#JusticeForRena
Rated: TV-MA.
Quick side note: The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this story are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), events, locations, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.
The usual two-hour drive to Dave's cabin near the Little Creek Reservoir turned into a 5 hour's drive, but the trip was as uneventful as it could be. With an irritated baby, a persnickety 84-year-old woman, a gaggle of teenagers, and a 60lb dog. "Don't come back for 20 minutes," Erin called out the window as her children crossed the parking lot and headed towards the restroom and vending machines.
"Next time we go somewhere," Dave's hand covered Erin's thigh when they pulled into a rest stop off the highway. They were taking shifts leaving the car and Dave was gracious enough to tell his mother and the kids to go first. If only because he wanted thirty seconds alone with his woman. "We're gonna be half naked, alone, on the beach."
"I hate the beach," Erin tangled her fingers with his. It might have been his ego that messed with his hearing, but he thought her voice dropped an octave, growing warm and sensual. Her nimble fingers trailed up his leg. "But I'm glad we're doing this."
"Me too." They needed this, a deliberate vacation, to clear their heads. "The beach isn't my favorite destination either." Dave wrinkled his nose at the thought of sand finding its way into all the wrong places. But there's a quiet little place we can go… just the two of us." They hadn't been alone together without the thought of another person… Well, Dave thought back to the last time… it was before Carlo was born, which was far too long ago. "We'll sneak out after my mother and Carlo are in bed."
She flipped down the visor and used the mirror to check on the baby, who was mercifully asleep. "Somehow I don't think it's going to be that easy." She closed the visor while her left hand continued up her man's thigh, teasing him through the fabric of his jeans. "But we can take advantage of the time we have." With one hand, she pulled a travel-sized bottle of lotion from her bag and put some in her hand.
He couldn't wait to get her alone at their cabin, in the hot tub. Just the thought of being with her again made him groan as she freed him and took him in her warm, smooth palm as the rain pelted on the roof of the Lexus.
"Erin Strauss…" his voice lit with mischievous surprise. "This is so unlike you." He pressed the button on the door to recline the driver's seat and hit the locks. She held him the way he liked to grab her from behind while she was washing dishes. Firm, a little pain that would ultimately lead to nothing but pleasure.
She watched their bodies move in tandem, a perverse smile on her face. She was surprised with herself. "I'm an opportunist." While she couldn't let him inside her body…yet. She did what she could to satisfy him. She'd learned one thing from her first marriage, the key to the man's heart was through his penis.
Sex was the only thing in the world that wasn't about sex. Sex was about power and that power was as addictive as any drug. Playing with him, giving him pleasure knowing she was the only person in the world allowed to do so, lit her world on fire. She didn't care that the black tint on her windows was the only thing protecting them from an indecent exposure charge. They needed this connection, the excitement from doing something out of character.
"Faster," he bit out, as he throbbed against her. "That's right, Tesoro…. Just like that." When he didn't think he could take any more surprises that afternoon, she took off her seatbelt, leaned over, and took him in her mouth. Reflexively his hands tangled in her hair, his grip copied the patterns of her movements. just as she was coming up for air and he was completely spent…
"David, unlock the door!" Carmelina rapped sharply on the window with one hand and held the umbrella with the other. "David Stephen Rossi! What are you two doing in there?"
"Shit!" He hastily fastened his pants as Erin climbed back in her seat. "Come on," Erin grabbed his hand, biting back a laugh. "Let's go." She pulled open the passenger door and took off for the restroom.
Dave stood in the living room of the cabin, the window squawked in protest as he yanked it open, sending a flurry of dust in his face. He coughed, stepping backward away from the window. The whole place was covered in a thin layer of dust, the furniture was draped in a painter's tarp, to keep it clean. Gideon was thoughtful that way.
If he'd thought it through he would have hired someone to air it out before driving his family out there. Instead, they left their perfectly clean house to get lost in the woods and sleep in a dirty cabin. Oh well. Shoulda, woulda, coulda.
