33. Warped Sense Of Humor

33

WARPED SENSE OF HUMOR

" T his is like walking into an antique store. Oh my God, Van." Kelsey slapped Van's arm. "There's an old truck! I can't believe you've had the key all this time and didn't come here."

"I wanted you to be with me," he said as they stepped into the storage unit.

"I'm glad," she said. "But you've had the key like three weeks. How does someone hold onto it that long and not want to come to look inside here?"

She was running away from him and toward the truck that was in the back. It was old, no doubt, dark blue. There was furniture stacked in places, filing cabinets, and boxes. She didn't know where to go first and then reminded herself that it wasn't her stuff.

She didn't care. She opened the door to the truck and got onto the bench seat.

"This is crazy," he said.

"And you sat on this information. Why?"

"I told you," he said. "I realized I needed you with me. I didn't want to rush and do it at night after work when it was dark out."

"There is a light in here," she complained.

"There is," he said, looking around. The door to get in was outside so though there was a light it wouldn't have been that bright.

He moved over and got in the driver's seat of the truck, forcing her to slide over into the passenger side.

She opened the glove box. "Here are the keys and a note. Please don't wait weeks to open this envelope."

"I'm not," he said. "I'm not doing that anymore. If I find one more envelope that tells me I've got to get more information from someone else I'm going to think my grandfather had a warped sense of humor."

"I think he just wants to make sure you believe his side of things," she said.

He took the envelope out of her hand and opened it. "I see his side. I don't believe he's the monster that I was led to think."

"I'm glad. What does that say?"

"First, your father told me there should be notes attached to most things. Just explaining what they are or what meaning they had."

"Oh," she said. "That is kind of sweet. It gives you a little insight and history into your heritage."

"I guess," he said.

"There is no guessing. It's the truth and you know it."

He squinted one eye at her, then read the note: "Your grandmother loved this truck. I bought it brand new. We used to go on a lot of picnics and sit in the back while we ate and at night we gazed at the stars. I think Lauren was created here."

"Ewww," she said. "I don't want to think of Barry doing that."

"It's life," he said and continued to read. "Your mother played in the back of this truck on the island. We came over on it and found places to park and sit. To look at the water and enjoy our time here. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. I never knew why, but I'm glad I held onto it."

"That's so sweet," she said. "I wonder if it runs."

He took the keys out of her hand and put them in the ignition and turned it. It took a few tries but started up with a puff of black smoke and he shut it off.

"That's going to stink everything up," he said. "I'll see if I can find someone to look it over."

"Bring it to Carter Bond. He could work on it, I'm sure."

"I'd rather do that and not take it off the island if I didn't have to. I won't wait either," he said.

"Good," she said. "It's funny that you won't wait for something like work on a truck but won't open envelopes."

"It's not the same," he said.

They got out of the truck and moved around the storage unit looking at different pieces. Some Van took a note off of and read and put it back. There were so many interesting things and stories and they'd been here for over an hour already. It'd take a lot more time than that to go through everything.

"Do you want me to go get some lunch?" she asked. "We could be in here for a bit."

"We can go together," he said. "Maybe pick up a few sandwiches."

"We can sit in the back of the truck to eat them," she said. "Just like your grandparents did."

"Very cute."

"I wasn't trying to be cute," she said. "I was being sentimental. I know you think everything I do is a joke, but it's not. Now if I said we can get naked and down and dirty back there, that would be a joke. Because, you know, it's dirty back there."

"Okay, why don't you go get us some sandwiches," he said. "I'm going to move some things out of the way to be able to get the truck to the end. Maybe we can take it out for a ride. We won't go far."

"Really?" she asked, almost jumping up and down.

"Sure. If I can get it started again. There are even plates on this damn thing. It's probably still registered too."

"Your lawyer would know that. You didn't see any paperwork on it?"

"Do you know how much paperwork I've got?" he asked. "I don't even know. I either overlooked it or your father has it. I wouldn't put it past the possibility your dad has it since he knew about this locker."

