Page 25 of Truth or More Truth
Within minutes, Bobby’s back, snow shovel in hand.
“Wanda says the interstate has been plowed, so we’re good to go.”
“What’s the shovel for?”
“To clear out around your car and back to where the snowplow cleared. I’ll take care of that while you get ready. I’ll also start the car to get it warmed up.” He grabs my keys off the top of the TV and is back outside before I can respond.
“What’s our route?” I ask Bobby, with the Illinois map and road atlas both open on my lap.
He offered to drive today, and after yesterday’s adventure, I gladly accepted. But that means I’m now the navigator, which is not my strongest suit.
“I-57 to I-55 to I-40,” he says. “We’ll hit I-55 soon after we cross into Missouri.”
“Missouri?” I ask. “Didn’t the guy on the radio yesterday say they got like a foot of snow, even before the storm passed? That’s more than here.” I estimate we got nine or ten inches. “Shouldn’t we avoid Missouri if we can?”
“Wanda said we should be fine. She had a radio going in the office, so I’m guessing that’s how she knew. Anyway, it should take us six or seven hours to get there if the roads continue to be as clear as they are here.”
Bobby motions out the windshield, where the interstate is mostly clear of snow but not entirely. I glance at the speedometer to see he’s driving a little below the speed limit.
“In an hour or so, we’ll stop somewhere to see if we can find a working phone so we can update Ash and Leslie.”
“I bet Leslie is frantic.”
“Wendy, too,” Bobby adds.
His knowledge of my two best friends is yet another reminderthat the two of us need to get along. Not that we’re having any trouble with that this morning.
“Hey,” I say, “what about your cellular phone? Could we use that to call them?” Why didn’t I think about that last night?
“I tried yesterday right after we arrived at the hotel—while you were changing clothes in the bathroom—but the call wouldn’t go through. We’re out in the middle of nowhere here, so the phone doesn’t have service.”
“Maybe the problem wasn’t with our location but the storm,” I say.
He shrugs. “Could be. You want to try?”
“Yeah, I want to talk to them as soon as possible. But we’ll have to stop to get it out of your bag in the trunk.”
“No, we won’t. I put my bag in the backseat so we could get to the phone in an emergency. You should be able to reach it. The phone is just inside the zipper.”
I twist around to see if I can get to it without taking off my seatbelt, which I refuse to remove with the roads the way they are. I stretch to reach the bag and am able to pull it close enough to get the phone out.
“Now what?” I say with the phone in my hands.
“You need a tutorial on how to use a phone?” Bobby asks, a smile hovering on his lips but not fully appearing.
I smack his arm. “I’ve never used one of these before. Give me a break.”
“It’s the same as a regular phone, except you type in the number first and then hit the ‘send’ button. There’s no dial tone. You won’t know if it’s going to work until you hit send.”
“Gotcha.”
“There’s one problem, though.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
“When I called yesterday, I had to call information to get the number, and I didn’t write it down. I just had them connect me.”
“I’ve got the number,” I say, grabbing my purse from the floorboard. “Leslie gave it to me last week.”
