True
Chapter Five
(Somewhere in Ohio...)
Only minutes after they hit the highway, Chloe laid
her head against the window and fell fast asleep. Somewhere in the back of her head she could hear the sound
the van made as it sped along the road, but for the most part, she was out
like a light. About an hour
later, she awoke to a window spattered with raindrops.
The van was parked outside a roadside motel, and she was completely
alone for the moment. She sat up
and stretched as she yawned.
Chloe tried to smooth her wrinkled clothes when the
passenger door to the van opened suddenly.
She jumped in fear and laid one hand on her chest.
"Oh Jesus, Brady... you scared me half to
death."
Brady leaned against the door and grinned at her.
"Sorry about that... I thought you might still be asleep so I was
gonna carry you into the room. You
know... now that I can walk without my canes, I can do things like that.
So I was tempted to flex my muscles."
Chloe smiled at him and unbuckled her seatbelt.
"Well, that's sweet of you... but I'm a big girl, I think I can
handle it."
Brady clasped her hand and helped her out of the van.
"I know... You have certainly proved that to me in the past,
that's for sure."
Chloe grinned slyly at him.
"Well, I'll let you flex your manly macho muscles by carrying the
big suitcases if you give me the key to the room."
Brady kissed her on the forehead and slipped the key
into her hand. "Here ya
go... Room 104, right over there."
Chloe smiled at him, grabbed her small bag and headed
towards the room. She unlocked
the door and laid her backpack down. The
room was quite small, but had two double beds and was very clean.
She walked around the room for a couple of minutes, checking it out and
getting a feel for the floor plan until she heard a noise which sounded like
somebody throwing himself up against the door.
Chloe ran to the door and opened it to an exhausted Brady who was
weighed down by both of their suitcases.
He stepped inside and threw the suitcases aside.
"Ughhhh... Chloe... what the hell did you put in
here? You didn't bring the
*entire* town of Salem in the suitcase, did you?"
Chloe cringed briefly. "Sorry about that... I forgot how heavy it was."
Brady shook it off and wrapped his arms around Chloe.
"Don't worry about it... I don't mind."
Chloe smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
"Awww... you're such a sucker sometimes.
I'm gonna go take a shower now, okay?"
Brady smiled back at her. "Take your time... I think I’m going to go over the
map and the plans for tomorrow's driving."
Brady let go of Chloe and she grabbed one of the
hotel bathrobes in the closet and made her way into the bathroom, closing the
door behind her. She turned the
water in the shower on and turned towards the mirror to look at her
reflection.
"Geez... I look awful."
Of course, that wasn't a surprise to Chloe.
After what she had endured today, she had expected the worst.
She frowned at her reflection and sighed softly.
"Be strong... Forget about it.
Put it out of your head. Focus
on what you have to do." The
words meant a lot but they couldn't entirely shake the hideous feeling that
she felt throughout her body. No
matter how strong she was, she had still been attacked and she couldn't just
let it go that easily. But she
knew she would hold on because of Brady... he would force her not to fall
apart, and if she did, he would put the pieces back together for her.
Her glasses had begun to fog up and she took them off
and laid them on the counter. She
took the headband out of her hair, undressed the rest of the way and stepped
under the hot shower. Chloe
scrubbed every inch of her body, hoping to scrub out the memories of what had
happened in that Quik-Stop bathroom. Deep
down she knew that even a million showers couldn't do that, but Chloe was
strong and although she would never forget, she would move on. She had to.
***
Chloe stepped out of the bathroom clad in the white
bathrobe, with a matching towel wrapped around her head like a turban.
Brady was sitting on the bed closest to the door with several maps and
guidebooks spread around him. He
looked up from his maps when Chloe opened the bathroom door.
"Wow... Chloe... did anyone ever tell you that
terry cloth is a fantastic look for you?"
"Ha Ha, Brady.
So what's the itinerary for tomorrow, Navigator?"
Chloe sat down on the other bed and faced him.
Brady shrugged slightly. "Well... I've got good news and bad news.
The good news is that we drove almost 400 miles today."
"And the bad news?"
"We still have 700 left to go.
Which means... that if you want to make it to Boston tomorrow
afternoon, we have to leave in like 5 hours."
Chloe sighed and shook her head.
"Well... that's okay. I'd
really rather sleep actually. I
mean, I want to get there soon, but what's the point if both of us are too
worn out to think? I vote for sleep."
"I agree. Oh
yeah... while you were in the shower I brought in the sandwiches that Belle
made for us. I already had mine,
yours is in the fridge if you want it."
Chloe stood up quickly. "Well... now that you mention it. I'm starving."
She walked over to the small hotel fridge and pulled
out the sandwich wrapped in plastic and took it back to her bed.
She grabbed the file on her mother and once again opened it to skim the
pages inside as she nibbled on her sandwich.
She heard Brady fold up his maps, put them away and stand up from the
bed
"I think I'm going to take a shower too..."
Chloe looked up and grinned at him.
"Have fun... I think I used all the hot water."
Brady rolled his eyes and walked towards the
bathroom. "Well that
figures..."
Brady left her alone with her sandwich, as she pored
through the files from the envelope. The
words on the pages were exactly the same every time she read them, but each
time she hoped that she could find something new.
Chloe slid down further in her bed and rested her head on the soft
fluffy pillows. She tried to read
the documents and chew her sandwich at the same time, but her eyes grew
heavier and heavier with each passing minute.
***
Brady stepped out of the bathroom in a pair of shorts
and a tattered old baseball shirt. He
stepped towards the two beds and paused to look at Chloe.
She had drifted off to sleep while he was showering.
Her hair was still wrapped in the towel and her half-eaten sandwich was
laid beside her on the bed. Brady
quietly stepped towards her and moved the sandwich and the papers she had been
reading to the table between the beds. He
gently took off her glasses and removed the towel from her hair.
He paused to take in how beautiful she was even now in sleep.
Brady gently moved the covers on the bed and put them over her.
He leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips before settling
into his own bed.
As he looked at her peaceful sleeping form, he smiled
once more and softly whispered. "Good
night, Chloe... I love you."
Brady had never told Chloe those three words before, at least not when she was awake. Just like Chloe, he was afraid of them... afraid to admit his feelings and be hurt by them in the long run. She knew that he loved her, and he knew that she felt the same but both of them were unable to speak the words out loud. At least for now.