"You're probably right. I had no idea my father could be so secretive. I wonder if my mother knew that."

She got out of the truck and left to get them lunch and came back twenty minutes later.

The truck was pulled out of the unit and it was running.

"So far so good," he said. "It's got a full tank of gas. Why don't we just take it a few miles and park? I'm afraid to shut it off somewhere though to eat in case we can't get it started again."

She hopped into the cab with him and put her seatbelt on. "This could be dangerous. No airbags or anything."

"No power steering. Power anything. Good thing it's not hot out because we'd have to crank the windows down ourselves and I'm not sure you could do it."

She flexed her arm. "I'm strong. I've put up with you for months."

He smiled at her. A real smile that reached his eyes. "You have. Which is why I gave in to taking this for a ride. And when we come back, we can return it inside but keep it on the end and have lunch in the back if you want."

"Thank you, Van," she said. "Good to know I'm rubbing off on you."

"You're rubbing off on me more than you'll ever know."

She turned her head to look at him as they pulled out of the parking lot. "Van, you've come so far. Do you know that?"

"I don't need an atta boy," he said.

"I'm not giving you one. I'm telling you that you've been through so much. And though I think you're slower than molasses on a winter day, you still have come a long way. I'm not sure how I would have felt if I were in your shoes."

"I'm just doing things as they come," he said.

"It's all you can do," she said.

The ride was bumpy and she didn't expect any differently.

Kind of like life in a way.

He pulled over to the side that had parking to overlook the water below.

"There isn't much smoke coming out the back. Do you want to try to eat back there without getting sick?"

"I would," she said. "Let's sit up closer toward the cab if we have to. We can eat fast. At least I'll try to."

They climbed out and sat on the lip of the bed. Each had their subs in their hands and started to eat.

It was cool out for the first Saturday in November, but not so cool that she needed more than her fleece jacket on.

Van only had a flannel shirt open over a T-shirt.

"The silence is killing you, isn't it?"

She let out a little giggle. "Yes. This is romantic, don't you think?"

"I'm not thinking much of it. I'm just happy to know I won't have any more surprises coming my way."

"Please, Van. Life is full of surprises. The minute they stop coming is when the boredom sets in."

"I've had enough excitement to last me a long time."

"I guess that is true for you. Are you ready to start your new career full time?" she asked.

Van had told her that they finally hired his replacement and the person would be starting in a week. He'd spend more time on the hotels and learning the ropes. That also meant meetings with managers and time in Cape Cod.

She didn't have a problem with it. She wouldn't stand in his way.

She'd even offered to help if she could. Not that she felt she had much to offer but would.

"I guess so," he said. "I don't have an office space other than at home. I'm not used to that. Getting up and working there. I'm not going to take up much of your father's time."

"He wouldn't offer it if he didn't want to give it," she said.

"I know that. But he has a lot more going on than just these three hotels. I'm going to have to start meeting with Christian regularly too."

"Bet you're looking forward to that," she said.

"I'm not worried about it," he said, smirking. "I'm the boss. Christian is going to have to understand that. First thing is telling him what is going on."

"He won't be happy, but that isn't your problem."

"No, it's not. Just like he was pissed off that I went over his head and got the names of the guests that complained of the noise that night and comped them some of their room back. I made sure Carl was put on a final notice and don't give a shit if he loses his job. Sometimes people need to be made an example of. I don't buy his reason for not being around when called."

"Some people goof off on night shifts," she said.

"They do," he said. "I know."

"I'm sure you never did."

"No," he said. "But as we know, not everyone is like me."

"Good thing for that," she said. "I couldn't handle more than one guy at a time and I wouldn't let anyone else have someone like you."

"As I said before, no one has thought of me as a keeper other than you."

"And as I've said, that is a good thing."

She put the last bite of her sandwich in her mouth. "Are you ready?" he asked.

"I am. We shouldn't test it any more than we have and get this baby back. Actually," she said, "why don't we bring it back to your place? I'll follow you just in case."

He thought for a second. "I'd like that."