Hand In Glove

Chapter 48

"Ready, Chloe?" Ashton called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, just one more thing," Chloe answered, zipping up her bag, quickly reviewing in her head all the things she would need for the next few weeks.

"Chloe, come on. The guys are waiting," Ashton said, entering the bedroom. He gave her arm a squeeze and took her bag out to the car.

With a deep breath, she followed him, locking up behind her. It was barely light outside. She looked over and waved at the guys, sitting in Jamie's van. The plan was to take two vehicles, Ashton and Chloe in his car, and the guys in the van. She was glad for that. It made the thought of a three-week road trip more bearable that way. They were off to Virginia Beach first, next all the way down to Myrtle Beach, then they would work their way up to Outer Banks, North Carolina. They had gigs all lined up almost every other day. Fortunately, some were relatively close to each other. That meant less traveling in between.

Chloe got into the car and beamed with excitement. She'd packed her sketchbook and the new camera that Ashton had bought her. She was looking forward to documenting the entire trip.

Ashton cracked up when he looked over at her. "Excited? Well, we'll see how long that lasts after seventeen hours," he said, imagining how she might feel after the hours of driving before they arrived in Virginia Beach. He wasn't quite sure what to expect from this experience only that he was glad she had agreed to come along. It brought a smile to his face, thinking about having her there with him on the road. It was hard to imagine being away from her for any length of time, let alone three weeks.

"Seventeen hours?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well, maybe only nine or ten. We'll probably have to stop along the way at a motel or something," he said as he followed the van onto the interstate.

"A motel?" she asked, imagining the worst.

"Yeah, a motel," he said, laughing. "Welcome to the road, Chloe."

After three or four hours of nonstop driving, thankfully they pulled over for lunch in a little town, somewhere in Pennsylvania. Pulling into the parking lot of a local diner, the guys all climbed out of the van, stretching and yawning. Chloe stepped out of the car and made a beeline for the ladies room.

The middle-aged waitress greeted her with a knowing smile and kindly pointed her in the right direction. A few minutes later she emerged relieved and refreshed. She joined the guys in a booth in the corner. Taking her seat next to Ashton, she took a moment and looked around. It was an old-fashioned kind of place with faded pictures on the wall. The clientele appeared to be mostly locals who didn't think much of the motley crew of strangers among them. They didn't stop staring for the longest time. A couple of old timers, sitting at the counter, exchanged wary looks.

"Nice place," Chloe whispered sarcastically. She shared a glance with Nick. He shrugged and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, we get that a lot," Ashton said. "We must make people nervous."

"You think this is bad? Wait until we get into the hills of Virginia," Jamie said incredulously.

"You got that right," Chris chuckled, shaking his head. "Them folk don't take too kindly to us long hairs."

The waitress came around and took their order. She seemed nice enough and when the food came along it was good and greasy. They ate ravenously. Not too soon, Ashton asked the waitress for the bill. They still had a lot of road to cover.

Thinking quickly, Chloe pulled out her camera and asked the waitress to snap a few pictures of them together.

"There you go, honey," said the waitress as she handed Chloe her camera. "You all in a band, I'm guessing?" she asked, looking them over.

"Well, these guys are. I'm just along for the ride," Chloe explained.

"Uh huh, lucky girl. Take care now," she said, shaking her head as she walked away.

"Well, I think she's a little jealous, Chloe," Jamie snickered. "Can you blame her? I mean look at us." He gestured to himself. "I'll bet she thinks we get up to all kinds of mischief. The four of us out here on the road with you," he added suggestively.

Chloe couldn't help but blush. "In your dreams, Jamie," she said in an effort to play along.

"Shut your dirty mouth, Jamie," Chris said as he stood up to leave.

"Come on, man, I'm just kidding," Jamie said defensively.

"All right, lunch is over," Ashton said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, come on, Chloe, let's get out of here," Nick said, throwing some money down on the table.

Chloe waved goodbye to the waitress. Jamie stepped out behind her and put his arm around her shoulders. "You know, I'm just playing with you, baby doll," he whispered only for her to hear.

"Sure, I guess," she said with a shrug.

"Good," he said, messing her hair.

"All right, everyone ready?" Ashton called as Chloe ducked into the car. "Next stop, Virginia!"

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To be continued...

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