Ric, slouched in the driver's seat of the old truck, eyelids drooping with fatigue, glanced over at his wife, Tori, who was curled up into a ball and snoring quietly in the passenger seat beside him. As tired as he was, he almost missed the faded wooden sign with the address he had been driving up and down Westbun Road looking for.
Swearing to never leave his beloved GPS device behind again, he tried not to brake too sharply as he first reversed and then turned onto the bumpy dirt road, which was partially hidden some wildly unkempt bushes (
ha-hah, phrasing
). Shifting down into first gear, he debated waking Tori as he once more glanced over at her, the rocky path gently jostling and rocking them on the worn suspension of the old car. Still she slept.
He debated whether to wake her, now that they were within eyeshot of their destination.
Ehh, not yet
he decided, after a moment of internal conference. Tori was wearing a pair of jeans Ric had bought her a year ago that had originally been a size or two too large, but that now fit her voluptuous body like a second skin. She was also wearing an old, worn, slightly oversized white-grey-red flannel work shirt that had belonged to teenage Ric before his wife had snuck it into her own closet. It looked better on her, anyways.
She looked so peaceful, and she was almost always the one waking up early, that he didn't want to wake her until he absolutely had to.
Lush greenery surrounded them in every direction, and Ric felt somehow overwhelmed by the depth of the color, blinking a few times as his city eyes adjusted to the country. He found himself distracted from the picturesque, idyllic scenery - the warm, orange-red glow of the evening sun slowly starting to sink below the humble hills beside them, all while a soft, warm breeze combed across the land like the tips of fingers through a lush head of hair - by the now-painful need to piss. He saw the wooden cabin in the distance ahead, the custom-built vacation home of his brother-in-law, Greg, but after quickly running the numbers, he decided he needed to go and he needed to go now. Stopping the truck in the middle of the driveway, and careful not to wake Tori, he quietly slipped out of the cab and quickly paced over to the side of the road, listening to the leaves and pebbles crunch underfoot, happy to stretch his legs and regain sensation in his ass as he sighed and took care of business.
Slipped back into the truck with a quiet sigh of satisfaction, finally willing to open himself to the beauty of the scenery and appreciate the moment. They finished their approach up the overly long driveway, and he gave a low whistle. James, the beer-swilling, barrel-chested brother-in-law that he sort of got along with, had actually built the cabin a few years back and had
generously
offered them the place after Ric had invited him and his girlfriend over for dinner. Initially, and on general principle, Ric had been wary of the offer, and it wasn't until James finally admitted, after a bit of prodding, that he had been
hoping
Ric could save him a trip to the distant property by doing some clean up and landscaping while visiting.
After talking to Tori, they had decided to take him up on his offer. They hadn't had a vacation since their honeymoon.
Ric sped up a little as they got closer to the house and the dirt road smoothed out and they crunched over layers and generations of dead leaves. He was shaking Tori's arm, happy news on his lips, when the front-left side of the truck distinctly rose up before falling into the ground. This was accompanied by the distinct sound of crunching metal and what sounded like breaking glass as he jammed on the brakes what seemed like a moment too late, his eyes as wide as dinner plates behind his glasses.
"Well shit," he stated in a conversational tone, mostly to himself. He was too worn-out to be more than dully concerned as he turned off the engine. Tori was blinking the sleep out of her eyes as Ric stepped out to inspect the damage with a sigh of resignation.
"What was that? What happened?" she called out, yawning and stretching inside the cramped cab of the truck, thrusting out her spectacular breasts as she curled backwards, palms pressed against the roof, every muscle straining and tensing for a moment.
"Umm, well, not to alarm you dear, but long story short we broke your brother's truck," he replied, crouching down to inspect the front wheel of the truck.
"
Really
?!" she exclaimed, bolting upright, instantly awake and horrified.
"Nah, not really. I just didn't see this stupid fire-pit that was filled with empty beer cans and a bottle or three and drove into it. The truck's fine. . . I think," he answered, his accompanying grin having everything to do with her reaction.
"You asshole," she said, putting a hand to her chest as she relaxed back into the well-worn seat, uncomfortably aware of how hard her heart was drumming in her chest.
"On the plus side dear, we're here," he proclaimed, slipping back into the driver's seat, re-starting the engine and putting the truck in reverse.
"Yeah. . . we are. What happened? You were supposed to wake me up so I could drive," she said, throwing off the last dregs of sleep with a final little yawn.
"I was going to. . . but then I didn't," Ric explained as he half-turned around, slipping his hand behind the head of her chair as he looked out the rear window, the front of the truck rising into the air momentarily as he reversed out of the fire-pit pothole.
"Why not?"
"Well you looked really cute snoring and drooling on yourself, and I honestly didn't mind finishing the drive."
"I didn't drool!" she exclaimed, reflexively.
Ric just gave her a look.
"I didn't! Look, there's no drool stain!" she insisted indignantly, pointing to and rubbing the shoulder and sleeve of her shirt, searching for the stain even as she insisted it wasn't there.
"Yeah, thanks to the napkins I grabbed at Subway, and your body running out of, like, liquids," he said, trying to keep a straight face as he finished driving them next to the cabin.
"What?!" she squawked.
He pulled the truck up beside the cabin and turned to her with a Cheshire grin.
She hit him in the arm.
"Ass," she grumbled.