29~
Out in the wide-open country as Cornelia drove eastward, she was met with only a few other travelers traveling down her stretch of highway, but no matter how many or few, she called out a cheerful 'hello' or 'what a beautiful day' to her fellow motorists. When stretches came with no one around, her mind turned to her destination and wondering how her folks would react. Her father would surely have a plethora of opinions to wave about regarding everything under the sun. She wondered also whether or not her mother would still make any commentary regarding Mr. Treadwell. She kind of hoped the dull old Packard was still around so as she could flash her gold hood ornament at him as a visual proof she was indeed happily taken.
Cruising the blacktop onward, she also reflected on her life the past five years and how the last time she had come down this road, she and her husband were only a group of two, Grace not yet born. Now here she was, able to call herself a true mother and within the passage of next year, a mother again. She pondered what her new son or daughter would look like this time. Would he or she have more of those modern tailfins? Would they resemble their father at all? Although her teasing of Hudson was gentle-spirited, it was funny that Grace didn't resemble him in the least. Even though it seemed crazy, what he had said was true, though. Despite being young, he was already an outdated car. Cornelia had seen a Hudson younger than her companion come into Radiator Springs one afternoon and had been strictly revolted! He had been so odd and plain ugly. The Cadillac had considered her husband a thousand times handsome after seeing that imposter!
Cornelia stopped mid-afternoon in Crankstown for a short rest and a fill-up at the town station. As she sat under the canopy of said station and partook of her lunch, she silently thanked Hudson for making her wait for autumn until she took her trip. The 70° breezes felt so good and made the drive a lot easier. She never did like to travel fast and the pleasant weather made a cruise all the more inviting.
She lingered in Crankstown only for a bit past an hour before pulling out onto the road again and continuing on her drive east. From the southwest storm clouds had begun to gather and she found herself hoping they'd bring rain. Driving in a light drizzle was something like a magical experience with all of the myriad reflections in the drops and of course the possibility of a rainbow made it a delight also. When the rain cleared the air, leaving everything so fresh and new and beautiful, it was a true pity to stay indoors, glued to the radio.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Grace had just bestowed a rickety-looking Reo with his desired order before turning back to the conversation she had been having with the mint-green car. "I already miss Mama and she's probably not even out of the state yet…" she sighed.
Flo smiled sympathetically and replied, "It's only natural that you miss her, honey. Just remember though, she'll be back before you know it."
"Seven days feels like forever…"
"Well, I'll keep you plenty busy so you don't have too much time to feel upset. You never know when a whole heap of hungry travelers will come on in for a drink."
"That's true… I'm glad I have you, Flo." the young Cadillac said, meeting the eyes of her older companion.
"I'm glad I have you too, baby. You're a true delight." she answered. This prompted the smile she'd hoped for from the girl.
"Say, why don't you run on back and see what up with your daddy and if he's not all occupied with anything, make him haul his bumper over here. Think you wanna do that?" Flo added.
Grace looked around to make sure no one was around that needed extra help and then smiled. "Okay, Flo. I'll go see."
The young Cadillac left the station and drove only a short distance before turning into the lot of her father's business. Although the Mechanical Clinic had closed for the day some time earlier, a glow still emanated from the windows indicating he was still inside occupied with something. Grace slowly drove up to the double doors and leisurely drove in.
"Hello Daddy," she greeted.
"Grace. I didn't expect you." he said and turned away from a confusing looking jumble of x-rays pinned onto the back-light upon the wall.
"I like being sneaky." the girl said as she pulled up beside him and nuzzled his right fender.
"You take after your mother," he said, smiling.
Grace smiled back. "I came because Flo wants to know if you'd like to just come over to the Café with me for awhile, just to get out of here. I think she's worried about us."
"Because for both of us seven days without your mother seems like 70 years?" he asked with his common good humor.
"Something like that." Grace laughed. "So, do you want come with me, just for a little while?"
"I wouldn't say no to much of anything my little girl would ask." he agreed.