Dave thought for a minute, debating if he really wanted to trek across the yard to inspect the guest house. It probably wasn't any better than the cabin. He stomped back to the front door and pulled it open, "we're not sleeping here," he declared from the porch. He called Mudgie back from the yard and let him hop in the back of the car, before climbing back in the driver's seat. "It's been locked up for too long." Dave said, "It's dusty and I don't want to deal with it tonight. We can't bring a baby in there."
"Where to?" Mrs. Rossi asked from the passenger seat, pulling out a map that Dave wouldn't need.
"There's a nice motel off the highway," Dave turned on the headlights and backed the Lexus out of the rocky driveway. Normally they would have kept driving until he found a hotel away from the highway, but he'd stayed at this Super 8 several times without incident. "We'll get a couple of rooms there and work on the cabin tomorrow morning."
"Wherever we go, we should make it fast," Erin said, from the backseat. One hand on the pumpkin seat beside her and the other hand on the diaper bag in her lap. "Before he really melts down." They had already been in the car for five hours and Carlo was over it. She'd done her best to meet his needs and keep him quiet from the backseat, in the third row of the vehicle, but there was only so much she could do safely, while the car was moving.
"Mom?" Cassie turned in her seat, just behind Dave, to face her mom.
She was quiet when she asked, "Can we get dinner?" Cassie's stomach growled to prove the point.
"Of course," Erin answered, passing her the bag of snacks from the backseat. "Here, have a snack."
"We're only 10 minutes away," Dave wondered why Cassie thought she had to whisper. "There's a restaurant attached to the motel. They have good burgers."
The lights in the parking lot were too bright when they pulled into the parking lot. Dave took off his seatbelt and cut off the engine. "Mama, you and the kids get a head start." The kids grabbed their backpacks and let Mudgie out of his crate when they piled out of the car. Allison, with all of her youthful exuberance, skipped through the parking lot, with Paul at the front of the line holding Mudgie's leash, Mrs. Rossi in the middle, and Cassie, keeping a watchful eye on her siblings, bringing up the rear.
Once they were safe under the awning, Dave went to the side of the vehicle.
"Easy, Honey." He kept his hand on the small of Erin's back to keep her steady as she unfolded herself out of the far back of the car.
Her joints popped as she stepped onto the asphalt. "I'm too old for the backseat," she complained, stretching her back.
"Well we can't be trusted to sit together anymore," Dave quipped. "Here, gimme." he held out his hand for the car seat and curled the handle in his bicep, keeping his hand free.
"I'd hardly call it a punishment," she laced her arm around his as they walked across the parking lot. "An inconvenience, at best."
Dave sauntered up to the front desk and pulled out his ID and platinum Amex card. "I need…" he did a quick head count, "Two suites, one with a king-sized bed. One with two queens and 2 deluxe rooms. We all need to be on the same floor. Plus, he pointed towards Mudgie, who lay at Paul's feet. "One dog."
"How long?" The attendant looked bored and Dave estimated, from the crack in the man's voice, that this was probably the first sale of his night.
Dave did a quick estimation in his head, the cabin needed some TLC but it shouldn't take longer than a day or two to make it comfortable again. "Three days, just to be sure."
The attendant scanned a handful of room keys and passed them to Dave. "Second floor. Rooms 202, 203, 204, and 205. King beds in the first two, double beds in the last."
"Does the restaurant still close at 10 pm?"
"Right," the attendant nodded. "There's a deli and a gas station about a mile down the road, too."
"Good to know," Dave handed each person a key to their room. "You all heard the man." He handed Cassie the key to the suite for her and Allison. If two girls, who normally had their own rooms, suddenly had to share, they should at least be comfortable. "Go drop your bags off and meet back here…" he checked his watch. "In 30 minutes."
Erin and Dave made it to their room just in time for Carlo to hit the roof. "I don't think we should put your mom in the room directly beside us."
"Why is that?" Dave unpacked Carlo's bag, pulling out a clean outfit: a diaper, a pack of wipes, and a bottle of breastmilk.
"The baby gets on her nerves," Erin explained, slipping her hands underneath Carlo and pulling him from the car seat. "She's in her 80s, I wouldn't expect otherwise."
