The problem was, none of them had slept, so neither Alissa nor Jake felt ready for the task. This free-spirited adventure was not turning out the way any of them had thought it would. Even Chloe seemed disgruntled with the scratchy blanket in Alissa’s lap and had opted for the floor mat between Alissa’s and Jake’s feet.
Alissa kept licking her lips and wishing she had something to drink. An hour earlier she had sipped on the melted ice in Brad’s Coke cup. She was about to try for the last slurp, but Brad must have read her mind because he reached for the cup on the floor and took one last long draw on the straw. Then, tossing the cup on the floor, he kept the straw in his mouth, chewing on it as if it could help keep him awake.
She hated to ask but had to. “When we stop, can we pick up something to drink? That burrito must have had some kind of hot chili in it, because my lips still feel like they’re burning.”
“Sure,” Brad said. “We need to get gas anyway.”
The truck stop, complete with gas station, convenience store, and clean restrooms, was a welcome sight. Alissa hopped out, with Chloe in her arms, and took the rattled cat over to the dirt where she was commanded to do her duty. Then Alissa made good use of the restroom, washing her face, brushing her hair, and even brushing her teeth with the travel toothbrush in her purse.
When she looked in the mirror, she was startled to see her face had turned blotchy red. Must have been the rough paper towels, she thought. Then she stuck out her tongue and noticed that the burning sensation she had felt on her lips had gone to her tongue, too. “Those must have been some chilis!” She exited and found the guys in the truck, gassed up, and ready to go, with Jake in the driver’s seat.
“I need to get something to drink,” Alissa called out and hurried with Chloe in her arm into the convenience store. She grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the refrigerated section and tried to pay as quickly as possible.
“Next time,” the woman at the counter said, “pets stay outside.”
Alissa nodded her willingness to comply and dashed out in the warmth of the early morning. “Sure is hot for so early in the day,” she said as she and Chloe slid past Brad and took their position in the middle.
“Ready?” Jake asked. She couldn’t tell if he was irritated with her or not. Brad closed his eyes and leaned his head against the door jam.
“Sure, let’s go.” Alissa decided that at the next stop she wouldn’t take so long since these guys seemed to be in some kind of race to Oregon. Before sticking her purse and the extra bottles of water under the seat, Alissa pulled out a pill box and pinched an antihistamine with her fingers. It was an old airplane travel trick she had learned long ago. Any kind of antihistamine tablet made her drowsy enough to sleep. She decided she should take one to get some sleep. That way she would be fresh and ready when it was her turn to drive.
Alissa swallowed the pill and settled back, glad now that she had on shorts instead of jeans. Her legs still itched, and she couldn’t wait to take a shower.
Jake wasn’t as much of an open-window guy as Brad. He promptly closed both windows and turned on the air conditioning. Alissa adjusted the vents so they wouldn’t blast right on her. She took one last look at the straight, flat stretch of the I-5 Freeway laid out before them and was thankful she wasn’t driving. The monotony would lull her to sleep for sure.
The cold pill seemed to kick right in, and Alissa felt herself beginning to float into dreamland. She was almost asleep when, in the distance, she heard a shrill burring sound. In her hazy mind, she heard Jake talking. He nudged her, and she tried to open her eyes.
“My phone,” he said. “Can you get it? It’s in the door’s side pocket.”
Alissa leaned across Brad, who didn’t stir a pinch as she fumbled to retrieve the ringing phone. She handed it to Jake and went back to sleep. Jake’s voice seemed to fill her head, even though she wasn’t tracking any of the words. He spoke more loudly.
“Brad. Hey, Brad. Wake up. I have to go back. They decided to move the shoot up because of the long weekend, and they need me there this afternoon. Sorry, man. I have to turn around.”
Alissa didn’t remember much after that. She was so, so tired. The truck kept rolling down the road, and Brad and Jake kept talking. When the truck suddenly stopped, she opened her eyes. They were at an airport.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, rubbing her eyes. For some reason they seemed to burn.
