Free Rough Ride by Rebecca Avery Page B

her in any way. 
     
    She hadn’t come all the way to Florida and then on this trip to trade one group of snotty women for another.  One group shunned her because they had ‘honest’ money, this group shunned her for reasons she didn’t even know about.  Deciding she didn’t need the tension she could feel coming from the women in the group after a long day behind the wheel, she headed back inside to check email at the office.
     
    As she logged in she noticed the date… two years ago to the day when Darren had died.  She’d been so distracted with her new job and this trip she’d almost forgotten.  She felt tears sting her eyes and slide down her cheeks just as she heard raindrops hitting the roof of the RV.  Not wanting the guys to see her tears she grabbed her sweater and slipped out of the RV and around to the back.  After hearing the guys all pile into the RV she made her way to a picnic table a few feet from the campsite.
     
    She cried for what she had lost… not just a husband… but her loss of innocence and naivety.  She knew deep down she didn’t want to get involved with Bobby, not because he was a bad boy, but because she was afraid he would hurt her as Darren had done.  His death had been painful enough and she had felt as though he had abandoned her.
     
    Then as the truth of his business dealings and his affairs began to surface the gossip began.  It felt like a double betrayal.  She hadn’t allowed herself to feel angry at him for all that happened because he was gone and she thought it wrong to be angry at someone who had died.  She had tamped it down for so long.
     
    Here she was denying herself a chance to live again, to be wild and try new things because even now she thought about his constant disapproval and his ultimate betrayal and just couldn’t…  Tears streamed down her cheeks as she choked back sobs.
     
    Bobby realized that she wasn’t in the RV once they all sat down and he saw the laptop.  After double checking the bedroom, he glanced out the window of the small kitchen area and saw her… she was sitting on the picnic table.  From her shaking shoulders and the hands that covered her face and mouth, even from the side he could tell she was upset and crying.  What happened?
     
    “Lilly’s outside crying… something’s wrong.  Stay inside and make yourselves scarce when we come back… fake sleep or whatever.” He said on his way out the door.
     
    As he neared the table where she sat he realized she was now soaking wet and he soon would be.  His heart tore nearly in half when he heard her sobs.  Stepping up on the opposite bench and then onto the table he sat down behind her and pulled her back into his arms.
     
    “Hey, hey… what’s wrong?” He said rubbing his hand over her wet hair as she leaned into his chest.
     
    “I forgot…” her voice broke and she sobbed harder.
     
    What could she possibly have forgotten that would make her this upset?  He smoothed one hand down her back and cupped her head in his other hand.  He had never liked to see a woman cry, but her sobs cut at him like a saw cutting through a tree. 
     
    Each one was like a fresh slice and he would give anything to make her stop.  All he could do was to hold her though until she told him what was wrong.  Then he could do something to fix it. 
     
    Eventually the sobs subsided and her breathing stopped hitching.  The rain continued to pound them both until they were soaked to the skin.  Digging around in his pocket he found the shop towel he’d stuffed in there earlier and handed it to her. 
     
    She blew her nose and then said “I’m ok now… you can go back inside” as she tried to pull away from him.
     
    He pulled her head back against his chest again and leaned his face against the top of her head.  “What did you forget that would make you so upset, Lilly?” he asked.
     
    “My husband…he died two years ago today… and I forgot.” She finished with a