"True, but…babies cry." Dave shrugged, taking Carlo and laying him in the middle of the king-sized bed. "She'll get over it."
"You're taking this in stride," Erin would have been lying if she said she wasn't a little bit surprised at how easy-going Dave was. He didn't bristle when Carlo screamed in the backseat, never raised his voice at her or the kids, even when they were all getting on his nerves, because road trips with an infant, a bunch of kids, and two needy, bitchy women, was enough to make the Pope swear.
"Why wouldn't I be?" He finished Carlo's diaper change without so much as a wrinkle of his nose as he tossed the dirty diaper in the trash can. "I bet you never thought you'd be doing mommyhood again while pushing 50."
"Don't round up." She warned, eyes narrowing at her partner. She had exactly 5.5 years before the ominous 5-0 needed to enter her vocabulary.
"Maybe I'm just appreciative," he shrugged, shifting Carlo so he laid on his shoulder. Truly, they didn't bother him. When the baby cried, Dave wanted to help his son. Instead of trying to get him to shut up, Dave wanted to fix the problem that made him cry in the first place. "This thing with us…" he trailed off. How could he adequately explain that their new family was his hail, Mary, his last chance at a family and a legacy to leave behind? He would hold onto it as long as possible.
"For a while, I thought you would get tired of us," she admitted, leaning over to touch her toes. The long drive left her tense and she needed a good stretch.
"What changed your mind?" He almost didn't want to know the answer, "What convinced you that I'm here for good?"
"It's gradual, you took responsibility for Allison this morning and drove her to school…without being asked."
"Who am I to get in the way of her and her little brother? Besides, it's Summer School, not a federal indictment. I'm here, Babe, for you and the kids. Our kids. All four of them."
"Good," she leaned up on her toes and kissed him, brushing his scruffy 5 o'clock shadow with the back of her hand. "I don't plan on letting you go anytime soon."
"The Navy Seals couldn't drag me out," he checked his watch. Their family would be waiting in the lobby. "I wouldn't say no if you wanted to go for broke. A set of Rossi's wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."
"I think you're forgetting about what I said during labor." She'd gotten over her initial fear of another pregnancy because he'd only mentioned it 500 times in two days.
"You're the one who's supposed to forget all of that," he quipped, his mouth twisted into a smirk as he strapped Carlo back into the car seat.
"Not by a longshot," she hitched her purse over her shoulder, sliding a room key into her pocket. "You know what they say about elephants, we never forget."
"There's your long shot." he came up behind her, encircling her waist. "You could use a good meal, Babe." He couldn't wait to get the cabin set up and make her a gourmet dinner. Something more substantial than cheap steak and grocery store side dishes. Still, she barely ate enough to get a bird off the ground.
The longer he thought about it, the more he knew that getting out of the city was a good idea. Getting outside and breathing in the fresh air would be good for all of them.
"I'll let you cook, then. We haven't had fish in a while," she thought back to her go-to meal while she was pregnant with Carlo: Grilled salmon, roasted vegetables, and salad, with no dressing. That wasn't appealing at all. She needed more flavor than plain greens and bland root vegetables.
"Good thing it's salmon season."
"You're going to catch the salmon?" She turned to look at him, an expression of disbelief plastered on her face. "This I need to see."
"I'll stand in the stream and everything," he promised, giving the Boy Scout salute.
"I remember what your mother said about you in the Boy Scouts," Erin teased. "I'm still waiting to hear that story."
After a not-so-satisfying meal of greasy burgers and milkshakes, Erin tucked the kids into their respective rooms down the hall. Paul, being the firstborn son, had his own. Cassie and Allison had a suite, leaving Mrs. Rossi in her double room while Erin, Dave, and Carlo took up the suite with a king-size bed. Carlo had fallen asleep on Dave's chest several minutes ago.
Erin, out of habit, laid her head against Dave's shoulder and brushed the tips of her fingers down Carlo's back.
"It's kinda hot in here, Babe," Dave sat up, pulling away from her.
