Chapter 2 2

Wearing one of the summer dresses out of the store, a red one with black lacy panties and matching bra underneath, I left my old clothes in the changing room, feeling glad I'd shaved my legs that morning, and only packed my nicer clothes for this trip. I looked at the old green gym pants and flowery blouse, boring bra and underwear on the changing bench and I promised myself right then to throw out the rest of the garbage from my closet as soon as we got back home. Whenever that would be. I was proving that Trudy didn't have to be boring.

On the way out, I grabbed a white sunhat just because, processed myself through the checkout and headed back out to the parking lot with a loaded cart and a smile that I noticed some men were returning.

Six hours later, deeply behind the lines of cottage country, I wondered if I shouldn't have had one of the twins bring the car behind. How were we going to resupply? Take the Columbia out every time? Then I began to worry about all the other things I probably forgot about before I left, though suddenly glad that I'd at least made a priority of properly shutting down the house.

These were also my worries at eleven fifty-three PM, as I rolled up to the gate at Victoria Park, right where the map said it would be. The gate attendant provided me with a new worry as he was locking up for the night. While the twins slept in the bunk beds to the rear, he told me that a reservation was required at least six months in advance to secure a lot for an RV. There were no penalty fees I could pay and no options. After convincing the now irritated attendant to guide me while I backed out to the secondary highway in the dark, I set off once again, this time without the foggiest clue as to where we were going.

I ended up at a dingy little fuel stop/convenience store on the side of the secondary highway, seemingly in the middle of the darkest nowhere on the planet but, incredibly, still open. I filled Columbia, went in and paid the rude, ferret faced old attendant, who said nothing in favour of staring at my chest, then moved us off to the edge of the parking lot for the night. It was late, I was tired and there was no point in going on without any idea where we were going.

After making sure all the doors and windows were locked, curtains drawn, I stripped down to my black panties in the rear bedroom and threw on a pink, satin babydoll to use for a nightgown, one I'd bought earlier that day which was obviously made for a woman with a smaller bust line, considering its lack of coverage. I crawled into the double bed at the very back, burrowing under the covers and closing my eyes, but not relaxing, thinking about going back, but I couldn't. The kids would think I was a total idiot. They might tell Kevin about the whole thing,... No, I had to go on because I was committed, wasn't I? I had just decided to check the map in the morning and make our way to a different campground when there was a loud rapping on the side of Columbia.

I was startled almost out of my wits. I scrambled for the housecoat I'd forgotten at home, hearing the twins also start awake.

"What's going on?" Jarid's still sleepy, but slightly alarmed voice asked in the dark.

"Hey!" somebody yelled angrily from outside.

"Dammit!" I hissed in irritation, turning on the light and grabbing a pair of white shorts I'd bought that day with the tags still on them. I quickly covered my panties with them and hurried to the door, telling the twins to stay where they were.

"Hey, come on!" the voice demanded.

"Just a minute!" I called, wondering what the problem was and why I didn't have some sort of defensive weapon inside the RV, such as a gun or-

I swished the window curtain aside on the door and beheld the convenience store attendant, staring back as if I'd just burnt his house. I opened the window so we could speak.

"Who in hell said you could park your piece o' shit here!?" he demanded.

"I- I'm sorry, I just assumed that it would be-"

"Well, if you don't mind, I'd rather you didn't assume shit on my property! Now get your shitbox outta here before I call the RCMP!"

"But, there's nowhere else. Where can I go to-?"

"That's your fuckin' problem, lady. You bought your gas, now fuck off!" he very helpfully offered before walking away.

I was shocked, to say the least. Who spoke to people like that? Sure it happened on Law & Order, but that was New York and,... Dammit!

I unlocked the door, opened it and walked right outside after him, completely forgetting about the bouncing, braless chest and cleavage my babydoll showed off so well in my frustration.

"Excuse me! I called as I walked around the Columbia, trying to sound assertive and not entirely succeeding.

He was halfway back to his store, not even turning to recognize my hail. At the spot lit pumps, moths flying frenziedly in the light above him, a man who looked to be in his forties was leaning back against a large, dark, four wheel drive pickup, holding the handle while he fueled. He watched as my little drama played out.

"Hey! I'm sorry I parked on your land without asking, but it's late and we don't have reservations,...! I'm willing to pay to park for the night!"

He only shook his head, never even turning around, muttering something about 'rich townie assholes'.

"Dammit!" I hissed again, disbelief added to my irritation while a lump formed in my throat.

This was supposed to be a fun getaway and, so far, it was a disaster. I felt like an idiot and resigned myself to getting back on the road, maybe back on the main highway to pull over at one of those horrible rest stops for the night, where people reportedly engaged in all kinds of sordid-

"Mom?" Jenifer's voice called.

I turned and they were both there. Jarid wore a pair of basketball shorts, Jenifer a pair of navy blue cotton shorts and a light blue T-shirt. I was about to ask what they were doing outside the camper when Jarid's eyes widened. I didn't get it at first, until it clicked in that he was looking at my chest.

"Oh,... shit!", I swore when I looked down at myself. That lump in my throat grew bigger as I threw my arm over my chest. At least my nipples weren't showing, only practically everything else north of the equator. "What are you two doing out here?"

"We heard yelling." Jarid explained, seeming to have recovered himself and wanting to 'change the subject', so to speak. "Where are we? Is this Victoria Park?" he asked while he looked around with a wrinkled upper lip.

"What do you think, genius?", Jenifer asked sarcastically.

"Shut up!"

"Stop it, you two, that's the last thing I need right now! Apparently, we should have had a reservation for Victoria Park at least six months ago and we can't get in.", I admitted as I walked towards them.

"Does that mean we can go back home?" Jenifer asked hopefully.

"No, it does not! We're finding somewhere else to camp, is all! I just need to get us somewhere we can rest for the night so I can figure it out in the morning. Now get back inside, I've got to get dressed and damned well under way again." I said, now more depressed than angry about the situation.

"Uhhh, 'scuse me?"

I turned, the kids with me to find the man who'd been fueling his truck had walked nearer. He wore a flat toed pair of boots that crunched in the gravel under the weight of his muscular frame. He seemed almost ruggedly handsome, but more in the sense that his face had character. Maybe it was the black, neatly trimmed goatee, or the straw cowboy hat crammed on his head. His height, at least six feet tall, and his size strangely didn't intimidate as his voice and mannerisms were very forward and seemingly,... normal. He stopped, a respectable distance of about ten feet, I noted, and spoke.

"Couldn't help overhearing your um,... situation. You probably mighta guessed this, but the people around here are assholes."

"Well, I'm becoming familiar with that fact, yes."

He laughed a little at this and added, "Don't expect any help from anyone around here, at all. Not till you get at least a hundred klicks out the road, here."

"Oh. Thank you. I take it you're not from around here."

He shook his head. "London."

"Missisauga."

"I'm sorry." he said with a smile."

I smiled myself at his joke, suddenly aware again of what I was wearing underneath my forearm.

"So, ah, there's nowhere else for a hundred kilometers?"

"I'm guessing the closest kind of place you're looking for is Barkers Point Park."

"The place on the TV commercials?"

"Yeah. You might even get in if there's been a cancellation. You'd be there in,... five hours, maybe less."

"I had no idea I had to have reservations for these- Well, I thought I'd just go to a nice place, pay to get in and be there."

"Oh, no. Best to travel with the RV convoys if you want to do that."

"Do you have an RV?"

"I got a trailer and a fifth wheel." he said, poking his thumb over his shoulder at the large truck, still at the pumps.