“Jake’s flying back to LA,” Brad explained. “We’re in Bakersfield. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just tired.”
“You look kind of.” He stopped and turned his attention to Jake. “You need some extra money or anything?”
“Nope, I’m set. I’m glad you thought of this. It’ll be quicker to catch this commuter flight than it would have been to drive back. You guys have a great trip, and I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Bye,” Alissa said, her eyes still burning. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep. With the extra space in the cab, she stretched out and felt Chloe doing the same at her feet.
Brad hit the road and drove with the window down for hours while Alissa slept. He stopped for gas once, but she only woke up enough to make note that they were getting gas. They hit the road again with Alissa sound asleep. She didn’t come around until the September sun hung low in the sky. Brad stopped again for gas and gently roused her.
“Hey, sleepy head, time to wake up. I need you to drive.”
“Where are we?” She could barely open her eyes. They were swollen and sore. Her lips and tongue felt swollen, too. Alissa reached for one of her bottles of water. This dry heat must have taken a severe toll on her.
“We’re in Redding. I just got gas so the tank is full. There’s a Wendy’s over there. If we get something to eat, do you think you could drive?”
“Sure,” Alissa said, pulling herself upright and trying to focus on Brad. The first thing she noticed was that his lips looked swollen. “The heat seems to be getting to us,” she remarked. “How hot do you think it is?”
“At least ninety, maybe hotter.”
“I thought it would get cooler the farther north we went.” Alissa rubbed the side of her face. It itched terribly. “We are going north, aren’t we?”
Brad looked at her more closely. “Do you suppose it’s heat rash?”
“What?”
“Look in the mirror,” he suggested.
Alissa stretched to have a look and almost screamed at the sight. Her eyelids were swollen twice their size, as were her lips. Her face was covered with red splotches. On closer inspection, so were her legs and arms. “I guess,” she said trying to sound calm but realizing how ridiculous she must look. “Why don’t we go over to Wendy’s, and I’ll wash my face there.”
She tried washing and washing, but the redness and swelling didn’t go away. Then she realized she couldn’t put in her contacts because her eyes were so irritated. She hadn’t thought to bring her glasses since she had been wearing her contacts constantly for the past few weeks. Without her contacts, she couldn’t drive safely.
Meeting Brad in the chilly, air-conditioned restaurant, Alissa broke the bad news to him. He held a bag with extra food to make up for the oversight last time and offered her an extra large drink.
“If you can’t see, you can’t see,” Brad said matter-of-factly as they walked back to the truck.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it. You can’t help it. Must be the heat or something. I only got it on my mouth. I’ll drive then, but if you can stay awake and keep me talking that would help.”
“Sure,” Alissa said. She felt relieved that Brad was being so understanding. This was turning into a nightmare of a trip, but he was hanging in there. Her esteem for Brad soared, and she started to think it might be kind of nice to be together, just the two of them. She climbed into the truck and kicked the hot blanket aside.
Brad got in his side. Suddenly Alissa froze. Her head stayed i
n one place, but her eyes scanned the cab first, then the parking lot in front of them.
“Brad,” she scratched out in a thin voice, “where’s Chloe?”
Chapter Twenty
Alissa drew in another deep breath and tried to stop crying. For nearly an hour tears had flowed down her red dotted cheeks. Now the truck was approaching the California-Oregon border, and each mile they traversed took them farther away from Chloe, wherever she was.
“Do you believe me that I didn’t leave her anywhere on purpose?” Brad said, an edge to his voice. “I know I made jokes at first, but I’m telling you, she must have slipped out while I was getting gas between Bakersfield and Redding. When we go back down on Tuesday, we’ll check every place I stopped. We can leave notices.”
The more he talked, the more she wanted to cry. The area between Bakersfield and Redding was enormous. How could they ever find Chloe? She had believed him the first time he had told her he didn’t do anything harmful to the cat. And she still believed him. It was just that in all the confusion and her deep sleep, her long-time companion had vanished. Alissa knew she would never see Chloe again.