"Oh..okay." Erin swung her legs over the edge of the bed and slid onto the floor. "I'm going to take a shower, then. Do you need anything?" She went over to the A/C against the window and turned it down to get some air circulating in the room.
"Nope," he smoothly transferred Carlo to the bassinet beside the bed and picked up his book. "Have fun."
Erin crossed the worn, generic, green carpet in her slippers and headed for the bathroom. Only mildly surprised that he didn't ask to join her. He took any opportunity he could to touch her. During dinner, David kept his hand on her knee, the whole time. It was his discreet, quiet way of telling everyone who walked through the doors of the crowded diner that she was with him.
They both knew that she didn't belong to him but with him. There was a distinct difference between the two qualifiers and Dave understood the difference. Either one could walk out of this relationship at any point, but they chose not to. That was the difference between David and Peter, while they were both good men, Pete made the decision to walk out on her when she was at what she thought was her lowest point. While David only held her closer when the wolf was at the door.
That was a good enough reason to make him happy….
30 minutes later, just as the water started to run cool, Erin stepped over the edge of the tub onto a towel spread on the tile floor in front of the bathtub. She plucked another towel off the closed commode and wrapped it around herself. The towel itself had seen better days, the worn piece of terry cloth was at least six inches too short to wrap all the way around her body.
That was fine. She didn't need it too. Instead, she used it to dry off before taking a quick look at the full-length mirror hanging on the inside of the bathroom door. She never stood there too long. Instead, she ran a brush through her hair, brushed her teeth, and slathered her body with the lotion she knew David liked. When she was through, she tugged on the tank top and silk robe hanging on the towel rack, squared her shoulders, and…
There was a sharp knock on the wooden door. "Erin?" The handle jiggled slightly. The old lock was doing its job, if only barely. "Babe?"
Shit. "What's wrong?" She called out, "Is Carlo alright?"
"He's asleep."
"Okay," she cleared her throat. "I'm coming out. Just a second."
She grabbed the black sleep pants off the rack and pulled them on, balancing with one hand on the sink, and yanked the door wide. She knew, down to the marrow of her bones, that David wouldn't refuse her. She didn't see the towel and plush robe draped over his arm when she crashed her lips on his.
She was ready for him. He pushed against her, gripping her hips so tight he was sure to leave marks. He backed her against the wall, groaning against her mouth like an animal, he wanted her as much as she wanted him to have her. When there was no space between them, Erin reached into his waistband, releasing him from his pants, she stroked him, impatiently. There really was no time like the present.
Dave tore himself away, begging his body to calm the hell down as he tucked his semi-hard dick back into his silk sleep pants. "Erin, what the hell are you doing?"
As quickly as it happened, it was over. An expression he couldn't read crossed her face. Embarrassment? Shame? Surely not.
She crossed the room and fumbled through her purse, pulling out the keys to the Lexus. "Never mind…I'm going to get the extra diapers from the car." She mumbled, stepping into her flip-flops, she looked past him when she said, "Stay with the baby."
"Hang on a second," he reached for her but she beat him to the door.
She still didn't look at him. "I got it, Dave." She let the door close on her back. With Carlo asleep in the bassinet, Dave couldn't go after her.
Thunder crashed over the parking lot as Erin walked with purpose back to her car. Embarrassment and something akin to shame, but she didn't want to call it that, rolled over her. What did she have to be ashamed of? He'd only been coming onto her every time she turned around. Which only heightened the sting of Dave's rejection.
She barely made it to her car before the clouds broke, sending buckets of fat raindrops onto the earth. Which was fine with her, the storm would cover her windshield and she could cry in her car without being seen. If anyone asked, why her shoulders jerked against the leather of her driver's seat or why she clamped her teeth down on the back of her hand, she would blame postpartum hormones for her sudden breakdown, but that wasn't entirely true. She cried because it hurt. She wanted to make him happy and he wouldn't let her.
He'd just given her an orgasm the night before, not to mention her surprise rim job in the car, but that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to connect with him…to be with him, to feel him inside her as they pushed each other to their breaking point… apparently, he did not feel the same way.
