He pointed out a few final things to us, one of which was how to flatten the bed, then we said our goodbyes and Sin and I were on our own.
Sin put his hands on his hips and stared at the luggage. “We certainly packed enough.”
“And now we have to unpack it.”
He sighed, glancing toward the cockpit.
“You want to get on the road, don’t you?”
“We do have eight days of travel before we reach Vegas. How are the cats, by the way?”
“They’re doing great. Sleeping, actually.” An idea came to me. “Why don’t you get us underway while I work on the unpacking?”
His brows rose. “You’re sure?”
“Sure.”
He grinned before leaning in to kiss me. “Buckle up. I mean, metaphorically.”
I laughed. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
And just like that, our adventure had begun.
Chapter Seven
Sinclair
Jayne’s about-face at seeing the coach was everything I’d hoped for and more. It was important to me that she liked the coach, which I figured she would after she’d seen it, but she really seemed to fall in love with it. I was thrilled.
I also couldn’t blame her. It was the most amazing RV I’d ever seen. I couldn’t imagine what it had cost the kingdom, but I supposed Jack wasn’t about to send the heir to his throne out in anything less than the best.
It also told me that his timing had nothing to do with my recent boredom. A custom coach like this didn’t happen overnight. This vehicle had been in production for a while. Possibly since before we’d been married.
But then, he’d said the popularity of our wedding had been the impetus for all this. That the event had been what had gotten him and Kris thinking. So maybe they had just paid extra to get the vehicle done quickly.
I didn’t really know, but whatever the reason, I was immensely grateful. Not to mention pretty psyched to get behind the wheel.
As expected, it handled beautifully.
Jayne came up to the front. “I’m going to give you the wardrobe and drawers on the right side, and I’ll take the ones on the left, if that’s okay with you. Which means your side has the Santa’s Bag and mine has the safe. Cool?”
“Sounds good. Are you unpacking my stuff?”
“I am. Unless you don’t want me to.”
“No, that’s very sweet of you. Thanks, babe.”
Grinning, she leaned in and kissed my cheek. “You are doing the driving. I figured it was the least I could do.”
“Well, I appreciate it. When we stop next, we’ll put the suitcases in that empty compartment outside that Ezreal showed us.”
“Perfect. That’ll help with space.”
Spider slipped past her to stand between the two captain’s chairs. He faced her and put a paw on her leg. “Mama, up.”
She leaned down and scooped him into her arms. “I thought you were sleeping.”
He tucked his head into the crook of her neck. “Sugar snores.”
She snorted softly. “Well, you married her.”
“Spider loves Sugar.” He pushed his head against her chin. “Spider loves Mama too.”
She laughed. “And I love you. Why don’t you sit up here with Sinclair? You don’t mind, do you, honey?”
“Not as long as he just sits there and doesn’t climb up onto the dashboard or get under my feet.” I glanced over at the little black cat. “Will you be a good boy, Spider?”
“Spider always good.”
He was pretty well-behaved. “All right, you can be my navigator.”
Jayne put him into the captain’s chair beside me. “All right, I’m going back to unpacking.”
Spider sat up very straight and stared big-eyed out at the road. “Spider high up.”
“Yep, you sit very high up in a motor coach.”
“What’s motor coach?”
“This vehicle we’re in.”
“Mama said RV.”
“Well, you can call it that too. Both names are correct.” I glanced at him. He was clearly fascinated by the view. Spider had been given the gift of gab by a wayward, wish-granting imp that Jayne had accidentally set free from its box.
Spider was initially reluctant to talk around anyone but Jayne, but since Sugar had been gifted her translation collar, he’d gotten chatty around more people.
“What’s the navigator?”
“It’s the person who helps the driver make sure they’re on the right road. The navigator charts the proper route.” I wasn’t sure what words he understood and what words he didn’t, but I figured he’d ask if something stumped him. My cat, on the other hand, whose vocal abilities were produced by a special elf-constructed collar she wore, seemed to mostly focus on treats and doing whatever Spider was doing.
“Route?”
“The path that takes us to where we’re going.”
“Where’s that?”
“We’re going to Las Vegas. That’s where my parents live.”
“Lost Vegas have snow? Spider tired of snow.”
“Las Vegas,” I corrected him. I knew how he was feeling just a bit. Again, I loved the North Pole, but it was all snow all the time. “And they do get snow, but I don’t think they have any right now. Las Vegas is more desert. Lots of sun. And lots of sand.”
He seemed to think about that for a moment. “Sounds like litter box.”
“It’s not a litter box.” I glanced over at him, and I could swear he was smiling.
He flicked his tail once, turned around, and lay down. “Spider navigator.”
It was going to be hard for him to navigate while he was sleeping, but since I doubted his ability to speak parlayed into any kind of map-reading skill, it wasn’t like I was counting on him to tell me which exit to take next.
Didn’t matter. The trip down through Canada was pretty much a straight shot, and the coach had an excellent satnav in the dash. There was no chance we’d get lost. Well. No chance I’d get lost. I knew people who could still manage it, even with help.
I caught glimpses of Jayne, but about an hour later, she came back to the front. “I’ve got everything put away. You’ll probably want to rearrange some stuff, but the suitcases are empty. Guess what else I discovered?”
“What?”
“Ezreal stocked the kitchen for us. At least enough that we could manage a day or two. Wasn’t that nice of him?”
“Very nice. He’s a great guy. Any chance there’s something to drink?”
“Sure.” She laughed. “Plenty of Dr Pepper.”
I smiled. “I’ll take one. They’re definitely growing on me.”
Our days fell into an easy rhythm. Me behind the wheel, Jayne in the passenger’s seat, often with one or both of the cats on her lap or nearby. We made one stop for groceries, ate a few meals at interesting places along the way, bought some maple candies, tried doughnuts at Tim Hortons (good but not as good as mine), and made numerous stops for gas. The miles just disappeared under our wheels.
We talked and laughed, and I fell in love with her all over again. She told me a hundred times how much fun she was having. I think it actually surprised her that the trip was so enjoyable.