than a week, and she may definitely
bore me to death long before then.  Not a word – not
one
word, I tell
you – for over an hour!  Who knew a woman could go that long without talking?”

“Watch
it, bud,” Leah warned.  “Anyway, just do your best to tolerate her – and do
your best to make sure you have material for your blog!”

“Will
do.”

~~~~~

Who
do you think he’s talking to?  Harvey asked curiously.

None
of my business.

Well,
look at him.  He’s pretty animated.

Maybe
it’s his girlfriend.  Maybe it’s one of his clients – he does still have to
work, you know.

Hmmmm. 
Maybe...You gotta admit, he knows how to rock a pair of jeans.  Jesus, his legs
go on forever!

...Are
you going to be like this the whole time?

Look,
you’re forty-five, not dead!  What’s it gonna hurt to let your hormones have a
party?  He’ll never know.

I’ll
know – and
I’m
the one it’s gonna hurt when I forget that it’s only
my
hormones having
a party.  We’ve been here before, remember?

That
was a long time ago.  And one bad experience -

I’m
not thinking about this anymore.  Got it?

...Yeah,
‘cause I’ve always listened to you before.

~~~~~

Zeke
wondered at the rueful grimace on Manny’s face as he walked towards her, and
felt a stab of fear as he wondered if she’d overheard his conversation with
Leah and TJ.  It wasn’t just that he didn’t want his assignment to be finished
before it had truly begun; it was also what he’d said to Leah and TJ:  he might
reach new highs – or lows – of snark and sarcasm in his blogs, but he truly
didn’t want to hurt Manny.  She really was like an old maiden aunt, creeping
tentatively out of her safe cocoon that was probably festooned with flowers –
with a name like Rose, how could it not? - ready to bolt back to safety at the
first hint of danger or anything else that could potentially knock her out of
her calm and steady path.

Which
made the fact she’d thrown away everything safe and secure that much more
puzzling for him.  He wondered what would happen when she realized just what
she’d done; he wasn’t sure he wanted to be there to witness the meltdown when
she did.

The
object of his thoughts gave him a half-smile and tossed him the keys.

“Your
turn to drive,” she said.

“Okay,
Auntie Em,” he replied, thankfully changing the course of his thoughts.

She
froze in mid-step.  “
What
did you just call me?”

He
gave her a cheeky grin, his eyes dark and dancing with amusement. 

“Hey
– you
said
to think of you as my maiden aunt -”

“Or
your sister!” she protested.

He
cocked his head as he considered her carefully, taking in her mousy,
not-quite-blonde-not-quite-brown hair pulled into a tight bun, the shapeless sweat
pants, and the equally shapeless t-shirt.  He decisively shook his head. 

“Nah
– you don’t look anything like me.  So, Auntie Em it is.”

“That’s
what you think,” she growled as she yanked open the van door and clambered
inside, “or do you want me to start calling you Dorothy?”

“
Maybe when we get to
Kansas,” he shrugged, and Manny laughed in spite of herself.

Maybe
this trip wouldn’t be so bad after all, Zeke thought as he pulled out of the
parking lot.

* * * * *

It
took them four days to get out of Alberta by way of the Rockies, with a side
trip to the badlands.  They toured Jasper and Banff and hiked a couple of short
trails at each location.  Manny was panting like a steam engine by the time
they were done.

Zeke’s
blog that night was about the value of keeping in shape.

They
toured Kananaskis then headed east to Drumheller.  Zeke’s jaw dropped when he
saw the badlands and they spent a full day touring the museum, and going on a
walking tour even though the weather had turned blustery again.  Springtime in
Alberta, Manny sighed, and Zeke ruefully agreed.

But
the area was ruggedly beautiful and breathtakingly desolate, and he admitted he
wished they were staying longer as they reluctantly put the badlands in their
rear view mirror.

Everywhere
they went, Manny snapped pictures of the scenery and buildings and interesting
people, but she seldom spoke unless spoken to, and while she was friendly to
strangers, she never, as far as Zeke could tell, initiated a conversation.

His
next blog talked about loneliness and social isolation.

From
Drumheller they headed to the Crowsnest Pass and Frank Slide, another site that
caused Zeke’s jaw to drop.  The rocks looked fake, like Styrofoam, and if it weren’t
for the sheer scale of the site, Zeke would have believed they were driving
through the world’s largest movie set. 

They
toured the interpretative centre, and Manny blinked away tears at the story of a
town devastated by a mountain collapsing on top of it.  As they left, Manny
told him about a field trip she’d taken many years earlier where they’d found a
rock almost two miles from the site, evidence of the force and power of the
slide.

Zeke’s
blog that night talked about empathy and soft hearts too easily bruised.

By
the time they were two hours out of San Francisco, they’d been travelling for a
week, and they were both tired of moving.

Manny
glanced over at Zeke, where he sat relaxed behind the wheel.

“Do
you want to find someplace to sleep?” she asked.  “Make it to San Francisco
tomorrow?”

Zeke
considered the suggestion.  A part of him was anxious to get to their
destination, if only because they intended to stay in one place for a few
days.  But it was already dark, and San Francisco wasn’t going anywhere.

“Sounds
like a good idea,” he agreed.

Manny
opened the glove compartment and pulled out her guidebook of the area. 
“There’s supposed to be a bed and breakfast near here.  I’ll call; see if they
have any room.”

“Rooms,”
Zeke quickly corrected.

Manny
rolled her eyes so hard Zeke imagined he could actually hear them. 

“Seriously,
you need to relax.  In case you haven’t figured it out by now, your virtue is
beyond safe with me, puppy.”

Zeke
laughed incredulously.  “What did you call me?”

“Puppy,”
Manny said distractedly, trying to dial her cell phone while holding her
penlight on the page with the number of the bed and breakfast.  She glanced at
him as she hit send and lifted the phone to her ear. 

“You
know,” she told him as the phone rang on the other end, “wide-eyed and stupid
and too young to take seriously.”

“I
am thirty-five years old!” Zeke protested.

“Biologically,
maybe,” Manny grinned then turned her attention to the person who answered the
phone.

* * * * *

Manny
walked into the dining room and smiled rather tentatively at the elderly woman
sitting at the table.  The woman was exotically beautiful, her skin a rich
brown, her eyes dark, and her face bright with intelligence, wit, humour and
curiosity.

“Good
morning, Ms Mankowski,” she greeted with a warm smile and Manny couldn’t help
staring at the sound of her smoky voice.

“Good
morning,” she replied.

“I’m
Leila.  Welcome to my home.  Help yourself to whatever you’d like and have a
seat at my table.” 

Leila
waved a wrinkled but still graceful hand towards the sideboard where there was
a coffee pot, cups, sugar and cream, as well as tea and juice.

Manny
smiled again and thanked her.  She sat rather hesitantly at the table with her
filled cup of coffee.  Leila smiled at her, a friendly twinkle in her eyes. 
Manny did her best not to stare as she smiled back rather shyly and took a sip
of her coffee.

My
God, she’s beautiful!
 
Harvey breathed.

I
know!  Look at that
skin
!  It’s so clear.  And she sounds like Lauren
Bacall, too.