Chapter 7: Leaving Marietta

She said, “I think I surprised you.”

“Shocked would be a more accurate way to describe my feeling. However, please don’t think I am complaining. I’m not. I don’t pretend to understand but hope for enlightenment.”

She grinned. “Brian, part of the reason isn’t polite but you are the best possible candidate for a partner to come along and there haven’t been many. On the more positive side, I find you pleasant to look at and possessed of a keen intellect. I like those things about you. I like them a lot.”

“Thanks, I think. I’ve just never been approached by a pretty girl anywhere near as directly as you did. I just don’t get that kind of attention. That’s more for Chris or Ryan.”

She was quiet. “They’ve approached me but I wasn’t then and am not now interested. Chris received confirmation of that again today but seemed to get over it pretty easily.”

“I think Amber likes him.”

“She has talked to me and she does. She knew what I was going to do though and said that, if you turned me down, she would be next in line. Brian, you have leadership ability. Ignoring the fact that I find you an attractive man, that is going to be important going forward.”

She hesitated a moment. “Before this goes any longer, I need to tell you that I have never done anything remotely like this before in my life. If you had told me a month ago that I would be riding in a car with a guy at who I made a pass for any reason, I would have told you that you are nuts! I’ve never had a serious guy and never wanted one before I met you. It’s unlikely we would have ever met except for this tragic event but I am glad we met. I’m glad I got up the guts to say all that I have said.”

“Wow! That’s having said a lot. Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not mad or disappointed or anything remotely negative. I was attracted to you since I first saw you. I think there is something going on between us and I like it. I want to get to know Laura White totally. I think I will like what I find. I want you to get to know me and hope you will still like me after you get to examine my warts.”

We smiled at each other and rode for a few minutes not saying a word. I gently reached over and took her hand as I drove down the Interstate honking at irregular intervals. We weren’t going that fast and four vehicles proceeding down the Interstate when nothing else was on the road had to be attention getting. It stayed quiet outside and we rode in a companionable silence in my car.

I said, “Laura, I would like to spend time with you getting to know you. You’ve started us off and it took a lot of courage to speak up like you did. I don’t know what you want to know about me but I will tell you what I can think of and answer any questions you might have.

“I was born.” I paused and Laura chuckled. “I was born in Nashville and did well in school. I played baseball in high school but never had any doubt that my abilities didn’t lend themselves to college-level ball or the pros. I went to college. While there, my parents divorced. It was not a friendly divorce. The end result for my sisters and myself was that our father decided that, at eighteen, we would have to fend for ourselves and my mother had little or nothing. My older sister and I helped my younger sister on college. She had been living in my apartment to further save money. It’s been toughest on her. I was working in sales management and traveled a lot for work. However, when the vanishing occurred, I was on vacation at Myrtle Beach with two college buddies. We were in the hotel there and I slept through all of Sunday and woke up Monday. My friends were gone. My sisters were, too, when I looked for them later in Nashville.

“I drove back from Myrtle Beach through Augusta and Atlanta. I met Bert and Ed. They had set a bonfire and I found it and them. We got along and they are looking for farmland now. Bert has some experience in farming so there is some hope for success. On the way to Nashville, I met a high school girl who was alone. She came with me until a crazed woman shot up the car and then killed her when she ran. I killed the woman. On the way back, I buried Taylor. In Monteagle, I met Lisa, Karen, and Jennifer. Lisa wanted to come with me with Karen and Jennifer staying. Jennifer was about our age. After Lisa and I left, Jennifer shot herself and Karen called. We went back. I buried Jennifer and Karen came with us. Then my life was taken over by this tall, beautiful bombshell.” I grinned and gave her hand a squeeze

“I’ve been called tall before but never beautiful nor a bombshell. I didn’t mean to ‘take over your life.’ I just want to be a part of it.”

“Laura, I think we can work that out. We’re just talking about the details. I think you will be a real partner going forward. Exactly our status to each other remains to be determined but I think we will be at least friends.”

She said, “I want to know of your many female conquests and romances. Your life must be strewn with the hearts of so many women.” I looked over at her sharply and saw that she was grinning.

I said, “That’s easy. I’m not sure if it’s fortunate or unfortunate but there aren’t any. I barely had dates for the junior-senior proms in high school. In college, there were a couple of flings but nothing lasted more than a couple of months. I didn’t have money and there were plenty of party guys with the big bucks.”

She said, “You sold me on following you. I think Ted and Alice would have come but they feel that they are on a mission. Expect to see them some day when they go a week or so with no one new showing up.

“My history is similar to yours in college. High school was a disaster for me socially. I didn’t date or go out at all. In college, I had a few dates but tall, skinny girls don’t get chosen as dating material. I did enjoy volleyball and played through college. I taught math at a private high school in Marietta and was the volleyball coach. It wasn’t much and I wasn’t getting rich but was making it financially. I haven’t dated at all since college.”

I smiled gently. “Laura, you are a nice looking woman. You’re tall and slim. Your eyes caught me when we met.”

Laura said, “Tall and skinny, you mean. I know how I’m shaped. It’s closer to a two by four than being curvy at all. I’m healthy but it’s a physical issue and not a sexy look. I appreciate your comments, Brian, but I’m realistic about my body.”

“Don’t sell your looks short, Laura. The salacious part of me would love to see you in a tiny bikini. I noticed you walking to my car and your shorts looked great and your legs go on forever. You’ve a good body, Laura. What caught my initial attention though were your eyes. I could look at them for a long, long time and be happy.”

She leaned toward me over the console and squeezed my hand gently. “Brian, we need to talk about tonight.” I looked at her totally confused. She smiled. “We aren’t going to make it to Augusta today. Where do you plan to pull in. We will need to eat and sleep somewhere.” We had just passed an exit for Covington.

I saw that the next exit had a number of hotels listed. I turned on my turn signal and pulled off the Interstate and turned left for the hotels. “Pick one, Laura.” She picked Baymont and I pulled into the lot. We exited the car and I held her door. That gave me a chance to see those wonderful, long legs. She walked toward the other vehicles and I could see her backside which looked wonderful. Volleyball obviously kept her in great shape. I tried not to salivate.

Joining the others as they exited their vehicles, I said, “Let’s stop for the night. I want to ride through Covington honking. We can find a good place to eat and cook some food. At the last exit, there was a Longhorn and I saw an Italian restaurant just before that exit. There should be others, too. Let’s go inside and get rooms.”

Everyone nodded and I took over the registration desk. Quickly figuring it out, I assigned a room to Laura and the one next to it to me. I handed her the two key cards. I then took requests from the rest until everyone was checked in. I gave Amber and Chris adjacent rooms, too. They seemed to be getting along very well. When I finished, I said, “Let’s get moved in for the night and meet back here to plan a simple circuit of the area.”