Free One Perfect Honeymoon (Bellingwood) by Diane Greenwood Muir Page A

downstairs and then I'm stuck upstairs with people you left there."
    "Wait. What?"
    "It's not all that bad."
    "Do you want me to not have Andrew come over after school? I can work something else out."
    "No. Stop it. That's not what I mean."
    "Well, what do you mean?" Polly felt an argument coming on.
    "Nothing. I shouldn't have started this."
    "You damned well should have. If you don't like something that I'm doing, you should tell me about it right then, rather than waiting until we're finishing a fabulous vacation and springing it on me. I can't fix it now. All I can do is feel guilty that I've screwed up your life."
    "Now that's not what I mean at all."
    "Then what exactly did you mean?"
    "This is going in very bad places all of a sudden. Let's not do this now."
    "Oh, we're doing this. Trust me, we're doing this. What the hell else do we have to do while we're driving tonight? I'm not going to let you get away with telling me you hate having people around all the time and then back away from the conversation."
    She drew her hand out of his and folded her arms across her chest.
    "Now you're pissed."
    "Well, I thought things were okay and you're telling me that I put you to the test. Is that all the time?"
    "Polly, honey, stop it. We were having a conversation and it got out of control."
    "Seriously? Stop it? Out of control? Are you trying to escalate this argument?"
    "Oh lord, no. I'm trying to make it stop. I'm not sure what I did to get to this point and I don't know how to escape."
    Polly wanted to laugh, but she'd managed to work herself into a good froth.
    "Tell me how bad things are with all of my friends around. If you want me to change things, I'll do it."
    "No, I don't want you to change anything. I love you and I fell in love with you because you have so many friends. Yes, there are times I'd like to just come home and sit around in my shorts and t-shirt. There are Saturday mornings I'd like to sleep in with you and not have the whole world descend on us. Even on this trip, we haven't had any good mornings to sleep in."
    "I could let you sleep in."
    "You didn't hear me. I want to sleep in with you. Just hang out and be slugs for one morning. Get out of bed about nine o'clock, watch television and not take a shower. Just do nothing. I don't even care if Rebecca is there. She's a good kid. But something always comes up to wreck those days."
    "I'm sorry that there's so much going on, but I can try to come up with one Saturday where we get to stay home. I didn't know that's what you wanted."
    Then Polly realized that every time they'd been interrupted, he'd mentioned how badly that was all he wanted. She'd missed his cue. "Damn it," she said. "I'm sorry. I should have paid better attention. I didn't realize that was so important to you."
    "No, that's not what I want from you. I don't want you to feel bad."
    "You're always so easy going and you take such good care of everyone around you. I forget that I should pay attention, too."
    Polly looked up at the road as the interstate split in half. The westbound lanes were suddenly far above their heads. "What in the hell?"
    "I know. It's the mountain passes. And we've slowed way down. There's a lot of traffic out here tonight."
    She looked out the window. The river was to her right and the mountains seemed to go straight up beside her. "This is a little scary."
    They went through a tunnel and Polly held her breath, wishing that there were a lot more daylight. The light from oncoming traffic showed her how insane the road was and she found herself gripping the door handle.
    "Are you okay?" she asked. "I'm having a hard time focusing because it's so scary."
    "I wish we could get through here a little more quickly, but yeah. I'm okay. It's a little intimidating in this big truck. I don't feel like I have much room for error."
    "Have you ever driven in the mountains?"
    "No, have you?"
    "Dad took me up to Estes Park one time. Scared the living daylights out of me. He had a great