Roadside Attraction
Nevah
“I’M ON MY way to you. Other than Cactus Candy, is there anything else you need me to pick up?” I use my knee to control the steering wheel and pull my hair into a ponytail. It’s a gorgeous day and I want to drive with the top down as soon as I’m finished talking to my sister. Wind and phone conversations are not a winning combination.
The body of my 1959 Cadillac Eldorado needs serious TLC, and the interior is worn and dated, but any car lover knows those things can be fixed. It’s what’s under the hood that really counts.
Although, I will say that having AC on a drive through the desert is essential, and the one thing I made sure was in working order. No one likes underboob sweat on a cross-country road trip.
I stroke the steering wheel with real affection. I have big plans for this car, and when I’m done restoring her, she’s going to be gorgeous.
I plan to bring this beauty into the twenty-first century with a top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art sound system, so I don’t have to worry about things like being hands-free and not having access to my favorite road trip playlists. For the time being, my portable speaker will have to suffice.
“I’m so jealous that you’re driving here.” My younger sister’s wistful tone makes me smile.
“Must be hard to travel the world by private jet,” I tease.
My Vegas born and bred sister is married to Griffin Mills, heir to a multi-billion dollar hotel empire. We grew up living a very middle-class existence. Cosy, who is two years my junior, has always been a bit on the nomadic side, traveling as far as her beat-up cars would allow, until she met Griffin and they fell hopelessly in love with each other.
They’re a totally unlikely pair from completely different backgrounds and worlds, but they work. It gives me hope that I’ll find my soulmate one day. Maybe. If I can stop being attracted to the wrong kind of guy.
“I’m not going to complain about comfortable travel, but I miss road trips. We need to take one before Griffin knocks me up.”
“Amen to that, sister. I assume if you’re bringing it up, it means that’s high on his list of priorities.”
“He’s been sending me links to baby name sites. He’s also marked my fertile days on the calendar for the next six months.” I can’t tell if Cosy is amused or irritated by this. Probably the former over the latter.
“You’re not even thirty.”
“Yeah, but he’s closing in on forty and he’d like to be done with teenagers by the time he’s sixty.”
“I can see the validity in that.”
Griffin Mills is a very type A, yet slightly impulsive guy. When he’s in, he’s all in, which is how he is with Cosy. He doesn’t half-ass anything about their relationship. It’s part of the reason I’m driving to Colorado to celebrate her birthday, along with what I’m suspecting will be about two hundred other people. And that’s a conservative estimate.
Cosy loves Colorado and live concerts, and her favorite band just happens to be playing at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre this weekend. What’s even more impressive is that Griffin somehow managed to plan this event far enough in advance (probably before he even proposed to her) and secured the band and the amphitheatre for a private concert—Cosy happens to be unaware of this fact.
I don’t even want to consider how much money he spent on this, or what Cosy is going to say about it when she finds out. Cosy has always been very practical with money and extremely thrifty. Much better at financial management than I’ve ever been.
I’m not proud to admit that for a number of years I dated highly emotionally unavailable men who showered me with gifts and provided me with a shallow, empty, but comfortable existence.
So when my very practical, bargain-shopping, somewhat relationship averse younger sister ended up with a guy almost eleven years older than her with enough money to buy several small countries, I was surprised. I was also appropriately wary due to my own experiences with older, wealthy men, although I did cash in on his desperation a few times when he screwed things up with Cosy in the beginning.
I’ve matured a lot since then.
Okay, I’ve matured a little.
And I’m still working on making better choices with men, hence the reason I’ve spent the better part of the past year on self-improvement. Which also means I’ve been on a lengthy dating hiatus. My lady parts haven’t seen action in so long that I almost feel like a born-again virgin.
I’m equal parts excited and nervous about this party. The Mills family knows how to throw a shindig. There will also be an inordinate number of insanely financially well-endowed dudes there. I’m going to do my best not to fall off the wagon and get involved with one of them. Not even just a fling.
Well . . . maybe a fling wouldn’t hurt. Get back on the bike once to make sure I haven’t forgotten how to ride.
“Anyway, enough about baby names and me getting knocked up. Do you think you’ll be here in time for dinner? We’re planning to have a campout. Griffin even set up the Airstream and there are yurts and everything!” I imagine Cosy bouncing on her toes with excitement.
I’ve seen Griffin’s Airstream. It’s nicer than the apartment Cosy and I used to live in back when she first met him. And close to the same size.
I glance at my phone, which is set in a mount on the dash. “According to the map, I’ll be there in nine hours and seventeen minutes, but that’s based on me driving the actual speed limit, so there’s a good chance I’ll be there