All the tension had kept them both awake. Brad wolfed down Alissa’s hamburger when she declared she couldn’t eat anything. The good news was that the sun had set, giving them relief from the heat, and they were making good time.
“Brad,” Alissa tried to explain, her tongue feeling numb and her legs itching like crazy, “I told you I believe you. I know you understand what Chloe meant to me. I should never have brought her along in the first place. I don’t blame you, okay?”
“I still feel bad,” he said.
“I do, too. Nothing we can do about that.”
“You sure you don’t want anything to eat?” Brad asked. “We can stop when we reach Ashland. I’ll probably need gas again by Medford.”
“I’m not hungry,” she said and took another sip of the heat-warmed bottle of water from under the seat. “Thanks anyway. I’m just sorry I can’t help you drive.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be okay.”
Alissa’s thoughts became consumed with a hot shower, cool sheets, and some good sleep. They drove on into the night, listening to the radio and watching the most enormous, butterball moon chase them onward. It might actually have been enjoyable if Alissa hadn’t felt so hot and itchy.
When they arrived in Glenbrooke, Brad drove slowly down the main street, checking out the quaint shops on either side of the road. After two short blocks, he hit the residential area. Old houses lined the streets. In the light of the full moon, they could see that some had shutters, some weathervanes. There were white picket fences and tire swings hanging from gigantic trees. Gardens were full of tall corn, and bobbing flowers served as spacers between the homes. Alissa noticed that nearly every house had left on a porch light, exemplifying the “welcome” feeling of the hamlet.
“My sister gave up Nashville for this?” Brad said. He pulled a crumpled up piece of paper from his pocket and said, “We’re supposed to go to the Victorian house on the top of Madison Hill.”
“Must be that one at the top of the rise,” Alissa said. The house’s lights were all on, giving the huge dwelling on the hill the look of a lighthouse. “Is that where your sister lives? If so, I can tell you why she left Nashville!”
“Her friends live there. I guess they run a bed and breakfast of some sort. That’s where we’ll stay. She rented ‘a little cottage,’ she said. Could be any one of the houses we’ve driven by,” Brad commented as they headed up the hill to the glowing mansion.
The circular driveway made it easy for Brad to pull in the truck and trailer. Two golden retrievers bounded from the back of the house, barking a cheerful welcome to the midnight travelers. Before they were out of the car, a young woman with short blond hair hopped up from the porch swing and came skipping down the steps.
“Is that your sister?” Alissa asked.
“That’s my Wren.”
“I thought she had long hair.”
“She got it cut a year ago. Don’t bring it up. It’s still a touchy subject with her. I wonder if that’s her Prince Charming,” Brad said, eyeing the tall, dark-haired man who opened the screen door and called off the dogs.
“Only one way to know,” Alissa said. “Let’s go.” They climbed out, stiff from the long drive.
“Hi!” Lauren called, coming down the stairs to meet them. “You guys must be exhausted.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Brad said. “This is Alissa Benson. Jake ended up bailing out on us. You know the life of an actor in demand.” Brad wrapped his arms around his sister, and she gave him a big kiss on the cheek.
“I appreciate your doing this so much, Rad. Thanks. Thank you, too, Alissa.” She smiled at Alissa, and then in the porch light seemed to be taken aback at the sight of Alissa’s face and swollen eyes.
“I’m Kyle, Kenton’s brother,” the man by the door said. “Welcome to Glenbrooke.” He extended his hand to Brad and Alissa, but then he withdrew it before Alissa could touch him.
“If you don’t mind my asking,” Kyle said, “where did you get such a severe case of poison oak?”
“Poison oak!” Alissa and Brad repeated in tandem. Brad looked at her more closely.
“It’s on her legs, too,” he said. “And her arms.”
“I have no idea,” Alissa said, startled. Her mind whirled to put the pieces together. “Chloe!” she suddenly said. “When I changed my clothes in the bushes.”
“That was it,” Brad said, the light dawning on him, too. “How did it get in your eyes and mouth?” The minute he said it, his tongue peeked out, and he ran it over his own lips.
