Page 11 of Born to be Wilder

Axel and Doris shared a look, and his eyes filled with the same worry in hers.

Marge didn’t seem the least bit deterred by the shock and horror radiating from the rest of us. “Seven days, ladies! We drive to New Orleans, we have the time of our lives on the way, and we get Alice to Mardi Gras in time for the best weekend ever! Now, get your bags and let’s mount up. We’ve got some miles to cover today.”

Alice slowly turned to me. “Sylvie. Please back me up on this. We are not driving to New Orleans in that.”

I looked at Marge, who was grinning so wide her face might split. “We might be driving to New Orleans in that.”

Doris whimpered. “It’s enormous.”

“It is very large,” I agreed.

Alice tightened her grip on Alejandro’s hand. “She’s going to kill us.”

“Well, as long as we don’t let Doris drive, maybe we’ll be okay?” I said, though even I didn’t believe it.

“Quit yer griping over there and just come look inside.” Marge waved at us and walked around the behemoth. “You’ll see it’s really cool in here!” Her voice carried from the other side.

With a shared look of terror, Doris, Alice, and I walked around the RV, and it looked even bigger when we were right beside it.

Marge swung open the door and gestured grandly. “See for yourself. A rolling luxury vacay, ladies.”

We climbed the steps, all of us crowding into the entrance, and I’ll admit—it was nicer than I’d expected. A full kitchen along one side, a little dining area with a booth-style table, a sitting area at the front, and down the back, two bedrooms and a full bathroom. Everything clean and modern, the kind of rental that had clearly been kept up with some care.

“Oh!” Doris said. “It’s like a little apartment!”

“I told you.” Marge spread her arms. “Luxury, baby.”

“I wouldn’t call an RV luxury, but… it’s… better than I expected.” Alice searched the bathroom with narrowed eyes. She opened and closed a cabinet. “Marginally.”

“So, can we all agree I’m brilliant and this is going to be the best trip yet? A road trip to New Orleans! Think of all the fun we can have along the way!”

I’d only been on a road trip once with my parents when I was in middle school. We’d driven around the east coast on a historical trip since my dad was a history buff. Washington, DC, the battlefields of Virginia, the Liberty Bell. We’d seen it all, and it had been fun to see the world passing us by. And that had been in our little station wagon, not something of this caliber. I hated to admit a tiny part of me thought maybe this was a good idea. Turning the journey into part of the adventure.

“Well?” Marge prompted again, glancing at each of us.

Doris and I looked at each other first and shrugged, both giving our approval. Then we all turned to Alice and waited.

She looked around at the interior of the RV, her face unreadable as she took it all in. Then finally, she sighed. “Fine. We can do the RV.”

“Yes! Road trip, baby!” Marge pumped a fist in the air, snaked an arm around Roxie’s waist, and bent her back in a kiss.

Roxie kissed her back, and I turned to look at Tom, who still grinned madly, and shrugged. “I guess we’re going on an RV trip.”

He laughed and moved through the RV to get to me, giving me his own kiss that I felt right down to the tips of my toes.

The other spouses and my family crowded in with us for the send-off, and for a few minutes, Bertha became a full and loud motorhome as Emma got passed around and kissed approximately a hundred times by each of us before Blake finally retrieved her. Everyone filed off, Alejandro the last to go.

He held Alice for a long moment and whispered something against her temple that I didn’t hear and wasn’t meant to. She briefly pressed her face into his shoulder before straightening up and kissing him like she meant it.

“Come back to me, cariño,” he said.

“I always do,” she answered.

He paused on the step, blowing her a kiss, then walked away.

Then it was just the four of us.

“So, how does this work?” I asked as Marge dropped into the driver’s seat.