When we got to our room Joe asked if I was going to come to the show. I said no, I needed some rest and quiet. He kissed me goodbye and said he'd be back right after their set. I smiled weakly and nodded. I sat there for hours, watching the sun set and the moon rise.
By the time they must have been getting ready to go on stage I'd realized what I needed to do. I took a piece of hotel stationary and wrote everything down in a note. I apologized for leaving like this, but I wouldn't have been able to walk away with him standing in front of me. Our attraction was animalistic and our connection powerful.
But as I thought about what to say to Joe to make him understand, I realized "we" were never the problem. I was. In my haste to run towards something good I'd fled from everything real, and that's no way to start a relationship, let alone the next stage in my life.
I'd felt so left behind when everyone else went off to college or new jobs and I was stuck in the same old neighborhood working at the same old diner. But they hadn't run, they'd moved on. And it was time for me to do the same. I didn't have any idea how or if Joe could be a part of that, but I had to do it, either way. He owned my heart, but I couldn’t let him run my life. That would only lead to the resentment I'd never even known was building, and a loss of the magical spark between us.
I made three phone calls and then left the hotel. A taxi took me to the bus station and I waited with a bunch of very tired people. When we boarded the bus I smiled, enjoying the familiar arrangement of seats and lack of loud televisions or boisterous band members.
As we headed north I saw the club Joe's band was playing. The parking lot was full and I thought I could just hear the screaming fans and driving sounds of their music. I knew whatever happened in the future, I would figure out what I wanted to do, who I wanted to be, and Joe would be a part of that in my heart, if not in my life.
~*~
Kelly picked me up at the bus station the next morning and drove me home. I plopped down on my bed and plugged my phone in. It rang seconds later. I didn't recognize the number so I answered.
"Hello?"
There was no one there, but I could hear the open line.
"Uh…hello?"
Finally I heard the sound of a guitar. It strummed softly and then louder, what started as a plaintive melody growing to a frenzied wail. Tears pricked the corner of my eyes. I guess there were some things Joe couldn't find the way to say either.
But as the music faded his voice rang through clearly. "I'm not mad. I get why you had to go without saying goodbye. But I promise you, we're just beginning, Liss. Just you wait and see."
I cried and hung up and smiled.
Thank you so much for reading
Rocked On the Road
. Liss and Joe's adventures are far from over. If you want to be one of the first to read the next book, please go to my website,
www.clarabayard.com
, and enter your email address to get the announcement.
Also, I love hearing from readers to feel free to send me an email at
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and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.
- Clara