Race to a Happy Ending

Chapter 4

At 5:45 am, Kate's cell phone startled her awake with a ring. She immediately thought of her parents and her brothers and hoped nothing was wrong. Phone calls, seemingly in the middle of the night, never brought good news. As she blinked her eyes and realized it was almost morning, she breathed more easily and assumed it was probably a wrong number. She picked up the cell phone to check the caller ID, it said, "blocked". Another clue it was a wrong number. She almost hit 'ignore' on her phone, then decided against it.

"Hello," she said in a quick, gravely voice.

"Hi there, Kate. Aren't you awake yet?" he laughed.

Kate was so groggy, she didn't recognize the voice, nor could she process anything so early. "Cameron?" she asked, confused.

"I know it's really early and I'm sorry for calling like this. But I just wanted to see you one last time before I left."

"What?" Kate sat up and rubbed her eyes. She was having a hard time focusing.

"Can you be ready in about 30 minutes?" he asked.

"Um, yeah, I guess. What am I getting ready for?"

"I want to take you to breakfast. I have to be at the airport at 10:30 and I want to see you one last time before I leave. Are you afraid of motorcycles?"

"No, uh, sure, ok," the confusion was wearing off and she was waking up. "I'll be waiting in the lobby. But don't expect beautiful. Those things take time," she smiled.

He laughed, "Alright, see you in a few." And he hung up.

Kate jumped up out of bed and screamed. Could this really be happening? She grabbed a pony-tail holder and pulled her hair back in a quick french braid. No need to fix her hair if it was going to get all messed up on the motorcycle. Then she hopped in for the quickest shower she's probably ever taken. She pulled on some blue jeans and a long sleeve knit top. She looked at the clock. Ten minutes left. She put on some flat-heeled boots, brushed her teeth and smeared a little makeup on. One last spray of perfume and she took a quick glance in the mirror. She huffed. "I sure hope this get-up won't be a deal breaker. I could look a lot better." She grabbed her phone, a credit card, her driver's license and stuffed it all in her pocket then walked out her room towards the hotel lobby.

As she entered the lobby, she could see Cameron driving in the parking lot. He looked so handsome. The sun was just starting to come up and he was squinting his eyes. He came to a stop and got off the bike and ran his fingers through his tousled hair. She smiled as she exited the lobby, "Hey, there, early bird!"

He laughed, "Not exactly the best time of day for a date is it?"

"Honey, I'd go on a date with you anytime of the day." Kate felt bold when she called him 'honey' then again, she thought it was somewhat bold that he'd said this was a date.

"Have you been on a motorcycle before?" he asked.

"Many times. My dad and my brother each have one. I think I was the only girl in elementary school to have her own motorcycle helmet."

"Good, then we'll have a great ride. I'm going to take you back to Moorseville to this little place at a marina on Lake Norman. It's one of my favorite spots."

"I can't wait, then. Let's go!"

He got on first and then she did. She put her arms around his waist and loosely held on as they got going. She got goosebumps being so close to him. She could smell the scent of his aftershave cologne and feeling the tightness of his abs underneath his shirt almost made her shiver. It felt good being this close to a man again. She wanted to squeeze him as tightly as she could, just to be closer to him, but she resisted the urge.