A Late Night Drive

or you think you've heard this story before, but you haven't.

The sound of the car door slamming cut off the noise of rain and thunder as Jilly dropped into the passenger seat of the '68 Chevelle. "Thanks, brother, you're a life saver."

Jake chuckled as he put the car into drive and pulled off the side of the road and back onto two-lane blacktop. "You're welcome, ma'am. What put you out on a night like tonight and in the middle of nowhere?"

Jilly's hair dripped more than a little onto the white leather of the seats. She turned the heater vents on her side so that they hit her in the face. "My car broke down a ways back. I was on my way to see my boyfriend." She rubbed her hands together. "Cold as the dickens out there."

The night beyond glass and beating down rain was warm and humid. "Didn't see a car anywhere further back. Want me to take you to a shop? There's one just a few miles up and on the right. I know this strip of road well."

Jilly shook her head. "No, thanks. The things as dead as Buddy Holly." She saw the driver wince at the comparison. "A fan? Sorry. Anyway, there's no salvaging it. Someone will eventually be along to tow it out of harm's way. Besides, I think Dan's gonna propose to me tonight. If you can just take me to his place, that would be aces. He's not very far along. I could have walked, but..." She pointed out the window.

"Can't blame you for hitching a ride, then. Not as safe to do that as it used to be." Jake pushed in the cigarette lighter and pulled a packet of Luckies from his jacket. "Wanna smoke?" He shook one out and when Jilly shook her head, popped it in the corner of his mouth. "Hope you don't mind if I do."

"That's the brand my Granddad smokes. You go ahead." Jilly gazed out the window into the night. "I love this car. Never seen one like it." She stroked the leather seat.

With a smile, he took the lighter as it popped from its home and lit the cigarette. Blowing a stream of smoke from the left side of his mouth, he nodded. "I've only had it a year. I love to take the curves in this. It hugs the road like nobody's business." He put the lighter back. "You just let me know where to turn."

"It's right up ahead." She turned and scrutinized the driver. "Say, do I know you?"

Jake glanced out of the corner of his eye. "I've got one of those faces. I don't think so, though. I'm from around here, but I doubt we travel in the same circles." His glance took in her frilly skirts. "I hang with some rough crowds."

The chuckle from deep in Jilly's chest wasn't musical, but it was infectious. "Don't judge a book by its cover. But really, I think I've seen your picture, before. In the paper maybe?"

Jake took the street she indicated. "Could be. I was into racing for a while, before I got this beaut. I don't know if my picture was in the papers or not, but it's possible." They drove through the neighborhood in companionable silence. "Gotta say, there's something about you that's familiar too. Can't put my finger on it."

"Pull in here." Jilly pointed at a little white house with blue shutters. The porch light was on and an older man stood looking out into the rain.

Jake put the car in park as he pulled in behind the pickup truck already parked there. He turned to offer to open the door for her, but she was gone. "Huh. Guess we did have something in common after all."

~~~~~

Dan sighed as the sound of rain and smell of jasmine filled his head. Jilly had always liked the flowers. He planted them the year they started dating and always made sure they flourished these thirty years later. The sound of a powerful engine and a flash of light brought him out of his memories. When he looked up and saw nothing, he turned and went back inside, before his melancholy led him to hearing her voice and smelling her perfume again.