97 - Long Drive

*Be prepared for a range of emotions, everything from anger to depression. I’m sending you a couple of places near you that have equine therapy. They need to have a neutral place to express themselves. And Camille, I’m here if you need me. But call your mom, she’s raised kids, I’ve rescued the lost. - Carly*

The drive up to Hot Springs was tense. Frequently they were quiet, lost in their own thoughts. Camille drove the first half of the way up.

Stopping in Shreveport to get gas and drinks, a bathroom break and for them all to stretch as they each took a turn walking Tink in the small grassy area designated for dogs. When Camille came back out, Darkness was in the driver’s seat and Tink had settled into his bed on the backseat.

“You good to drive?” She asked as she slid into the passenger seat.

He gave a solemn nod. “Not that I don’t appreciate you driving so far and shaving nearly thirty minutes off the estimated arrival time,” he chuckled at her guilty grin, “but I need to drive. I need something to do.”

The engine started and Camille pulled the GPS system back up. Scrolling through the saved addresses, she clicked on Jasper’s address and started the directions program. After pulling out of the gas station, Darkness reached over and grabbed her hand. She linked their fingers together and gave his hand a light squeeze, letting him know that she was there with him.

“It really means a lot that you’ve handled this, as much as you have, and let me flounder…”

“Amos,” she lifted their hands and kissed his knuckles, “you’re grieving. It’s something that you’re allowed to do. Something that you need to do.”

“How did you get so smart?”

She chuckled and shook her head. “I’ve been in therapy since I was nine because the doctors wanted to make sure that my insomnia wasn’t based in some emotional turmoil. And I volunteered at North Star since I was thirteen.”

“Y’all talk about North Star all the time, what is it?”

“It’s a ranch out by the Shack, and yes, I know, none of you down here expect that we have ranches up in Mass. We do. Not like the sprawling ones over in Texas, but we do have a few.”

He chuckled at her. “I have to admit, I was not expecting to find a clubhouse sitting in the middle of farmland in Massachusetts. Or that half your club were farmers of some sort.”

“Yeah, or that so many of them go to therapy?” she smirked as she tucked her foot up under her other leg and turned slightly in the seat to face him a little more.

“Oh, no,” he shot her a quick snarky smile before returning his attention to the road. “I figured all Yankees were soft, bleeding heart, liberals.”

She tipped her head back and laughed. “Trust me, there’s plenty of those. But Carly has a way of getting the guys to agree to get them to come out to group therapy.”

“What’s her secret?”

“She says it’s the coffee and sweets that she always has at the meetings. But it’s also that the veterans’ group does more than just sit in a circle and talk about their feelings.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you go to the Navy?”

He shrugged, “I guess I wanted to help people. Serve my country. Get away from here and see the world.”

“But the first thing that you listed was help people,” she smiled, and he nodded. “First Saturdays of every month, they do volunteer work. Some of the guys are paired with troubled youth as mentors. At least once a year, they build a house with Habitat for Humanity. They also work with Afghani immigrants and asylum seekers.”

He sat silent for a moment as he thought about what she said.

“I volunteer with the local S N R group,” he said quietly.

She nodded. “Like that. Carly says that most veterans want to help, that’s why they joined up. When they get back, they still have the drive, but no one to steer them.”

“So, who’s Carly?”

Chuckling, she released his hand and grabbed her drink and twisted off the lid. “She owns North Star. Although it’s a working ranch, it’s also a therapy clinic. You remember Michelle?”

“Athos’ girl?” he asked as he also grabbed his drink.

“Yup, she was there for about a year as she recovered from anorexia and some other issues. Long story; won’t go into details; they’re not mine to tell,” Camille explained. “Anyway, after Jasper called us and asked that we take custody, I started having calls with Carly.”

“Why?”

She shrugged, “I’m nineteen years old and being asked to raise three teenagers. Ones that have lost their parents and are being thrown in to be raised by a near stranger and their uncle who they rarely ever saw. I thought that a little guidance would be a good thing to have.”

They rode in silence for a while as they approached the state line just under an hour later. He kept their hands linked except for when he would get a drink or needed both of his hands to drive. They crossed into Arkansas and continued North towards Hot Springs.

“Darkness?”

“Yes, *ma belle*?”

“Is there something wrong?” Camille asked quietly. “Did I say something wrong?”

He lifted their hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “No, ma belle. I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“How lucky I am to have you with me.”

Pulling over into the rest stop just inside the state, he parked and looked at her. Leaning over, he grasped the back of her neck and pulled her towards him for a gentle kiss. Lightly, he praised her lips with his before ending the kiss and resting his forehead against hers.

“My brother called and asked me to take his children in the event of the unthinkable. I thought about taking them to LSU games, maybe going to NOLA for a Saints or maybe a Pelicans game. I was thinking about the fun things that we would do, just like whenever they came to visit.”

His large dark hand caressed her cheek and brushed away a stray tear.

“But you, my beautiful light, you worried about them in the long term. What you would need to do to help them grieve. To continue to grow and become thriving adults. I could not do this without you.”

Words echoed from the past as he heard a soft, sad voice with a Scottish lilt warn him, “If yeh search for her now, she won’t come to yeh. And yeh’ll need her more later.”

Darkness shifted and kissed her again before moving away. “Camille, I love you. I think you need to drive the rest of the way.”

“Are you okay?” she asked as her eyes tracked over his face.

“I am. But I think you can get there faster than I can,” he grinned at her.

She gave a small laugh as she smiled at him, “That’s because I speed.”

“Get over here and speed, we still have a little over two hours.”

“Bish… I hear a challenge.”

Within a few minutes, they were back on the road and Camille was speeding down Interstate Highway 30. Twice she blazed past Arkansas Highway Patrol officers that never even looked at her.

“I don’t get it, they don’t seem to even pay attention to you,” Darkness shook his head.

She laughed. “Priscilla and I are both contracted with the local newspaper and we’re members of the Boston Press Association. My license plates, when they get ran, pull up my press credentials also.”

“How did you get that?”

“Sheer stupid ass dumb luck,” she admitted. “We were the only ones that were able to get an interview with Evie when she got shot. We told the owner of the newspaper that we wanted per diem contracts and press association sponsorships. We had the story that he wanted.”

“Evie got to control the narrative, and you got a boost for your business,” he grinned.

“Exactly,” she agreed as they crossed into Hot Springs nearly thirty minutes earlier than expected.

The last time that they had been here, it had not ended well. This visit would not end well either. As she pulled into the turn lane leading to the little neighborhood on the lake, the screen of her radio shows an incoming call from Chris Not Critter.

As soon as she clicked the answer button, the Jeep was filled with her brother’s voice. “Holy fuck it’s humid down here.”

Laughing, she asked him, “Where are you?”

“Hot, and damn, do I ever mean hot, Springs Memorial Field Airport. Memorial for what? Cooler weather?”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Mom said you needed help, so we’re here.”

“We who?” she laughed.

“Me, obviously, Tats, Whip, Bam Bam, Duke and Giggles.”