Chapter Thirteen



Brady groaned loudly and shifted uncomfortably in the back of Bart's truck. He, Nicole, Richard, Cassie, Lucas, Sami, Rex and Mimi had all been stuck in the back of the truck with their motorcycles for the past three days. Cassie had found Bart and he had promised to sneak them down to Canada in his truck.

"I can't believe I've been stuck in a truck for the last three days." Brady grumbled, "I can't wait to get out of this truck for good."

"We have not been in the back of the truck the whole time. Bart lets us out to go to the bathroom and take showers and everything. But you're right, I feel like a caged animal in here." Mimi spoke up, pulling her sweater closer to her body. On top of being a little bit dirty and smelling like motorcycle oil, the truck was really cold.

Richard and Cassie ignored Brady and Mimi's whining and continued talking quietly to each other. Richard finished explaining everything that had happened back in his hometown with Justin. Once he stopped talking, he waited for Cassie to reply. She hadn't spoken the entire time he had been telling her the story.

"I don't know what to say." Cassie shook her head in amazement, "I knew you that some weird things happened to you before but I had no idea that you went this far."

"I made a lot of mistakes." Richard admitted, looking at the ground, "That's why I had to leave. I was afraid of spending all that time in prison when I wasn't even the one who killed that woman. Officer Mayweather seemed to want to believe I did it. She's always hated me."

"Everyone makes mistakes. I've made plenty of my own. Did I ever tell you how I got put in jail for prostitution once?" Cassie asked him and his eyes widened.

"Wow, that was unexpected." Richard said finally, "Were you really-"

"Of course not. I was sick of being rejected by this guy named Shawn so I did something really stupid. The next thing I knew, I was behind bars." Cassie rolled her eyes, "My own biological father put me in jail for a crime I didn't commit. It was pretty messed up."

"So you don't hate me?" Richard questioned her nervously.

"No." Cassie whispered, looking up at him hopefully, "Richard, back in Salem with Officer Mayweather, you said I was your girlfriend. I know we never made any commitments to each other but did you mean that?"

Richard nodded, "I tried getting serious about one other girl before. Her name was Lisa. But it didn't work because I know I never really loved her. After everything my parents put me through, I thought I wasn't able to love anyone. Then we became friends and you changed that. I ended up falling in love with you but I didn't know how to tell you because I didn't know how you would react to all the horrible things I had done. But I think we can work past that and I do want to be with you."

Cassie smiled, "I have waited so long to hear you say that. I guess this means we're together now."

Richard wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "Yeah. I just hope that we don't ever have another run-in with Officer Mayweather again."

Cassie suddenly began laughing and everyone in the back of the truck turned to look at her, "What's so funny?" Richard demanded.

"I just remembered." Cassie said through her laughter, "That policewoman called you Goldilocks. Goldilocks." she began laughing even harder and soon everyone in the truck was laughing, with the exception of Richard.

"There has to be some reason she calls you that." Lucas remarked after he had stopped laughing, "What happened between you and that woman, Richard?"

Richard scowled, "Absolutely nothing. Remember how I told you that I always ended up getting what I wanted. Well, there was one time when I didn't. I tried to seduce Officer Mayweather and then she...... slammed her car door into my face.

Sami, Nicole and Cassie were laughing so hard they were practically in tears, "You tried to have sex with a cop? Why?" Nicole asked incredulously, "Was she that attractive?"

"No, she wasn't." Richard glared at Nicole, "I didn't want her for that reason. I just thought if I slept with her, maybe she would leave me alone."

"What planet are you from?" Sami was giggling hysterically, "You think that having sex with someone is going to get them to leave you alone? Didn't your mother teach you how to treat women properly?"

"My mother walked out on me and my dad when I was a little kid." Richard said and everyone quieted down, "I don't remember her that well but I sort of remember what she looked like. That's why I sort of picked a fight with your mom, Cassie. Because she reminded me so much of my mom."

"Maybe she is your mom." Sami suggested, "Kate Roberts already has more children than she knows what to do with. One more certainly wouldn't hurt her."

"Sami," Lucas growled, "There's a punishment for insulting my mom." he leaned over and kissed her firmly on the lips. When they pulled apart, Sami smiled up at him.

"Remind me to insult your mom more often." Sami told him.

