Page 4 of The One Bed Rule
We’ve been driving for almost twenty minutes and have only made it four miles. We’re still probably almost an hour out, I think, as another car spins out ahead of us. Claire sucks in abreath and my hands squeeze the steering wheel even tighter than before.
“So, I’d like to make the call that we don’t try to drive back. We stay here, at least for the night, and reevaluate in the morning,” I suggest, knowing there’s no way we’d make it at this rate.
She slowly nods and then looks at something on her phone.
A few seconds later, her voice is almost a whisper, like she’s talking to herself. “I don’t have service. Can’t even check the weather.”
I try to keep my own worry buried deep, in a place Claire could never find it, but this is another reason to try and get somewhere for the night. Us being stranded out here? At night? No thanks.
Hiding my concern from Claire is easy. My job is to think about, plan for, and encounter some of the most dangerous or off-the-wall situations, all while keeping my cool. It’s one of the things I’ve kept with me from my firefighter days, no matter how long it’s been.
Fifteen years. That’s how long.
The wave of dread threatens to rush through me, but thankfully there’s no room with all the existing stress from the drive.
Claire loosens her grip, giving her knuckles a bit of a break, and rubs her upper arms.
“Cold?” I ask as my fingers hover above the temperature controls on the steering wheel.
“No. Not really. I can’t stop shivering though,” she answers, rolling her shoulders back, and then stretching her neck while still rubbing her arms.
“It’s the adrenaline. Not to be this person but try to relax. Do some deep breathing,” I suggest. Unfortunately, my words escape me as our car drifts just enough to make her eyes go wide, before the tires grab the road and I’m back in control.
She looks at me and I can feel her eyes, even though I need every ounce of attention to keep us safe. “How can I relax?” Her voice climbs at the end and we might be in meltdown territory. “We’re on a fucking ice rink in North Carolina in a car that isn’t meant to skate!”
Wouldn’t blame her. We’ve been through it.
“I’m going to keep us safe. I’ve driven in snow like this before.” I tell the tiniest white lie, justifying it with the fact that her stress is creeping into my bones. “Why don’t you recline the seat and close your eyes, sleep if you can?” It’s not that I haven’t driven in the snow, it’s just a trigger and one I do anything to avoid.
Claire says nothing but I hear the hum of the seat going back mixed with her slow breathing. I make sure to unclench my jaw and keep my eyes on the road.
“You made it!”
A cheerful, almost sunshiney voice greets us as soon as we rush into The Fable Inn. I’ve never been more thankful to be inside, off the roads, and out of the air. Fuck. I need a long hot shower.
“Barely,” I huff as we walk to the front desk of the small inn. The woman behind the desk—Jess, according to her name tagboasting a little book in the corner—smiles as she leans over to catch a glimpse of the outside.
I'm just fucking thrilled to not be behind the wheel anymore.
She claps her hands, loudly, and Claire jumps. “We’re so excited to have you tonight. You’re the only guests. Currently, we only have two rooms available, working on some water damage on the other side." She looks past us, down the hallway where the rooms probably are.
Part of me wonders if asking for separate rooms is the move. Maybe we'd both be more comfortable in our own space?
“Good thing, because I hate to tell you, but the power’s been going in and out. This is an old building and we haven’t done our winter prep yet.”
Jess could tell me that I had to sleep in a closet and I’d still be thankful. My capacity for dealing with stress and uncomfortable situations is pretty high—not much bothers me—but I am tapped after today.
"Is there anyway we could get both rooms? If they're available?" While I'm asking the question, Jess' face sort of falls and the brightness dims.
Rubbing her hands today, she says, "Well, I was going to stay in the other room. Given the weather, but if you want—"
"No, absolutely not. We'll be fine with one room," I look to Claire, who smiles and agrees with me. There's a tiny piece of excitement, followed by nervousness, when I think about sharing a room with her.
Jess, relieved she'll have a room, says, "This is The Fable Inn, welcome! The building’s kind of split into two, old wiring and all that, so the other side actually has no power. Glad it's the water damaged rooms and not the other two. And, if the power goes out on this side, we have a generator that will kick on. Don’t worry about it.”
Looking over at Claire, she uses the front desk to hold herself up. My shirt hangs on her a bit and I look down to see her heels covered in snow, some of it clearly touching her bare skin. Jess talks about where The Fable Inn got its name—she’s gushing about the library they’ve built and how it’s one of the key pulls to people making the trip.
I don’t have the heart to tell her this could be a shack off the road and I’d be happy to be away from the wheel. We’d make it work after the travel day from hell.