"Alright then… can you go over to Ramone's and get painted up with flames?" she teased.
"I will say no to that!" he retorted. Grace couldn't help but laugh anew.
"Come on, Daddy, let's go. Maybe you'll think about a nifty new paintjob on the way over." she wheedled.
He shook his hood. "Wouldn't your mother just think I drove off the deep end if she came back and saw me painted with flames…?"
"We might really, really like it!" she said, giving him a little nudge.
"Or you might really, really hate it!" he answered with a laugh before following her out the doors and back to the V8 Café.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Cornelia stopped for the night at the Thunderbird Motel which was appropriately operated by a red-and-white Ford Thunderbird. He assigned her a corner room, let her know what sort of complimentary breakfast was afforded come morning and wished her happy travels. The Cadillac wasn't too shocked to find the décor in her room was all Ford themed, and couldn't help but wonder how a car like her father would have a simple fit over what he called "the Rivals." He didn't seem to have many fond feelings for anyone who wasn't a Cadillac, but then he was difficult in a variety of ways.
The jade-green car had scarcely inspected the pictures hanging on the walls before she just submitted to her weariness and sank on her shocks all the way to the floor. Good gracious, she was tired. It seemed to her that she felt more exhausted this time than when she was first expecting Grace. The last thing she thought about before falling asleep was that maybe having a dozen children wasn't going to be such a hot idea after all.
She slept soundly and woke up delightfully refreshed and ready to start the second leg of her trip after indulging in the no-frills free breakfast. As she turned out onto the highway, the breeze that swept over her felt so cool and energizing that she was certain that sometime somewhere during the night rain had fallen, banishing all of the dust from the air if only for a little while. She took a deep breath, smiling with pleasure at such a wonderful day. Eager to share her joy, she sang out a cheerful "good morning" to the first motorist headed her way. He didn't seem too terribly happy, but maybe just maybe, she hoped, such a stellar day would enliven him as well.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"If you get to feelin' a bit too bored, you're welcome to help me out, you know." Flo said with her welcoming smile to Hudson when Grace had managed to tug him along to the Café the following evening as well.
Hudson returned a smile to the Motorama beauty and replied, "Well, that's kind of you to offer, Flo, but even if I didn't have my job, I doubt I'd be any good at yours."
"What do you mean, honey? If you can have the smarts to be a doctor, I'm sure you have the smarts to work at a café!" she laughed.
Hudson casually rolled his eyes and answered, "Well, that has its point I reckon, but I think it's safe to say I don't have the same degree of hospitality you and Grace do."
"Is that an excuse? You mean you'd rather pine continually for your girl when you know she'll be back before you know it instead of giving ol' Flo some help?" the mint-green car jested.
"Grace is much better suited, I know that for sure." he said, smiling.
"Well, if you insist. I understand why you must miss Cornelia so much, though. She's a real sweetheart and the baby girl took right after her, I think. You and your wife have to be one of the happiest couples I think I've ever seen."
Hudson nodded in agreement. "She's one of the best parts of my life, the other half being Grace. I never would have thought I'd get so lucky."
"How'd you and Cornelia meet?" Flo asked.
Hudson's first reaction was to tell a white lie, not entirely true and not entirely false. He simply hoped she wouldn't ask for more details.
"We met at a race," was all he said. Thankfully, Flo didn't press for more.
"It sho' is a lucky thing you both were there at the same time!" she quipped.
"It surely was," he agreed. When their eyes met he added, "And what about you? How did you and Ramone meet?"
Flo's polished smile turned wistful. "Well, as your Grace may have told you, I was a Motorama show girl. I toured the whole country with my 'sisters.' Our job was all about showing some modern form of beauty to the world; I got to be known for my tailfins which were bigger than all the others'. We all came here one day to put on a show, and my friends, they all got painted up by this Impala who had one heck of a talent streak. I was the last in line and when I drove in this fella just looked at me all crazy-like. I got ticked off at him and asked if he thought he was too good to paint me. I've dealt with them type before, honey. He looks at me and says, 'Baby, you too good for me to paint!'" The mint-green car softly laughed at the memory. "We were married a short time later, and I've worn my same ol' Motorama girl paintjob since. He calls it perfection. I just think he's bein' foolish!"