It wasn't his refusal that hurt, it was the mental gymnastics she suddenly had to do to make it make sense. Maybe she'd come on too strong, but he didn't have to pull away from her like that. The look in David's eyes and the way he jumped back from her, she never wanted to see that again. She didn't know what she'd done to deserve his rejection. She didn't look like a model or anything, but he knew what she looked like and he liked it. Or so she thought. She was stupid. She'd given him a son and now that the baby was here he didn't want to touch her… typical. Maybe all men were the same. Even as the thought crossed her mind, she knew it wasn't true. But if she said it, it would hurt him and she wanted him to hurt, the way she did.
They never refused each other unless something was wrong, it was part of the reason why they worked so well. So what if she wasn't entirely ready to have sex again, she didn't want their spark to go out and that was more important.
Just as her shoulders started to relax against the seat, she flipped the switch to turn on the wipers and looked up. She recognized Dave's shape in the shadows of the parking lot; he carried a black umbrella that was big enough to cover himself and five other people.
A sharp rap of his knuckles on the window. She pressed the button on the door and lowered the passenger window a crack. He jogged around to the right-hand side of the car. "How far in the dog house am I?"
She sniffed, swiping a Kleenex from the glove compartment under her nose. "Pretty far. Where's Carlo?"
"He's asleep, all he might need is supervision and snuggles. He's getting plenty of both from his big sisters and my mother."
"Go be with him," she waved, dismissing him. "Leave me out of it.I'm fine."
Shit. He'd hurt her feelings, worse than that. He'd made her cry. The real, honest, broken-hearted kind of tears. "I'd rather be with you, right now…" He paused, letting his words sink in. "Can I come in?" He closed the large black umbrella he was holding and reached for the handle of the passenger door.
"I don't know…" She unlocked the door. "Apparently I'm radioactive or something so that might not be the best idea."
He opened the door and climbed inside. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I'm–"
She shot him a look, halfway between hurt and uncertainty. "What the hell, David? You've been making passes at me all week, then, when I'm finally ready, you can't wait to get away from me."
"Just…" he held up one hand. "Just wait a second…"
"What did I do wrong? What's so wrong with me that you can't stand to let me near you all of a sudden? Did you just now notice that I'm not a size 4 anymore?"
His mind rushed to piece together what the hell she was on about. Size 4? What does that have to do with anything?
"All you've talked about since we've been home is having another baby. Now, I don't want that, but when I'm ready to get it on–" she ranted, smacking her hands against the rim of the steering wheel in frustration. "I can't win with you!"
He cut her off, "I pulled away because you're not ready." His hand covered hers against the leather steering wheel. "You're not ready yet…look at me so I know you hear me, Honey."
She turned to face him, his warm dark eyes shining with understanding and affection. "I've been doing some research and all the material I can find says that it's way too soon." He paused, squeezed her hand then spoke earnestly. "I don't want to hurt you." He'd rather have her, bitching him out than not have her at all. A man's heart and good sense weren't always tied to his dick, even if the three did compete for attention.
She released a breath, letting her shoulders relax against the leather seat. "You're not going to hold it against me?" Pete was bad at that, he tried to be patient but it never lasted longer than a day or two. When they fought, the lack of sex was the first thing he brought up, but who wanted to sleep with someone out of obligation?
Dave shook his head. "Listen, when I asked you to marry me, I made a commitment. A promise to take care of you. Protect you and be faithful to our family, because I love you. None of that goes away because we're not having sex."
"Then why do you keep bringing it up?" She had to know, if he wasn't pressuring her for sex, what exactly did he want?
Dave thought about it for a second, sex was great, but he was 58 years old. He didn't need sex the way he thought he did when he was younger. "I don't want you to lose your confidence. I don't need sexual favors from you to be happy." Sure it was fun and exciting but orgasms didn't keep their relationship going. "It's not like either of us are shrinking violets in the bedroom, but we can wait. Fuck that, no. We will wait until you're healed up and feel comfortable. All I ask is that you keep me in the loop, so I know when that might be."
"Thank you…" He pulled her into a hug, rubbing her shoulder.
