Drive Me Crazy: Road Tripping Series

by Samantha Chase

  A block later, they were in a convenience store parking lot.

  “I’m confused,” she said, glancing around. “Did you want to get a map, or did you forget to pack something?”

  Finn continued walking and stopped behind a red convertible. He released her hand and seemed to admire the car. Grace had to admit that it was a beautiful car. Definitely a classic–probably from the sixties. She stepped in closer and followed him around the car. “Have you ever worked on a car like this?”

  He nodded. “Several. I have a friend who lives out this way who is a collector.”

  “Really? Wow! Are you going to stop and see him while you’re here?”

  “Already have,” he said casually.

  Grace stopped and frowned. “Already? When?”

  “He picked me up from the airport,” he replied, stopping next to the passenger side door. Opening it, he smiled at her. “In this car. Care to go for a ride?”

  Her hands flew to her mouth as she gasped. “Are you serious? This is…you mean you borrowed…?”

  Laughing, Finn nodded and reached for her hand and tugged her to him. “I remember someone talking about taking a road trip in a convertible and thought you might enjoy this. We might not be driving cross-country in it, but I thought it would be a great way to drive up and down the coast and maybe watch a sunset or two in it.”

  It was all too much. She launched herself into his arms and completely wrapped herself around him. “You are amazing, Finn Kavanagh, you know that, right?”

  He kissed her and smiled. “I don’t know if I’d say amazing, but I do okay.” He placed her in the car and shut the door before jogging around to the driver’s side and joining her.

  Starting the engine, Finn got a look of total bliss on his face. No doubt as a car guy, getting to drive something like this was pretty cool. Resting an arm across the seat, he turned his head and smiled. “What do you think?”

  “This is so freaking cool! I’ve never driven in anything like this before!” She paused and gave him a sly smile. “Can I ask you something?”

  He chuckled. “That’s my girl. Sure. What’s up?”

  “Why did you park it down here? You know there’s a parking garage at the resort, right?”

  “They wouldn’t let me park there since I wasn’t a resident or a guest, and I didn’t want to start our visit out with me asking you to meet me down in the lobby to get a parking pass.” He shrugged. “So I left it here.”

  “You’re lucky it’s still here. I imagine a car like this is every man’s dream and probably high on the list of car thieves.”

  “Damn, I didn’t think about that. I guess I am lucky!” he laughed, then he took one of her hands in his and kissed it. “But then again, I already knew that. Especially now that I have you.”

  “I feel the same way,” she said and felt herself blush. “So, where are we gonna go?” she asked, practically bouncing in her seat.

  “Wherever you want. I know it’s been a long travel day for each of us, and I know I wouldn’t mind making it an early night, but I think a drive up and down the peninsula could be nice. What about you?”

  A million different destinations came to mind, but Finn was right. A short drive up and down the coast would be the perfect end to their day.

  Well…she had other ideas for how they could end their day back at the condo, but for now, this was pretty nice too.

  Finn pulled out of the parking lot and turned out onto the main road. The sky was beautiful shades of pink and blue. There was a great breeze, and the smell of the ocean was spectacular. Grace was on sensory overload and couldn’t be happier about it. Finn gently squeezed the hand he was still holding.

  “What are you thinking right now?” he asked.

  Resting her head back against the cushion, she turned it slightly to look at him. “I’m thinking this has been a great night. The sights and smells are just filling all of my senses and I’m loving it.”

  His smile grew as he turned back to watch the road. “Yeah, mine too. I don’t go to the beach nearly enough. I had almost forgotten how awesome it can be.”

  “Well, you’ll definitely get your fill this week. Stick with me. I love to start and end my day out on the beach.”

  “Then I’m going to love it too,” he said, and he sounded so serene that Grace knew this week wasn’t just going to be good for them as a couple, but for Finn as an individual too.

  She wanted to ask how his brother was and how work was, but…not now. Now was just about enjoying the moment. Neither spoke for several minutes; they simply enjoyed the ride and took in the views. When Finn turned the car around to head back to the condo, daylight was fading.

  “Look at us,” she said, smiling over at him. “We’re driving off into the sunset.”

  He kissed her hand again. “Sweetheart, this is just the first of many. I promise.”

  “I love you, Finn Kavanagh.”

  Another kiss. “I love you too, Grace Mackie.”

  Epilogue

  Three months later…

  “This is ridiculous.”

  “It’s going to be fun.”

  “No, it’s going to be ridiculous.”

  Grace rolled her eyes and rested her head on Finn’s shoulder. “You’ve been on board with this plan all along. Why are you raining on my parade now?”

  “Because I didn’t really think you were serious! I mean, out of all the things in the world that we could have done, why would you choose this?”

  “Flight 1994 to San Diego will begin boarding shortly,” the announcement said over the loudspeaker.

  “Too late to back out now,” Grace said, feeling smug.

  Actually, she was feeling way too happy to be smug.

  “Face it, Mr. Kavanagh, you are stuck going on this adventure with me,” she said, giving him a loud smacking kiss on the cheek.