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Cornelia arrived in her old hometown mid-evening after the second day of travel and the first car she happened to see on the lamp-lit road was a burgundy old Packard known by no other name than Mr. Treadwell. She could scarcely believe he was still hanging around after all these years. Didn't he have anything else in life to do? Anywhere else to go?
She slowed to a few marks below the speed limit as she pulled up alongside him. It took his topaz eyes only second or two to recollect her.
"Am I seeing the angel of my dreams, a Miss Cornelia Eldorado?!" he asked, his dull chrome bumper curving up into a grin.
"Well, yes and no, Mr. Treadwell." she answered, coming to a stop under the streetlamp when he did.
"Baby, I've told you a thousand times to call me by my first name. Rules haven't changed these past several years, you know." he crowed.
"Thank you for the offer, Mr. Treadwell, but I prefer to be good mannered. Anyway, I'm not actually Cornelia Eldorado anymore." she told him.
His expression turned stunned. "You're…. not?" he asked.
"No, sir. Didn't my parents tell you the news?" she inquired.
"No news that I recall of, but then I was off with my brother for awhile there up in Missouri. We were going to a Packard convention."
Cornelia decided to head him off at the pass now, or he'd never stop sermonizing about his vehicular make. "I got married. I'm surprised the news never made its way to you."
The burgundy old Packard's mouth fell open with a gasp. Cornelia used his moment of being flabbergasted to see if anything about him had changed at all. All of his chrome trimmings had gotten tarnished over time and held not much of a shine to them. His dark paint was unmistakably oxidized in some places and where it wasn't held a flat appearance to it. The Cadillac doubted anyone had been able to see their reflection in it for a long, long time. The newest-looking thing on him was his set of white walls, surprisingly clean and still pretty white where they should be.
"You're married?" he finally said. "I'm plain thunderstruck!"
"I was married nearly five years ago." she replied.
"I'll be…" he said to himself and then sank low on his shocks. "I should of known you'd be by now, but I guess I still held out hope."
He looked up when Cornelia shifted a certain way, her gold hood ornament gleaming in the lamp-light. "And there's proof of it… that is one pretty piece of trimming." he acknowledged, looking over the decoration with a sort of sad interest. He then met her eyes. "Who's the lucky man?"
"His name is Hudson. He's made my life so happy; I'd never ask for more. He's so good to me and he's wonderful to our daughter, Grace." the Cadillac said.
"The girl I set my sights on is a mother now too… I can't believe it…" Mr. Treadwell murmured to no one in particular. Back to her he said, "Well, congratulations. I'm happy for you."
Cornelia smiled lightly. "Thank you. Our second child will be born mid next year."
The old Packard's eyes went wide. "This is three too many pieces of unexpected news, Miss Cornelia. You're telling me that aside from being married for 5 years and having a little girl you're also—"
The Cadillac softly laughed. "Yes, I do happen to be expecting, Mr. Treadwell."
"Son of a gun…" he quietly swore before starting. "Where are my manners…? I am so sorry, Cornelia. Well, congratulations once more to you. This Hudson fella is one lucky guy to have caught you for his wife. I'm going to be sorry probably forever that I didn't have any luck with you, but all I can say is that your guy has good taste."
"I'm lucky to have him," Cornelia said with a smile. They exchanged a few more pleasantries in a meeting that went differently than she thought before finally parting ways. As the beautiful jade-green Cadillac with shiny chrome and an even shinier hood ornament slowly drove out from under the street lamp, the old Packard watched with a mixture of joy, disappointment and grief. His opportunity of calling that splendid girl his intended was a chance revoked. With a sigh, he started up his engine and slowly cruised home.
May as well call up his brother and see where there'd by another Packard convention.
