Take me away!!

   "Where to Miss," the taxi driver asked as he carried my suitcases and put them in the trunk. Dade's big maroon Lexus stood just as I'd left it outside the motel room door last night. The driver's eyes grew large at the noisy series of banging, and turned to me in surprise just as the shattered glass from the windshield of the car fell to the ground. And didn't say a word as I nonchalantly tossed the rock away and got into the taxi. I didn't look back at Tony's Steakhouse or the motel I'd called home where it all started.
   "Where to?" the cab driver asked me again.
   "The Regency Hotel, in downtown Dallas please," I said and sat back.
                                                             *****
   Reed sat at the bar in Flower Mound, Texas, martini in hand and not realizing how close he was to me. The lights in the bar were low as Tammy Wynette sang about a lost love. The door to the kitchen swung open and Betty flew by balancing a tray of steaks and disappeared into the dining room.
   A few minutes later, she came over with a big smile on her face and said, "Hello handsome, good to see you again.
   "Betty, I'm dying, I need a steak with all the trimmings." Reed said and grinned.
   "I can see you need some TLC. I'll bring you a salad and some hot bread right now so you don't fade away."
   And after wolfing down his dinner, Reed went back to the bar. He was still sitting there a few hours later when Betty slid up on the stool next to him.
   He looked up in surprise.
   She had changed into a form fitting beige pantsuit with a leopard belt. She'd let her hair down out of the twist she'd worn earllier and it curled around her face.
   "Okay handsome, here's your chance to buy me a drink!" She smiled up at him, and as they sat together comfortably, Betty talked about her family and the problems of being a single mother. Elvis sang to the crowded bar.
   "Reed," Betty said as the clock ticked close to midnight, "why don't you come over to my house for a drink. The boys are in bed and we can listen to some music."
   Reed just smiled.