Page 3 of See You Sometime

She stared at him in shock and then started crying again, overwhelmed by his generosity.

And blown away that he thought she was only thirty.

* * * *

While they did that, she walked across the road and bought the men a couple of pizzas and several two-liters of soda from the pizza and sub place. Fortunately, no one in the restaurant yelled at her for Barksley clutched in her arms.

Must have been the umpteenth teary retelling of her life’s disaster plot to the poor girl who took her order that did it.

Anyways, it got her super-fast service and out the door in probably record time.

Two hours later, Skye sat behind the wheel of the replacement truck, her Lexus once again secured to the car hauler, and drove toward I-75. Her plan had been to get to Sarasota by dark, get her bed out and set up, collapse, and unload into her parents’ garage and a rented storage unit the next morning with her father’s help.

The bed would have to stay in the truck tonight. Even if it meant she slept on the floor.

At least they’d given her an extra day’s free rental on the truck for her trouble.

It was after dark when she crossed the Florida-Georgia line and pulled off into the welcome center rest area. She walked Barksley and bought herself a dinner of stale vending machine chips and a lukewarm Mountain Dew.

Dinner of champions.

Then she called her parents to update them on her progress.

“So you’re probably less than five hours away now, honey,” her dad said. “That’s good. And the traffic will be easier to navigate this late.”

“I guess.”

“Take a deep breath. You’ve got this.”

“I don’t feel like I got it. I think those poor tow truck guys probably thought I’d lost my mind.”

“Well, considering what you’ve been through, most people already would have. How’s our granddog?”

She reached over and petted the mop. “Ready to meet a groomer who will shave him so he doesn’t sweat his non-existent balls off this summer.”

Barksley weighed around fifteen pounds, and she suspected about five of that was fur.

“Your mother already lined one up.”

“Will they take IOUs in payment?”

“We can spring for the first one or two visits. It’s where we takeDildo.”

“Dad! Please tell me you didnotname your new dog that?”

“It’s the cat. Dilbert, Dildo, close enough.”

“No it’s not!” her mother yelled in the background.

Skye finally laughed.

“Ha,” he said, sounding more than a tad triumphant. “Made you laugh.”

“Yes, you did. You always do.”

“Kind of my job. Get back on the road. Drive safely, kiddo. Love you.”

“Love you, too, Dad. Hug Mom for me.”