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So touchy! He’s worse than a thirteen-year-old girl. And I’m stuck listening to country which is one of my least favorite genres, for all the same reasons Rhett considers it his favorite. The countryside can be nice to drive through, but I grew up in the suburbs. They were boring enough even with malls and movie theaters and bowling alleys. I couldn’t imagine sitting out here in the middle of nowhere “farming” or “fixing trucks”. And to be honest, Rhett may think the grass is greener out here (and maybe it is literally) but he’s a spoiled rich boy. He’d be lost on a farm, wanting to go back to his silver tower of luxury.
But I suppose even billionaires need to have fantasies.
* * *
The relative peace holds through the evening, but by midnight we’re back to fighting. It was nice while it lasted.
“I told you! We should have stopped an hour ago!”
“Something will come up! Calm down!”
“Don’t tell me to calm down!”
Snow is falling lightly outside, and the road in this godforsaken part of northwestern Ohio is completely empty. Unfortunately the same can not be said for every hotel in a fifty-mile radius. I’ve been calling places for the past forty minutes and there is no room at the inn.
“Let’s just keep driving. There’s only four hours left.”
I shake my head emphatically. I’m bone-tired and there’s no way I can fall asleep with Rhett driving just as exhausted next to me. “No, we have to stop. I don’t want to freeze to death in a ditch.”
“Not high on my list of priorities either,” Rhett mutters. I ignore him.
I dial a motel that’s forty minutes further south than we should be going but may be the only option other than sleeping in the car.
“Whatdayawant?” a sleepy woman’s voice drones through the phone.
“Hello? Is this Dozy Bear Dorms in Ohio?”
I hear what sounds like a lighter trying and failing to start. Then the voice says, “Yeah, you got us. No rooms. Sorry.”
“Wait!” I say desperately. “Please. We’re outside of Bryan and everything is full.”
“‘Cause of the snow,” she grunts. She sounds like she has her eyes closed.
“Must be!” My voice strains with phony cheer. Thirty different hotels have sung a similar tune. “Are you sure there’s nothing you can do?”
“Ya asking if I’m gonna kick people outta their beds for you?” the lady snaps.
“No, of course—”
“So ya want my bed? Is that the question?”
I pause. “I mean, how much are you asking for it?”
“Lady, just sleep in your car,” she says. It’s a definitive statement, and I prepare for the click of her hanging up. But then, miraculously, she doesn’t. “Wait, you say you’re outside Bryan?”
“Yes!” I almost shout. “Yes, I did. Is there a place here you know about?”
“If she offers you a manger…” Rhett says. I lightly slap his shoulder and then pull my hand away the moment I realize I shouldn’t be touching him. At all. There’s too much muscle under that flannel shirt for that to be appropriate.
“There’s a fella who runs a small place outside town. Y’all have four wheel drive?”
Rhett, who must be able to hear her, is shaking his head absolutely not, but I say, “Yes, we do. Thank you so much.” After giving me the address, the lady hangs up.
I turn to Rhett in celebration. He doesn’t look quite as pleased.
“What did she say right there at the end?” Rhett asks.
“At the end? Uh, good luck?”
