Chapter 47
“Are we there yet?” Lucky sighed, leaning his head against the window of the car.
Liz glared at him, then looked back at the road. “You know, I’d expect something like that from your sister, but don’t you think you’re a little too old to be doing it?”
“Hey, it was just a question,” he said bitterly. “Sorry if I’m too anxious for you, but frankly, I can’t take much more of this music.”
Liz reached out and turned the radio down a bit. “Is that better?”
“A little, but it would be even better if you changed the station!”
“Sorry, we agreed whoever drives picks the music. I put up with your garbage for the first part of the trip, and didn’t even complain, so just deal with it.”
“I guess I don’t have a choice, now, do I?” He turned to stare out the window, thinking about what Lulu had said during lunch, about him loving Liz. He knew she was wrong, but it still nagged at him.
Liz studied the road, trying to lose herself in the music that was playing, so she wouldn’t have to think about anything. It wasn’t working, though, and her mind kept wandering back to what Lulu had said earlier, about Lucky loving her. No matter what she told herself, the idea wasn’t totally repulsive. In fact, part of her even kind of liked the thought. She shook her head, trying to stop thinking about it, and turned up the radio again.
Lucky groaned, but didn’t say anything. They had already done the “radio wars” thing earlier, and he wasn’t in the mood to revive it. He smiled as he read the passing road sign, seeing that the camp was only about 20 miles away. “We’re almost there.”
“How do you know that?” Liz asked. She had been so deep in thought, she hadn’t really been watching the road that well, and was thankful for the distraction.
“We just passed a mileage sign. Only about twenty miles left.” They continued to ride in silence for a while. Later, he turned his head to check the back seat and smiled when he saw that Lulu had drifted off to sleep.
“Looks like our arguing finally bored her to death,” he joked.
“What?” Liz asked, glancing in the rearview mirror. “Aw, she’s so cute!”
“Yeah, I know. She must get it from Mom.”
“Well, she gets her stubbornness from you Dad, that’s for sure,” Liz muttered.
“What do you mean?”
“That whole thing back at Burger King. Even after you left, she kept insisting she was right about it. She’s wrong though...isn’t she?” she said, turning her head slightly to look at Lucky. He squirmed in his seat for a moment under her gaze before answering.
“Um, yeah, of course. Never been more wrong before. I think you turn here.”
“Huh?” she asked, looking back at the road. “Oh, right. We’re finally here. I guess that wasn’t too painful.”
Lucky chuckled and shifted in his seat so he could reach into the back and wake Lulu. “Well, hold that thought. We still have to make it back to Port Charles, and this time we won’t have her along for interference.”
Liz swallowed, feeling slightly nervous all of a sudden. She hadn’t thought about that before, and the idea of being alone in the car with Lucky for so many hours was making her pulse quicken. She pulled into the camp’s parking lot, frowning at how empty it was. “Is anyone here yet?”
Lucky looked up and shrugged. “Maybe we’re a little early. Only way to find out is to go in. Come on.” He got out of the car, then opened the back door to help Lulu out. They all walked up to the main club house and opened the door. The woman at the reception desk looked up at them quizzically.
“May I help you?”
Lucky cleared his throat and walked up to her. “Yeah, I’m here to drop off my little sister for the camp. Is this the right place?”
The woman nodded slowly. “Right place, but wrong time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Check-in doesn’t start until tomorrow afternoon at two. I’m afraid you’re a day early.”
“Tomorrow?” Liz asked from behind him. “You mean we can’t leave her here today?”
“Sorry, but the camp isn’t open yet. The cabins aren’t ready, and the staff isn’t all here. You’ll have to come back tomorrow.”
Lucky turned to Liz and frowned. “I’m not driving all the way home now, only to have to turn around and come back tomorrow!”
Liz nodded in agreement. “Neither am I!” She walked up to the desk, hoping to convince the woman to change her mind. “I’m sorry about the mix-up, but his father told us check-in was today, and we came a long way to bring her here. Is there any way at all you can take her early?”
She shook her head again. “Not until tomorrow at 2. I’m sorry, but he must have gotten his dates confused.”
“Oh, trust me, he knew exactly what he was talking about,” Lucky grumbled, pacing the small room. “So, what are we supposed to do now?”
“Well, there’s a motel down the street, it’s pretty inexpensive. I’m sure they have a vacancy for tonight,” she suggested with a helpful smile.
Lucky sighed and turned to Liz. “Motel? I don’t know...”
“What else can we do?” she asked. “It’s either drive back to Port Charles tonight, or stay here.”
“I guess we’re staying here, then,” he said grabbing Lulu’s hand. “Come on, let’s go find this place. Thanks for your help.”
“Any time. See you tomorrow,” the woman said cheerfully, waving at them as they left. They got back into the car, this time with Lucky at the wheel, and pulled away from the camp. A few minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of the motel she must have been talking about.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Liz said quietly. “We have to stay here?”
Lucky turned off the car and climbed out. “Looks that way. It’s just one night, how bad can it be?”
Liz sighed and got out, looking nervously at the motel. “I’m starting to think we should have gone home.”
“It’s too late to do that now, let’s just get this over with.” He opened the door and walked into the small reception area, striding purposefully up to the reservation desk.
“May I help you, sir?” the man asked, looking up from his book.
“Yeah, we need a room for the night. Two adults and a child. Do you have one available with two beds?” Lucky asked.
The man shook his head. “Sorry. All our rooms have one queen bed.”
Lucky groaned. Could this day get any worse? “Okay, is there another hotel around?”
He shook his head again. “Nope. In case you didn’t notice, it’s a pretty small town. We’re the only motel for miles.”
“What’s wrong?” Liz asked, walking up to them. She had been standing by the door with Lulu, but sensed that there was a problem.
“Nothing,” Lucky grumbled, handing the receptionist a credit card. “We’ll take a room.”
“Okay, it’s number 22, have a nice stay,” he said, handing Lucky the key after taking his credit card information. Lucky turned and headed out of the office while Liz and Lulu trailed behind him, following him to the room. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, then walked inside. Liz stood in the doorway, shaking her head.
“What is this? Only one bed?”
“Yep. It’s all they had, and there aren’t any other places in town. We didn’t have a choice.”
Liz dropped her purse on the nightstand and sat down on the edge of the bed. “This trip is becoming a nightmare.”
