Sunshine Valley

Pillow talk

     “Dillon?” She whispered. To herself? When he didn’t respond right away, she convinced herself that she said it only in her head. 

     “Yes.”

     She rolled over on the air mattress to face him. Well, his back. “You can’t be comfortable in the floor.”

     He rolled over, facing her. “This is comfortable, compared to.”

     “Compared to what?”

     He smiled despite the total darkness, “the front seat of the SUV. Back seat of a cruiser. On a boat,” he thought. “I kinda liked that. If it hadn’t been for the bugs. A cave. On top of an old school bus once. No sleep at all.” A question was pounding in his brain. He pursed his lips. Let out a long sigh, “are you stayin’?”

     In the complete darkness of the room, could she answer that question? Did she have an answer? It took her so long to speak that he thought she had fallen asleep. “This was hard. Not because I had such a great life. The last 2 years was a version of hell on earth. But,” she stopped, tracing the hem of the sheet between her fingers. “This feels like failure. I’ve had to come runnin’ back home to daddy.” She snubbed, “I’m a 50 year old woman, runnin’ back home with her tail between her legs. I can just hear the town gossips now. You know the stories will be flyin’.” 

     “That old crone Smith has already started.”

     “Y Dillon Pace, you would call one of your voters, someone you’ve sworn to serve and protect, a crone?” Evie asked playfully.

     He stifled a laugh, “only to you.”

     They both laughed. “She always was a battle axe. I tried to befriend her once ‘cause all the kids made fun of her. I felt sad for her. Dad told me, in no uncertain terms, stay the hell away from that devil. As you know, dad rarely cussed.

     “The years have only made her worse. I did a wellness check on her a few months ago. She chased me with a broom.”

     Evie started dying laughing, “a broom?”

     He acted wounded, “how’s that funny?”

     “I just got a mental picture of her. Even when we were little, she didn’t have a single tooth in her head. Never wore a bra. I can see her chasin’ you, broom over her head, a maniacal toothless grin, boobs flapping wildly, down the steps to your SUV. Please tell me you had your dash cam runnin’?”

     “Oh, you want to watch?”

     “With the upmost joy.” The darkness filled the void. “Dillon?”

     “Hmm,” he more moaned than said.

     “What were you doing on top of a school bus?”

     “Ask Bradley.” Came a sleepy, yet playful reply.

     The room was suddenly filled with the soft sound of breathing. He was asleep. The sound of his breathing was even, steady. Soon Evie was sound asleep as well.

Sunshine Valley