“The flashlight,” Alissa remembered. “I put it in my mouth.”
“Looks like you’ve got it in your mouth, too,” Lauren said, examining her brother more closely. She looked at Alissa and back at Brad, an expression of pleasant surprise on her face.
“Don’t go there, Wren,” Brad said, reading his sister’s thoughts. “There’s some logical explanation. Trust me.”
“I bet it was your straw,” Alissa said. She studied her rash-infested legs, which took on a ghastly purple tinge in the porch light. They looked much worse than they had in the daylight. “So what do we do for this stuff? It’s driving me crazy.”
“I can imagine,” Kyle said. “You came to the right place. Why don’t we go in the house?”
“He’s a paramedic,” Lauren explained as they entered the beautifully decorated home.
Kyle led them up a wide staircase that wound its way to the second floor and the guest rooms. “We thought we’d put you in here, Brad,” Kyle said. “And Alissa, you get the honeymoon suite.” He smiled and then added, “I’m just kidding. Here you go. The bathroom is off to the right. I suggest you take a long soak in the tub. I’ll bring up some lotion for you to put on and set it outside the door here. We can see about picking up a prescription for the itching tomorrow. Are you allergic to anything?”
“Poison oak, I guess.”
“I mean medications,” Kyle said with a smile.
“No.”
“Good. May I bring in your luggage for you?”
“It’s buried under all the furniture,” Brad said.
“I’m sure I have an extra sleep shirt, if you want to borrow it,” Lauren said to Alissa.
“That would be great. All I want to do is climb into that tub.”
“I’ll be right back.” Lauren bounded down the stairs with a spring in her step. Alissa recognized it as the gait of a woman in love. If Brad didn’t approve of Kenton, her guess was Brad would have a hard time convincing his sister to dump the guy. But then, if he was anything like his brother, Kyle, Alissa felt certain it would be a unanimous vote in Kenton’s favor.
Lauren returned with a folded stack of fresh clothes and the bottle of lotion Kyle had sent back up with her. “Can I get you anything else?”
“No, this is great. Thanks.”
Lauren lingered by the doorway. “I hope we have a chance to visit some while you’re here. I know you’re really tired tonight, but maybe tomorrow.”
“Sure.”
“I’ll see you in the morning,” Lauren said, smiling at Alissa. She tried to smile back, but her sore lips made it a challenge.
After following the instructions of the resident medic, Alissa slipped into Lauren’s extra large T-shirt and tucked herself between the crisp sheets. She barely noticed the decor of the room. All she wanted to do was sleep.
Sometime in the late morning, when the bright sun had flooded her room, Alissa rolled herself out of bed. A look in the bathroom mirror showed that the rash still raged. She repeated the bath procedure and reapplied the lotion. No way did she want to go downstairs and face her host again. She put on the nightshirt and crawled back into bed.
Outside, she could hear a truck starting up and lots of voices. She went over to the window and pulled the sheer curtain to the side for a better look. Brad was pulling out with the trailer, and two other trucks were following. Perhaps he had enough help with Kyle and Kenton, and they didn’t need her.
Alissa sneaked back into bed and was trying to decide if this would be a good time to invite herself to a pity party. She felt as if she were falling apart. A prayer came to her swollen lips before she could plan the words. It was a prayer of surrender and a plea for mercy. As she was finishing her communication with God, there came a gentle tap at her door.
She didn’t know who was left to call on her. A maid perhaps? Alissa padded to the door and opened it slowly. A petite woman with short, blond hair stood in the hallway. She smiled at Alissa, and a noticeable scar curved up on her top lip. “Hi. How are you doing? I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No, I was awake.”
“I’m Jessica. Kyle wanted me to bring you this medication. Can I get you something to eat?”
“No, that’s okay. Maybe later.”
“It’s no problem. We have french toast and soft-boiled eggs left over from breakfast.”
“That would be fine,” Alissa said, assuming Jessica was the maid. “And could you bring me some salt for the egg?”