Chapter 29
Aug 11, 2005 at 07:38PM Weekends Off
"Wake up sleepy head," Regina said as she set up in the bed.
"But it's Saturday," Danny moaned. "Let's stay in bed a couple more hours."
"You promised me a ride on your motorcycle this morning, remember?"
"But it's barely daylight."
"I know, but it's been so long. We've both been so busy with our jobs, and the new house, I just thought we could ride up to the mountains today."
"Okay," Danny laughed. "Looks like I've turned you into a biker chic, don't it?"
"Is that a good thing?" Regina asked as she she walked into the bathroom.
"It can be." Danny said as he set up on the side of the bed.
"It better be," Regina said as the sound of the shower drowned out the rest of her words.
When Danny got out of the shower, Regina had breakfast ready. As he sat down at the table she asked, "Can we get a room up on the Parkway, and spend a couple of nights there?"
"I don't see why not. Mr. Melvin doesn't want to work this week. We'll have to pack a few things."
"No problem," Regina said as she picked up Danny's trip bag from under the table. "I already packed."
"Then I guess it's a weekend in the mountains."
*****
It was about a three hour ride to the Parkway and Danny savored every mile of it. Until now, it had seemed like he and Regina might never have a moment’s peace, but today, all the bad things were behind them.
Danny and Regina rode the hog through small southern mill towns, not unlike their own small town, and past farms and fields very much like those near their home. Occasionally, they passed the country McMansions that have become the symbol of the new south. Mansions many times larger than anything that had existed in the old south. Mansions built by rich northerners who built empires on the backs of those who slaved for them, before they abandoned their workers by closing up shop, and moving south where they live by investing their money in the stock markets instead of building jobs.
The New South was supposed to be a place where everyone could prosper. That's what the politicians had promised, but the northern aristocracy had spoiled it from the beginning. The carpetbaggers had gone south during Reconstruction after the Civil War, and managed to tear down everything the Union Armies had missed. Then, when they had taken all they could, they took the manufacturing jobs to Mexico, China, and anyplace else where they could work poor people as slaves and stay clear of the law. Most men, black or white, would never be as lucky as Danny had been when he found Regina.
Danny had to remind himself that not all of these people were bad. He knew that many of them were like Regina, but with this one exception, all he'd ever met before were to one degree or another, more like her brother.
Regina, being the resourceful woman she is, had already made reservations at a little motel on the Parkway, and even though she was worn out after riding three hours on the back of Danny's Harley, she was still having the time of her life.
Danny was unlike any man Regina had ever known. Maybe, it was because he was older and more settled, she thought, but no man had ever been so nice to her. He wasn't exactly comfortable in the high class social settings she was used to, but most people seemed to like him, and he was so genuine-- unlike all the younger guys she had dated in the past. Danny is a real man, Regina thought, the kind of man she could respect, and for that she would always love him. Now, if I can just polish him up just a bit, she thought.
Danny had never met anyone like Regina. He had spent fifteen years married to Connie, and wondered why he even stayed one. Danny knew Regina respected him even though he didn't have anything to speak of. Other men complain that when you get involved with a woman who has money, they act like they own you, but Regina wasn't like that. Oh sure, she was strong willed and sometimes took it on her own to make decisions for the both of them, but she made good decisions, it was always worth his while, and Regina never ran over him. This can only be a dream, Danny thought.
Danny and Regina seemed to be living a story book life, and it looked like everything they had ever wanted was about to be theirs for the asking.