  “It’s a good thing I love you, Mrs. Kavanagh. Otherwise, I might just leave you here and go home.”

  She knew he was only partially kidding.

  Last night, they had gotten married in front of all their friends and family. It was the wedding Grace had always dreamed of, and it still amazed her how everything fell into place on such short notice.

  It had been like that ever since Finn had shown up in Coronado to win her back. It was as if all the planets had finally aligned and things were seemingly always going their way.

  Eventually, Finn would see all the benefits to this honeymoon trip. They were flying to San Diego and spending several days at their condo on the beach. From there, they were renting a car and making another cross-country trip–only this time, they had many more stops planned that they didn’t hit the last time and a few that they did.

  Like Vegas.

  Seriously, Grace almost couldn’t wait to get back on the High Roller. She had definite plans for that stop.

  They were also going to do a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon while they were in Vegas–something Finn said he always wanted to see.

  He just didn’t know it was going to happen via helicopter.

  No need to freak him out just yet.

  After that, they were going to camp out for a night in the Grand Canyon National Park before going to Santa Fe. Next was Denver. The best part was, they didn’t have a real schedule to keep, and they could change their route at any time, but they had discussed some places they had never visited before–either of them–and that’s how they had planned the trip.

  Only…Finn didn’t think she was serious.

  Now he knew.

  They balanced each other out–he reeled her in when she got a little too crazy with her ideas and trip planning, and she made him break out of his comfort zone. They were flying first-class to make Finn more comfortable and relaxed about flying and then staying put in one place so he could unwind. Then all bets were off for several days as they tried to get in as many miles as they could and see everything they wanted to see.

  “You know you’re going to have a
great time,” she encouraged. “Have I ever steered you wrong?”

  “Wasn’t it you who tried to tell me that wasabi wasn’t spicy or how it wasn’t a big deal to have sushi and Mexican at the same meal?”

  “Okay, fine. I’ll admit that was an unfortunate evening, but other than that, my track record is pretty darn good. Some might say impressive.”

  Beside her, he laughed softly. “I admit no such thing. You are a nuisance when left to your own devices, and every once in a while, you need to be reminded that every day doesn’t have to be an adventure.”

  “Oh, I totally agree. Not every day. You know I love curling up on the couch with you after dinner and watching TV or reading a good book.”

  He nodded. “I also know you are prone to wanting to move furniture or start painting walls at nine o’clock at night too.”

  “That one only started when I moved in with you.”

  “You said you liked my house.”

  “I did! I mean, I do! I just needed to put my own stamp on the place, too, Finn.” The house was quite spectacular but very masculine. “I needed to girl up the place.”

  “Just promise you’ll ease up on the pink from now on.”

  “One pink pillow in the bedroom and you’re complaining?”

  “That’s how it starts! One pillow. Next it will be an accent wall or a comforter…before you know it, our room will look like a cotton candy machine threw up in there!” He was teasing and laughing a bit, but she knew him well enough to realize he had a genuine fear of her decorating skills.

  “Fine. No more pink.” She paused. “For now.”

  “For now? What do you mean–for now?”

  “I’m just saying…if we have kids and one of them is a girl, we might want to have some pink, that’s all.” He shifted so Grace had no choice but to lift her head. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “It’s just…we haven’t really talked about that. Kids. I mean, we talked about wanting to start a family, but…that was it.”

  She didn’t know what the difference was or what was the big deal, but…

  “Do you want to talk about that right now? All because of a pink pillow?”

  He rolled his eyes. “No, not because of a pink pillow. I’m just curious if you’ve thought about it–kids. Babies. What you’d like to have. Or when.”

  Ah. Now she got it.

  “Well, if I’m totally honest, I would love to have a girl first. I want to do the dresses and the dolls and dance classes and all the frills that go with it,” she said wistfully.

  “You know she could prefer sports or working on cars.”

  She shot him a sour look. “She could. But that doesn’t mean she can’t try my stuff too.”

  Finn made a non-committal sound.

  “I supposed you’d like a boy first.”

  “I’d like whatever we have first,” he said. “Boy or girl, it doesn’t matter. As long as they’re part you and part me, we can’t go wrong.” Then he started to chuckle.

  “What? Now what’s so funny?”

  “I was just envisioning a little version of you. No doubt she’d be a handful and make me crazy with a million questions and ideas and activities.”

  “Flight 1994, we’d like to welcome our first-class passengers aboard!”

  They stood and made their way to the podium. Finn handed the agent his ticket to be scanned and then Grace did the same. When they were on the jetway, she took his hand in hers. “And you’d love every minute of it.”

  Nodding, he pulled her in close and stopped to kiss her soundly. “Just like I love every minute of my time with you.” They made their way toward the plane. “Now come on. Our adventure awaits.”

  And that was the thing–every day was going to be an adventure and she couldn’t wait to experience it all.

  And now for a preview of

  WRONG TURN

  WRONG TURN

  “So…what’s new in the history world?”

  Chelsea Cooper fought the urge to roll her eyes.