Cassie covered her face in her hands, "Kate had better not be his mother. I do not want to go through that again!"

"Go through what again?" Brady asked and Cassie looked away, her face quickly turning red. Rex and Mimi avoided looking at each other, Richard was smirking at Cassie and Lucas was giving Cassie dirty looks for what she had just said.

"Is someone going to fill us in on what Cassie meant by that?" Nicole demanded, looking around at everyone. The only ones who seemed confused besides her were Sami and Brady.

"We shouldn't keep secrets from each other." Richard mockingly chided Cassie, then looked over at Sami and Nicole, "Lucas and Cassie were in a bed at a hotel, completely undressed and were about ready to start going at it when Rex and Mimi walked in and stopped them. Right after that, Cassie found out he was her half-brother."

Lucas squirmed uncomfortably as Sami and Nicole started laughing again. Brady just looked disgusted, "No wonder you looked so grossed out when I told you Cassie and Rex were your mom's kids. I knew there had to be something you weren't telling me." Sami laughed.

Lucas glowered at Richard, "Since we aren't keeping secrets here, you all should know that Richard video-tapes himself having sex with girls."

"That's not all." Cassie was also glaring at Richard, "He was in love....... with a guy!"

"I was not!" Richard shot back, "I explained that he was just a really good friend and I only kept him away from Lisa because he was too good for her. Besides, I have so much shit I could say about you, so you had better be quiet." he turned to Lucas, "Both of you."

"Let's change the subject now." Mimi spoke up, "So, Lucas and Sami are eloping. Where do you think they should go when they get married?"

"We should go across the Capillano Suspension Bridge in Vancouver again." Richard said, grinning wickedly at Cassie.

Cassie groaned, "Oh, God, not again. The last time we walked across that thing, Lucas and Richard were making the bridge shake and they scared half of the people on the bridge to death."

Nicole raised an eyebrow, "Richard and Lucas were making the bridge shake? Wow, Cassie told us Richard was in love with a guy but I never imagined it would be Lucas or that Lucas would return his feelings. But why did you have to 'make the bridge shake' in public? No wonder you were scaring everyone."

Mimi bit her lip to keep from laughing, "Oh, man, that's enough to put some really bad pictures in your head."

"Nicole, that was wrong." Lucas looked at her in disgust, "How you can even suggest something like that is beyond me. You must have a very dirty mind."

"Actually, I was kind of thinking the same thing when Cassie said that." Rex told them.

Cassie sighed in exasperation, "I didn't mean it like that. I meant that they were shaking the bridge, that's all."

"And how were they making the bridge shake?" Brady inquired, smirking at Lucas and Richard, who still looked sickened by Nicole's insinuations.

"We got around the middle of the bridge and they started moving back and forth, you know, making it move." Cassie explained, "They were being jerks. Nina had just told us she was afraid of heights and once they started making it shake, she started screaming and nearly gave me hearing damage."

"I still can't believe you guys just left Nina and Jason and everyone else in the motorcycle gang back in Salem." Nicole said.

"They'll live." Richard replied, "Besides, having Carla and Jason around all the time wouldn't work out so well for you two sets of lovebirds, now would it?" he nodded at Brady and Nicole and Lucas and Sami.

Everyone eventually lapsed into silence. Lucas and Sami were curled up in one corner of the truck, oblivious to anyone else in the truck. Lucas ran his fingers through her long blonde hair in an almost dream-like state. He still couldn't believe that they had come so far and that they were here together. She let out a shaky sigh when he then ran his fingers down the curve of her left breast. She squeezed his hand and looked up at him happily.

"I wonder what Will is doing right now." she whispered.

"I hope he's as happy as we are." Lucas responded, "Once we get married, we'll send him a letter and some pictures. He's going to be so excited when he finds out."

"Why don't we wait until we see him again to tell him we're married?" Sami suggested, "Then we'll spend the entire summer with him as a family." she smiled after she said that and buried her head deeper into Lucas' chest, "Just the three of us."

Lucas rested his chin on the top of Sami's head and tightened his grip around her waist, "There's nothing that could make me happier." he told her.

As Bart continued to drive them further away from Salem and closer to Vancouver, Lucas wondered what was in store for himself and Sami in Canada. All he knew was that as long as she was there, there was nothing ahead of them that could possibly be less than perfection.