She was lost.
Gina had to admit it to herself -- she was driving down a narrow country road in the middle of Bartow County with no idea where that road would lead.
She checked her phone again.
Still no signal.
"...And no fucking idea where I am," she said to herself.
"Shit," she said out loud, "now I dropped the f-bomb on Sunday after church."
Gina had driven into Georgia to visit her Aunt Lucille and the cousins on Saturday. Somehow they convinced her to stay the night and visit the old family church the next morning. Being newly divorced and with the kids off to college, she found herself with free time to visit family and churches again. She found herself free to go wherever she pleased, so why not stay?
After a long sermon and twenty-five verses of some hymn she'd never heard, Gina said her good-byes and was trying to make her way back to Birmingham but had mistakenly turned onto some long-forgotten county road. Then she had taken another unmarked road hoping to loop back to the highway, but that only made things worse. Three turns later, it was hopeless. She would just have to drive until she reached a main road or found an area with internet service for her phone.
At least it was a beautiful drive. The lost, lonely road fit her mood. She had no time schedule on the weekend, nobody waiting for dinner or laundry. She was free to be anywhere she pleased until 9am Monday morning when she'd be sitting in her office in her high heels, hair up in a twist, and on time as usual.
She fiddled aimlessly with the radio as she drove, but found only static. She touched "shuffle" on her playlist instead, ready to hear any song in whatever order fate decided.
Bob Segar, "We've Got Tonight" was first on tap. Gina opened the sunroof and sang loudly to the perfect blue sky, "Ohhhh, I know it's late, I know you're weary...."
The trees overhead had grown together into a colorful canopy, shading her path. As her Honda followed the winding road, the brown and gold leaves of early fall swirled on the road behind her. Looking in her rear-view mirror, she let out a loud sigh. Lost.
"We've got tonight, babe, why don't you stay?" She sang.
In a straight section of road ahead, she saw something. A police car was parked just off the right side of the road. Gina slowed as she approached the car that had pulled into the head of an old logging trail. A uniformed officer was standing behind the car smoking a cigarette. He looked up at her car and nodded. She looked at the parked car, which read "Bartow County Sheriff," and felt relieved that she was, in fact, still in Bartow.
Gina drove very slowly as she neared the other car. She looked around for a long moment, and then decided it was safe to stop and ask the deputy for directions out of this maze. She pulled her car to the roadside in front of the sheriff's car, her tires thumping into a deep pothole on the edge of the aged asphalt. She stopped the music and rolled down the passenger window. Leaning in the direction of the officer, she hoped to make eye contact.
She cleared her throat and said, "Excuse me, officer?"
He took a step toward her Honda, stomping his cigarette into the ground and turning his head to the side in an attempt to conceal the smoke he exhaled. He was tall and walked with an air of self-confidence.
"Howdy, ma'am," he said, turning to walk toward Gina's car. "You lost?"
"You asshole," she thought. Of course A MAN would think that, seeing a woman driver out on a lonesome country road. He would think that stupid women drivers get lost. Then she realized ...yeah, she was lost. Damn.
Gina cut the engine and opened her door as he continued to walk toward her car. Just as she stepped out of the car the gusty fall breeze swirled around her, blowing leaves into her long brown hair and lifting her skirt all the way over her head. She struggled with the door and the skirt as her hair whipped in her eyes.
Oh my God, was he close enough to see that? Gina shrieked and pulled the skirt down, then brushed the hair quickly from her eyes to see if he had noticed her predicament.
He had noticed. By the time the gust of wind passed and Gina gained her composure, he was standing two feet in front of her. She looked up and shrugged her shoulders.
He grinned, and then smirked at the flustered Gina. She was beautiful. He guessed she was about 45, although with her hair tousled about her face it was hard to tell. He held out a hand to help support her as she stepped across a pothole and shut her car door, then reached up his hand to brush a leaf from her hair.
"That was quite embarrassing," she said as she turned to the deputy. "My name is Gina. And yes, you guessed it. I am lost," she admitted, shaking his hand.
"Thought so," he replied. "Don't worry about your skirt, there, ma'am. Nobody saw that. I lived around here my whole life, and ain't nobody comes down this road unless they are lost or up to no good. And you don't seem like a trouble maker."
Gina saw a name badge pinned to his shirt. "Stone." He smiled, and she noticed his beautiful white teeth... she thought it must be hard work for a smoker to keep such a lovely smile. He had a slight tan, with curly blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He had neglected to shave that morning, but it suited his rugged country style.
She couldn't help but admire his muscular build. He wore a short-sleeve tan uniform shirt with a black t-shirt underneath. The t-shirt hugged his well-muscled arms, and the hint of a tattoo was visible on his right arm. She felt a bit embarrassed gawking at him. He was probably 15 years her junior.
"Well, Deputy Stone," Gina said, "can you tell a lost soul how to get back to the highway? I'd like to get back to Birmingham sometime today."
"Aw, yeah, you'll make it back today," Stone said. "Give me a few minutes to finish my break and you can just follow me out to the highway."
He motioned for Gina to follow him to his car, where he reached inside for a pack of cigarettes and a couple of bottles of water. He handed Gina a bottle and asked, "Does smoke bother you ma'am?"
