As Luis and Jase drove down the easement road, Luis smiled when he saw Isabelle waving and dangling the keys to his Porsche Panamera in the rearview mirror. Isabelle was driving them all to church that morning because she said she didn't like the way The Reverend von Klingensmith drove. She claimed he sat all hunched over the steering wheel in his big Cadillac like an old man, and never went over thirty miles per hour. Though The Reverend von Klingensmith was in his seventies and Isabelle was in her nineties, Isabelle considered herself a much better driver. She'd been driving Luis's Porsche since she'd arrived in New York and couldn't wait to get behind the wheel again.
In order to reach this cabin in Pennsylvania Dutch Country from Cider Mill Farm, they had to take smaller highways and back roads instead of interstates. Jase drove as Luis held the directions on his lap. The new employee of Jase's who was letting them use the cabin that week, Barton, had told Jase it was in such a remote area they couldn't depend on GPS. So Barton wrote out directions on a piece of paper and Jase handed them to Luis before they'd left that morning. When Luis read the directions and saw they'd be driving along a stretch of the Old Lincoln Highway to get to the cabin, he couldn't stop smiling. He'd seen a special on TV about the Lincoln Highway and he'd always wanted to travel it.
When Jase said he wanted to drive that day, Luis frowned at first. Jase wasn't a bad driver on country roads, thanks to his upbringing in Alaska. But in more urbanized environments he tended to knock off side mirrors and ride up curbs. He couldn't parallel park to save his soul. He hit fire hydrants and street signs. Once, he sideswiped a minivan filled with Anglican nuns. And then there was the time he backed over a hot dog vender's cart in Sixth Avenue. But Luis saw the way Jase was smiling and rocking on his feet. He seemed so eager to drive, Luis didn't want to ruin his mood. So he climbed into the passenger seat, put on his seat belt, and crossed his fingers.
The drive through route 202 in Bucks and Montgomery counties seemed to take forever. There were a lot of traffic lights and it was constant stop and go. Luis put in a CD of that unusual little girl who sang like a full-grown opera singer and watched the shopping centers and restaurants pass them by. Luis had never driven through Pennsylvania this way. They passed through towns with interesting names like Blue Bell and Sandy Hill and Parcher's Corners. He never knew there were so many shopping centers out this way and he made a mental note to go back on his own when he had more free time. Luis knew how to get from Manhattan to Cider Mill Farm. He knew how to take the interstate down to center city Philadelphia. But he'd never had the time to drive the smaller highways and back roads in Pennsylvania. It really was turning out to be a romantic adventure.
One huge difference between Luis and Jase was that Luis liked to talk while he was in the car. In fact, he started talking the minute they pulled out of the easement road at Cider Mill Farm and he never stopped. Luis thought talking helped pass the time, and Luis and Jase had had so little time to talk the past few months. But Jase preferred to remain quiet and focus on the road and his own thoughts. When they'd first started out, Jase seemed to have been paying attention to everything Luis said. He nodded and replied with one-word sentences when Luis made a comment about something they'd passed. A few times Jase grunted and rubbed his jaw, which was fine with Luis. He didn't mind doing all the talking; he couldn't help it. But by the time they crossed into the Main Line Philadelphia suburbs and reached Route 30, which was really the Lincoln Highway from what Luis could tell, it occurred to Luis that he'd been talking about his new adorable Cinderella pumpkins for almost twenty minutes and Jase hadn't heard a word he'd said.
“Well,” Luis said. “I guess I'll stop talking so much if I'm boring you.” He folded his arms across his chest and exhaled.
Jase blinked. “I'm sorry. What was that? I'm listening to every word you say, sweetie. You know I always listen to you, even when you talk about nothing.”
Luis sent him a glare. “Nothing? Oh, never mind. I'm not going to repeat myself.” He couldn't get mad at him for not knowing what he was doing. “I only wanted to know if we're going to stop anywhere before we get to the cabin.” Luis had passed so many shops, outlets, and malls, he was ready to jump out of the Tahoe and run into the next shop he spotted. When he thought about all the shops, he had trouble sitting still in his seat. He knew Jase didn't like to shop. Jase preferred to continue on until they reached the cabin. But Luis couldn't just pass by all this great stuff without checking a few things out.
“If we see someplace nice, we'll stop,” Jase said.
Luis knew he had to handle this with care. If he said he wanted to shop, Jase would grumble and frown. But if Luis put it another way, especially if it involved food, Jase would agree and Luis would get to do a little shopping without actually saying that was what he wanted to do all along. “I'll keep my eyes open for a restaurant. Maybe we can find something that's authentic Pennsylvania Dutch when we get closer to Lancaster.” Luis was thinking along the lines of a restaurant that was either connected to or near shops. He'd done a little research about Pennsylvania Dutch Country and he'd seen a few places like that on the Internet. Jase would never know the difference. Luis would make sure Jase ate a nice big lunch that would fill him up and make him smile.
Luis knew what he was doing. By the time they finally did reach Lancaster, Pennsylvania, it was almost six o'clock in the evening. They'd stopped for lunch in one of those touristy places along the highway, with a big red barn that contained more than two hundred antique vendors. Luis was so excited about the prospect of all those antiques, he barely finished his fresh organic veggie platter. After they ate, Luis suggested they check out a few of the vendors and Jase smiled and followed him into the antique barn. Luis wound up buying a homemade Pennsylvania Dutch quilt for Hunter's bedroom, a set of dog figurines for the mantel in his bedroom at Cider Mill Farm, and the most prefect fireplace screen for the kitchen he'd ever seen. Luis was glad they'd taken the Tahoe instead of his Panamera. He could fit a lot more loot in the Tahoe's huge back storage section. The handy SUV reminded him of a big metal shopping bag on wheels.
A few miles down the road from the antique barn, Luis spotted a farm stand with the biggest Cinderella pumpkins he'd ever seen. Behind the farm stand there was a huge flea market jammed with people and vendors. Jase didn't want to stop there, but Luis pouted and said, “We never get down here. It will only take a few minutes. And I have to have one of those pumpkins. I've never seen such big ones.”