Read Online End of the Road (Ghost Stories Trilogy #1) by E. J. Fechenda - Free Book Online Page B

sits him down in the high chair, which was an early present from my
parents. Halfway through dinner Richie falls asleep. Carol and Dan visibly
relax after this and we enjoy a peaceful, adult dinner.
    “Faye, Frank, thank you
so much. We needed this!” Carol slurs and hugs us.
    “This was fun. We’ll have
to do it again!” Faye calls after them as they’re walking to their car.
    Dan has Richie slung over
his shoulder and he weaves a little bit in place when he turns and winks at me.
“Let me know about that weekend, Frank.”
    “Will do.”
    “What weekend?” Faye
asks.
    “I’ll tell you later,” I
mumble and wave at our departing guests.

Chapter Fourteen
     
    Faye is glaring at me
with her eyes narrowed to slits and her arms crossed. “When were you planning
on telling me?”
    “It had only been a
thought and I just mentioned it to Dan.”
    “You’re going to leave me
in my last month of pregnancy?”
    “Just for a long weekend
and your mother will be here.”
    “There you go again;
leaving me housebound while you go off to do God knows what.”
    “It will be my last
weekend of fun for a long time.”
    “Oh, what, I’m not fun?
Your child isn’t going to be fun?”
    “I didn’t mean it like
that.”
    Faye doesn’t say
anything, she just walks way. “Faye, I’m going. I make the money around here
and it’s my choice.” She disappears into our bedroom. “Besides, I can’t stand
your mother,” I mutter after I think she’s out of ear shot.
    “I heard that!”
     
    ****
     
    Dan calls me at the
office the day we’re supposed to leave. Richie is running a fever and he can’t go.
“Come on, Dan. Carol can handle it. That’s her job.”
    “I’m not happy. Trust me,
I’ve been looking forward to this weekend, but I can’t leave Richie.”
    “Fine,” I snap and hang
up the phone.
    At least my two friends
from college are still up for the weekend and we’re planning on meeting at the
Museum Club on Route 66 later that night.
    I leave the dealership
early, stop to fuel up the Bel Air and pick up a six-pack of Schlitz for the
road. Faye and her mother are playing cards at the dinette table when I get
home. My mother-in-law gives me a disapproving glare over her horned rimmed
glasses which rest at the end of her large nose.
    “Are you still going?”
Faye asks without glancing up from her handful of cards
    “Yes, but Dan isn’t.”
    “You’re driving alone?”
    “I’ll be fine.” I bend
over and kiss the top of her head before retrieving my bag from our bedroom.
Faye had packed for me while I was at work.
    I change into travel
clothes, a pair of loose khaki pants and my favorite bowling shirt, and return
to the kitchen to say goodbye. I kiss Faye’s belly and then her cheek. I lean
over to kiss my mother-in-law’s cheek, but she turns her head away.
    “Go, have your fun,
Frank. Don’t worry about your wife who is carrying your child.”
    “Hey, this gives you a
chance to catch up and talk about me behind my back,” I force a smile.
    “Hmm,” she says with her
lips pursed into a thin line.
    Faye walks me out to the
car and I hug her before getting in. Even though it’s early May, the late day
sun has heated the seats and the warmth burns through the thin fabric of my
bowling shirt. The convertible top is down and Faye carefully bends over, her
swollen belly barely brushes against the door when she rests her arms on the
doorframe.
    “When are you trading
this in again?”
    “After I get back - promise.”
    She gives me a faint
smile and I catch a glimpse of sadness in her eyes. “Don’t do anything stupid,
especially if Jake dares you. You’re not in college anymore.”
    “I’ll be fine.” There’s an
edge to my voice because she sounds like a mother sending her child off to
school. Her mother’s influence is already rubbing off. Going away is a
brilliant idea.

Chapter Fifteen
     
    In hindsight, I probably
shouldn’t have been driving. I shouldn’t have had a