Mount Laurel, New Jersey, would be the last stop before Ace and Shelby arrived in New York City, and the Silver Rodeo was just off I-295.
Home of the “Endless Fondue Fountain,” and, no doubt, endless stomach distress, it was a cheesy all-you-can-eat franchise but a place where Ace and Shelby could sit, talk and be ignored.
No one would care what they said or how loud they said it since the Silver Rodeo clientele consisted primarily of people seeing how much fried turkey, brisket, mac and cheese and potatoes and gravy they could stack on a plate – topped by that “Endless Fondue” abomination.
Those folks were on a mission to eat, not to eavesdrop.
“This really is gracious living,” said Shelby as they entered the restaurant, which was decorated in the style of an old west saloon – if old west saloons had steam tables, drink stations and wait staff who wore cowboy hats, chaps and name tags.
“It’s so authentic! It’s like being back in a frontier lunchroom.”
Ace snickered as the two made their way through the buffet line, trying to separate the barely edible from the inedible.
He loved a smartass and Shelby was most certainly that.
“We have one of these on the outskirts of Sevierville,” Ace said. “You don’t come to a place like this for the food … you come here for the atmosphere. And food poisoning.”
The two made their way to a booth, which featured a wooden table adorned with an oil lamp and a carving of a Native American woman holding a baby while a wolf and what appeared to be a platypus looked on.
“So,” Shelby asked, spinning her fork in a glop of what was probably (but by no means definitively) mashed potatoes. “Are you going to be straight with me? I trusted you enough to bum a ride with you, so you need to trust me enough to talk to me. Tell me the truth.”
Ace ran his left hand through his graying hair, pausing to try to find just the right words to describe how things had gotten so sideways during his four decades on the planet.
He was a desperate man, sure, but at no time did he think he was acting like one – until recently.
“It’s my family,” Ace said. “When I heard about this year’s Thanksgiving plans, the big feast and then Black Friday, something just finally clicked that this was the time for me to do something I’ve never done. I’ve never gone on vacation by myself. I’ve never gone to the Empire State Building before. I’ve sure as hell never even considered picking up a hitchhiker, and still can’t explain why I broke that rule for you. I just wanted to hit the road and now I want to see where that road leads.”
“And?”
“And just get away from my family.”
“And?”
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Ace said, his voice slightly raised.
“I want you to tell me what the end game is,” Shelby said. “I want you to tell me what your grand plan is. The whole time we’ve known each other – which isn’t very long, I admit – you’ve never mentioned anything beyond going to the Empire State Building. Are you gonna live there? Can you even live there?
Ace looked straight into Shelby’s eyes.
“I just want to run away and see what happens,” he said. “I might keep driving until I get to Canada. I just don’t know. I only know I can’t be part of my family anymore. I just can’t, and there’s no way I can make you understand why.”
Shelby reached over and grabbed his hand.
“Try me. What is so bad about your family that you drive thousands of miles to get away from them? Every family has issues … problems. How is yours different than any other?”
Ace leaned back and sighed.
“Trust me … you’ll just think I’m out of my mind. Look, it’s Thanksgiving. Let’s just eat this turkey-type thing and get back on the road. I enjoy your company and you seem to enjoy mine, so let’s make the best of it.”
The pair finished their meal, Ace paid the cashier, and then excused himself to wash up. He held his hands under the cold water and splashed his face, leaning close to the mirror and examining his eyes.
The full moon was still a day away, so he could safely take Shelby a bit further before putting her in danger.
He might be leaving his werewolf family behind, but he wasn’t sure if he would be able to leave the werewolf life behind.
And he was really starting to like Shelby.
“You ready?” he asked.
As Shelby and Ace slowly walked to the car, she paused to look at the sky.
“You know there’s a spell,” she said.
“What?”
“There’s a spell I can cast … one that can help control the transformation.”
“I don’t … I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ace said, unconvincingly.
“Witches have been helping lycanthropes for as long as there have been witches and lycanthropes,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “There’s a reason you picked me up and a reason I let you. No more secrets, OK?”
Quite romantic!