"And I don't want to hear any more wisecracks about your weight either. I'll take you at any size you want to be as long as you're healthy."
"You don't have to say that–"
He pulled back, keeping hold of her shoulders. "But I mean it."
"Tha–"
"Stop thanking me, dammit. You're about to be my wife and I love you. End of story."
"You're more understanding than I give you credit for." It was true and she didn't mind saying it out loud.
"When we found you on that bench…"
"Dave, come on–" She didn't want to hear this again.
"No, you need to hear this," He turned, cupping her chin in one hand. "I need you to take me seriously. Then, I'll never bring it up again."
"Okay, the floor is all yours…"
He kept his hand under her chin, rubbing his thumb down her jaw as he stared into her eyes. He wanted her to feel it when he spoke to her. He wanted whatever doubts she had about them to evaporate. Once that happened, he would never speak of The Replicator again. "You were sick, you couldn't move…couldn't breathe on your own. I sat with you for hours, holding your hand. Begging whoever would listen to me that you would wake up and come back to me. It was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do." He paused to gather his thoughts… "I would have thrown every penny I've ever made in all the fountains in the city if it made you well." He let go of her, smoothing his hand over his face. He watched the rain trail down the windshield. "I made a wish and I got it. I'm not about to give that up just to get my dick wet."
She let out a breath, it was like the idea had just occurred to her. Dave did love her and she allowed it. He didn't just 'stick around' to raise their son. They were raising their family, together, because he loved her because of who she was. They knew each other's secrets and ugly dark places, but love grew in those vacant spaces anyway. He loved their family, but Carlo wasn't the thing that kept Dave in her bed every night. Love kept them together and it wasn't going away just because their sheets cooled.
"We're going to be okay…" she finally said.
He threw his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder. "We were always okay. Let's get out of here and go to bed."
Stepping underneath the awning of the motel, Dave grabbed Erin's hand as she reached for the door to the lobby. "Wait for a second. Don't go inside yet."
She turned to look at him. "What is it?"
Taking a step forward until the toes of his slippers touched her flip flops, "I need to give you something…"
"Al–" The word died on her tongue as his hands cupped her face and kissed her, using his tongue to tease her soft lips apart. Carefully advancing until her back is pressed against the brick wall.
Her mouth met him in a slow, soft embrace. Kissing her this way, slowly, luxuriously… gave him a thrill that he would never be able to put into words. He threw all he had into that kiss, nothing else mattered except the two of them. If time bent backward and made them different people, they would choose each other. They would fight to choose each other again until the end of time. Feeling her arms wrap around his neck as they breathed each other in. She pressed herself close to him as they listened to the rain pelting off the roof.
He took a step back to look at her. Her eyes shone in the artificial light of the parking lot, full of lust and desire.
He gave her a satisfied smirk, the kiss had done its job. "That's just a taste of what you're in for, once you're all healed up."
Erin licked her lips, still tasting him on her tongue. It's going to be a looong three weeks.
"Mooom! Dave!" Cassie used her cell phone as a flashlight, leading Allison and Paul down the pitch-black hallway and banging on the door.
"What is it?" Erin sat up, scrubbing her eyes. "What's wrong?" She reached for the bedside lamp and turned the knob with her fingers. The lamp didn't turn on. Erin grabbed her phone, using it as a flashlight until she found her suitcase. Then found her flashlight in the front pocket and turned it on. Careful to aim the bright white beam on the floor.
"Shit!" Dave said under his breath, laying Carlo against his shoulder, he padded over to the door to let the kids inside. "Power's out."
"It's kinda spooky," Allison ducked under his arm and made a beeline for Erin.
"Can we stay here?" Cassie looked up at Dave for permission.
"Of course, you can." He grabbed his go-bag beside the door and pulled out a heavy flashlight. "Take this so you don't run down your battery and stay with your mother. I'm going to check things out with the front desk." He laid the baby in the bassinet and used his phone as a flashlight as he stepped into the pitch-dark hallway. Taking the stairs, he let the flashlight lead him back to the front desk.
