Riding For A Fall
Chapter 9
"It's goin' to be fine. You are goin' to be fine," Beth said aloud to herself as she clutched her phone to her chest and took a deep breath.
On one hand she wished Maggie would answer her calls, or at least answer a text, but on the other hand, she was glad Maggie wasn't answering her. She was a little mad, mostly at herself though because she wasn't sure if she should yell at her big sister, give her a cussing for putting her in this position, or if she should thank her for doing it. She hated to have to admit to herself that she was thankful for what her sister had done, but she was.
Beth smiled to herself then and decided that she would thank her sister later, if everything worked out the way she hoped it would.
Daryl nervously chewed on his lip and stared down at his phone as he waited for Beth to return from the restroom.
He sent a text to Merle asking him just what the hell he had been thinking when he left him and ran off with Beth's sister.
"Thought ya needed a good kick in the ass to make a move," Merle texted back.
"Yeah. Lotta good it did. She went to the restroom and hasn't come back yet," Daryl replied.
He could picture Merle's face when he read that text and he could hear his brother laughing in his head.
When Merle finally replied to his text, his only response was a picture of a window with the words, "I think your girl may have left ya," under it.
Yeah, Daryl was damn sure Merle was laughing his ass off at his expense.
He huffed and dropped his phone down on the table and glanced around the room.
Still no sign of Beth.
Maybe Merle was right and she left him. But what if Merle was wrong and something had happened to her?
Hell, he didn't know if he should be hurt and mad or worried.
Just as Daryl was standing up from the table, he spotted Beth and she was smiling.
He let out a shaky breath and smiled back at her, thankful Merle had been wrong and that there had been nothing to be worried about.
"Have you ordered yet?" Beth asked as she sat down.
"Naw, I's waitin' on you ta get back 'fore I ordered anythin'."
"Then let's order," Beth said, picking up her menu and looking over it for a minute before she looked up at Daryl.
He had his menu open on the table and was staring at it but Beth could tell he wasn't really looking.
He looked as if he were upset.
"Daryl," Beth said as she reached over to tap his arm, "is everythin' alright?"
"Yeah," he grunted but he didn't look up at her.
"Okay," Beth said, closing her menu and folding her hands on the table in front of her. "What's wrong? Are you mad or somethin'?"
He shook his head and looked up at her then. Maybe he wasn't hiding how he felt as well as he thought he was.
"I ain't mad or nothin'. I...uh...it's nothin'."
"No, it's somethin' and you can either tell me now or tell me later but you will tell me what's wrong."
"Damn," he smirked. "You're a lil' bossy, ain't ya."
Beth smiled and shrugged. "I've been told I am bossy but that's mostly been from Maggie or Shawn. So, what's it goin' to be? Now or later?"
He looked away from her and she could see his face turning red.
"I thought ya had gotten tired of me an' decided ta leave me here is all."
She smiled again and reached across the table for his hand.
"I didn't leave. I wouldn't leave you here, unlike two people we know. I'm not that type of girl, Daryl, and to be honest, I'm a bit hurt that you think I would do such a thing. I'm not Maggie or Merle."
Daryl knew she meant what she was saying but she looked so damn cute when she was being serious that he couldn't help but smile at her and rub his thumb over the back of her hand.
Maggie dropped her bag on the table when she stepped inside the motel room then threw herself onto the bed with a sigh and closed her eyes.
Merle chuckled as he watched her and shook his head.
"What?" She asked, raising her head to look at him.
"Nothin'. Jus' didn't know ya was tired."
"Oh, I see. You thought we'd stop at a motel, you'd get a room with a king size bed, and I'd just fall into your arms? What kind of girl do you think I am, Merle?"
He smirked as he started taking of his jacket while stepping closer to the bed. "Tha kind a girl who knew that's what I's thinkin' 'cause she was thinkin' it too."
"Okay, cowboy," she smiled up at him. "Show me what ya got."
Beth giggled as Daryl reached across the table to steal some fries from her plate. "I told you they were good."
He nodded as he stuffed them in his mouth.
"Ya want some a my gumbo?" He asked once he had swallowed the fries.
"No but we may have to get another order of swamp fries and maybe some gumbo to go."
"So," Daryl mumbled after taking a bite of his gumbo. "Do ya want ta get a room here in Lake Charles or keep goin?"
She narrowed her eyes at him and tried to keep herself from smiling. "Are you tryin' to get me alone in a room with a bed?"
Daryl looked up from his food with wide eyes. "I didn't mean...I mean we can...we can get a room with two beds or...or separate rooms. We can keep goin' though. I...I didn't mean nothin' by it."
She smiled. "Daryl, relax. I was kiddin'. I know what you meant. But to answer your question, we have a few more hours before it starts gettin' dark so I say we keep goin' a little ways and then we can stop and get a room. But if you want to, we can stay here."
"We might as well keep goin' like ya said."
Merle rolled over onto his back, closed his eyes and groaned.
"Who's tired now?" Maggie asked with a laugh.
"Who said I's tired?"
"Well," Maggie said, propping herself up on her elbow, "you rolled over instead of goin' for round two."
Merle opened one eye and shook his head.
"Damn, Bo Peep. I ain't tired, jus' need a smoke."
"Oh, all right," she said with a smile as she got out of bed. "You go for that smoke and grab us a bite to eat while you're out."
He sat up and watched her walk around to his side of the bed and start digging through her bag.
"An' where are you goin'?"
"I'm goin' to get a shower and when I get out, there better be food here."
Merle chuckled and slapped her ass as she walked past him.
"I'll go get yer food, if ya call yer sister."
"I don't believe it," Maggie said, putting her clothes on the bathroom counter. "Are you worried she took off and left your brother?"
When Merle didn't reply, Maggie stuck her head out of the bathroom to see Merle pulling on his jeans.
"You really do think she left him, don't you?"
Merle shook his head and buttoned up his shirt.
"Naw, those two got it bad fer each other but if one of 'em was gon' run, it'd be my baby brother. Sometimes that boy jus' don't know how ta hold on ta somethin' good 'cause he thinks he don't deserve it."
Daryl held the door open for Beth as she carried out their to-go order then hurried to the truck to open the door for her.
After she had placed the bags in the seat, she turned to Daryl and smiled.
"You're such a gentleman."
"Naw, jus' didn't want ya ta drop my food," he said seriously.
Beth scoffed and playfully punched his arm then held out her hand.
"Give me my keys and I'll drive."
"Keys? You mean these keys?" Daryl said, jingling the keys.
When Beth reached for the keys, Daryl held them up above her head just out of reach.
"That's not fair," she laughed.
"Well, if ya cain't reach 'em, I guess ya ain't drivin'."
She put her hands on her hips, "Fine. You can drive but I'm drivin' tomorrow."
"Yes ma'am," he grinned and as she climbed into the truck, he shut the door for her.
A/N: I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. And to let y'all know how things are going with the updates, I had originally planned to update a couple of stories every week but things haven't worked out that way so I'm shooting for a couple of updates a month until I can get some of my stories finished.
As always, please review! :)