  Hard.

  Taking a sip of her wine, she glanced over at the person responsible for quite possibly the dumbest question ever.

  Drew Russo.

  Sadly, his best friend and her best friend were dating. That meant they were forced to hang out together. And even worse, the way their particular group of friends was, it meant they hung out together a lot.

  As in…far more frequently than Chelsea would like.

  She had meant to turn to the right after she got her wine and head toward the dartboards, but instead, she’d gone the wrong way and ended up here.

  With Drew.

  He gave her an easy smile before taking a sip of his beer.

  “There’s nothing new in history,” she replied primly. “History is history. As in it’s in the past.”

  Nodding, Drew moved in closer. “Depends on how you look at it, doesn’t it?”

  Is he insane or just plain clueless?

  “Actually, no. That’s not the case at all. History is the study of past events, Drew. And last I checked, there haven’t been any new findings in…” Dare she say it? “The history world.”

  Now she fought the urge to shudder.

  Leaning even closer – like seriously infringing on her personal space – he said, “Well, the past could be anything that happened before right this minute. Me walking over and asking you that question is technically in the past, right?”

  For a moment, all Chelsea could do was sputter and try to come up with a witty comeback.

  Or at least an intelligent one.

  Instead, all she could say was, “Why are you like this?”

  “Like what?” His grin never faltered.

  Glancing around, she prayed someone would catch her eye and come and save her from another pointless conversation. They ended up in this position most weekends. It was almost as if Drew would seek her out with the sole purpose of aggravating her.

  And every weekend, he succeeded.

  “Isn’t there someone else you’d rather talk to? One of the guys, maybe?”

  Bumping her shoulder gently, he replied, “I can talk to them anytime. But you? You I only get to catch up with on Fridays. Besides, I was just curious about what you do. You’re always talking about these books you narrate, so I just thought I’d ask. Excuse me for trying to be sociable.”

  “No one said you weren’t sociable…”

  “Except you.”

  The groan was out before she could stop it. “I never said that.”

  “But you implied it.”

  This was getting them nowhere.

  Fast.

  “Okay, let’s start over, okay?”

  He nodded.

  “I just got a call to narrate a book on the Civil War and…”

  “Didn’t you narrate that one already?”

  “There’s more than one book on the Civil War.”

  Shrugging, he said, “Go on.”

  “Anyway, the original narrator came down with the flu and they’re on a tight schedule, so they asked me to come in and do it. So I’ll go into the studio on Monday and I only have three days to get it done. That’s with all the edits and everything.”

  “You do the editing too? Wow!”

  “No,” she said patiently. “I don’t do the edits. There’s a very talented group of people who handle that. I’m simply the one reading the book.”

  “And it takes three days? Seriously? Are you only reading like an hour a day or something?”

  As much as she wanted to be annoyed with him, she couldn’t. Most people had no idea what went into audiobook narration and were full of questions.

  It was just Drew who irritated her.

  Not his questions.

  Forcing a smile, Chelsea explained the process to him just like she’d explained to dozens of people over the years. “Basically, on average, it is a 2:1 ratio. So if it’s a ten-hour book, it takes around twenty hours to narrate it. Remember, that includes errors,
swallows, background sounds, stopping, starting, etc., so it is for sure a marathon to perform.”

  Thankfully, he didn’t interrupt and seemed to be genuinely interested in what she was saying. Once she was done, she figured he’d move on and talk to someone else.

  But he didn’t.

  “You must really enjoy history then.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it seems like that’s all you narrate,” he replied. “I’ll admit, I enjoyed studying history in school. I always aced those classes because it fascinated me how far we’ve come and yet how much we’re still the same as some of our ancient ancestors.” He took another pull of his beer. “You ever narrate anything on the Egyptians and the pyramids?”

  She had to think about that for a minute. “You know, I don’t think…”

  “Do you think they really built the pyramids themselves or that aliens did it?”

  “What?”

  “Think about it – how could they move those massive blocks without modern tools? Or toolbelts?” He shook his head. “To do all that work in a loincloth? No thank you.”

  “I don’t think…”

  “You’d look really good in the dresses the women wore back then – togas, right?”

  Yeah, he’s clueless.

  A snarky response was on the tip of her tongue when someone came up beside her.

  “There you are!” Her best friend Bianca wrapped one arm around her and hugged Chelsea tight before smiling at Drew. “Don’t you two look at cozy over here! What are we talking about?”

  “How I would look good in the togas the Egyptians wore,” Chelsea said, praying Bianca would get how that was a completely ridiculous statement.

  Bianca studied her. “Hmm…you probably would. They’re very forgiving and would hide your hips.”

  “Wait…what?” Chelsea cried.

  “Yeah, a toga would totally be your friend. I like to think I’d be like royalty and have a designer toga that would be more of a mermaid fit,” Bianca went on. “Then I’d accessorize with a lot of jewels.” She took a sip of her wine before adding, “I’d be totally hot as an Egyptian.”

  “I’d probably be one of those gladiators,” Drew chimed in, smug smile and everything.