"Hello!" He called out, shining the weak light across the lobby. " He shined the light, over the green carpeted lobby, he was alone. He tapped the bell that sat on the desk, the ping echoed in the empty room. Surely there was someone else in this motel. Another guest, a manager…someone.
A door swung from behind the desk and someone appeared, stepping out of the basement. "Sorry-" The kid who checked them in said, "for the wait. I was trying to get the generator started."
"Yeah?" Dave looked over the kid's shoulder, towards the basement. "How'd that go?"
"Uh… not great." He gestured around the dark room, "Something's wrong with it." He lifted the corded phone off the desk and stuck it to his ear. "I have to call someone…"
Dave weighed his options, the man in front of him couldn't have been older than 18. "Who are you calling?"
"My dad, I guess," The kid gave an unconfident shrug. "I'm not sure who to call." He crossed over into the darkened lobby and glanced out the window. "It's not raining anymore, maybe the storm knocked out the power.
"Can I take a look at it?" Dave offered, unsure if the kid would take him up on the offer. "It's probably a simple fix."
"Uh…" he laid the phone back on the cradle. "Yeah, okay."
"How'd you do that?" The kid looked at Dave like he'd hung the moon as the dusty basement flooded with light.
"You had it right," Dave stuffed his phone in the pocket of his sleep pants and they started up the stairs. "You just forgot to flip the switch that keeps it going. Now, you'll want to call the electric company and tell them about the outage."
"Right…yeah. Good plan." The kid held the flashlight as they stepped up into the well-lit lobby. "I got it. You can go back to your room now."
Dave turned on his heel, heading back towards the suite when the sound of broken glass and the high pitched squeal of an alarm broke the early morning silence. "On second thought," Dave pulled out his phone and headed for the door to try and get a look at what was happening outside. "Call the non-emergency line and get the police over here," Dave stared at the poor, beat up Volvo parked beside Erin's Lexus and the glass shattered on the parking lot. The Volvo's alarm blaring for attention. The Unsub was long gone, disappearing when the motel and the parking lot flooded with light.
Dave's gut pinched, there were twelve other cars in the lot, Erin's was the only one with an empty space beside it. He pulled his phone from his pocket and made the call. "Pack up. We're out of here."
"Did you know the crime rate in Little Creek–" Erin scrolled on her phone from the front seat and turned her head towards the back with a stern expression. "Don't talk to any of the neighbors, Kids."
"We don't have any neighbors," Dave made a right turn off the two lane road. The Lexus thumped jerked down the steep, gravel driveway. Erin grabbed the handle on the ceiling of the car to avoid slamming into the side of the car. "And we're not leaving the property, so the crime rate can–"
"David–" Mrs. Rossi scolded from the backseat. "Watch your mouth in front of these little girls."
"Can I say it in Italian?" He was a grown man still looking for a loophole.
"No." Mrs. Rossi said in a huff.
He did his best to ignore the snickering in the back, then he glanced over at Erin and grumbled, "Who's side are you on?"
The cabin came into view as the car jerked over another pothole filled with gravel. Even the unflappable Mrs. Rossi took a breath as they drew nearer to the home, in the daylight, it was beautiful. Stained glass windows from the attic glinted in the sunlight of the early afternoon. The rest of the windows in the front were long, rectangle picture windows that overlooked the incredible yard.
The wrap around porch, leading to the heavy, oak front door, housed a bench swing and an outdoor fireplace.
Dave threw the car in park, "Here we are, welcome to Shangri La." He wasn't exaggerating. 10 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms made up the home, after Gideon moved out, during Dave's second year back at the BAU, he made it his mission to turn the cabin back into a hideout. He'd added another level and three more bedrooms. At the time he didn't know why he needed a house that big, but the added space, plus the updated floors and appliances increased the resale value immensely. The cabin was his pet project and retirement plan.
While Erin had been packing their things, back in the motel room, Dave made a few calls and found someone from his favorite cleaning company to come and air the place out. The housekeepers made sure the place was clean and ready for the family. He handed Erin the keys as everyone got out of the car, grabbing grocery bags and suitcases from the trunk.
Mudgie bolted from his crate and ran laps around the perimeter of the yard. The breeze picked up and Dave took a deep breath, the fresh air helped him think. He grabbed Carlo from the backseat and went inside.
Erin took the keys from Dave, reminding herself that this wasn't a vacation. Vacations were planned well in advance, what they were doing was running. Running away from their problems with the BAU, trying to get as far from home as possible. Erin opened the door, the air conditioner hummed, spilling streams of cold air into the home. A faint, fresh, clean scent of lemon and verbena drifted in the air. She tried not to get too swept away by this place, but it didn't work.
A gleaming wooden banister stood at her right, leading to, what she presumed to be the bedrooms. The open concept living room and kitchen were only separated by butcher block countertops and forest green painted cabinets. Large picture windows poured sunlight over the natural white oak floors. The furniture was rustic but modern, combining leather and a bearskin rug in front of the fireplace, with wrought iron and natural wood end tables.
Off to the side of the kitchen, Erin caught sight of the corner of a dining table with a long bench on one side and chairs on the other.
"What do you think?" Dave started unloading the groceries, stacking the non-perishables into the cabinets.
"It's beautiful, Dave." She stepped out of a sunbeam and helped Dave put things away while Mrs. Rossi, Cassie and Allison fussed over Carlo.
"The bedrooms are upstairs, there's a den." He pointed to the left, "that way, with a flatscreen and games and a pond, but you have to cut through the woods and stay on the trails–"
Paul bolted for the door, "Can I take Mudgie?"
"Put your bag away," Erin reminded her son; "and," she pulled out her phone. "Take my phone."
"The trail is a straight line, up a mild incline, Bella. He won't get lost–"
She handed Paul the phone anyway. "Just in case."
Paul shoved it in his pocket, threw his duffle over his shoulder and mounted the staircase. "Thanks!"
"Erin," Carmelina said, "would you help me bring my things over to the cottage?"
"I'll take Carlo," Dave cut in before Erin could answer. "Take the car."
"The cottage isn't that far…" Erin argued.
"Half a mile with 5 suitcases is far enough." Dave handed her the keys.
Erin pulled the Lexus in front of the cottage and parked. She put her hand on the door handle, when Mrs. Rossi spoke.
"I need to talk to you."
"What is it?"
"When I was young and married," Mrs. Rossi hit the lock button on the passenger door, like that would keep them from being interrupted. "I knew my husband loved me, because he paid all the bills, he was never late for dinner and…" her voice took a faraway tone, suddenly Carmelina was lost in her memories. "He made time for us to be together."
"What happened…" Erin wasn't completely sure she wanted to know the answer to her question, but it was too late to turn back and she didn't have anyone else to ask. "After your children were born?"
"The time we spent together was more precious when we weren't…so intimate. It gave us a chance to connect in a different way. I'm sure he held some resentment, but if he was unfaithful he kept it well hidden and I knew he only truly loved me." There was a wistful undercurrent of sadness in her tone. "That seemed good enough, at the time."
"You let it slide…" The hair on the back of Erin's neck prickled, this wasn't the story she expected, surely David didn't know. "Do you think he was?"
"My Stefano took pride in his family….Of course I never found evidence, but I'm sure he got his physical satisfaction in other places, when I wouldn't let him be with me."
"What are you trying to tell me?"
"My son isn't like his father. He's steady. Stefano couldn't decide what he wanted to be, he jumped from job to job. We moved eight times before David was born because my husband couldn't settle down. He loved finding other places to live, changing careers over and over. Stefano made a home wherever we went.
My son…he's like a tree. Immovable until something devastating knocks him over. You and him have been through too many devastating things." Carmelita fixed Erin with a pointed look. "Do you think he's been knocked over?"
"No. In fact, I think he's dug in further…"
"Exactly. So don't let sex be the thing that holds you back from him. He doesn't want your body in his bed. He wants you, because that's where his home is."
She unlocked the door and reached for her sewing bag on the floor board. "I don't need your help. Go take David on a date and show him that you believe in him."