Jane Winston eyed her suspiciously, "Tell me the truth, Midgie. Was this the plan all along? You girls are getting too wild. I don't understand what has gotten into you two."
"Oh no, Mrs. Winston!" Midgie answered quickly. "I swear we didn't plan this!" Midgie sat at the kitchen table facing Sarah's parents as they sat across from her. Her fingers entwined nervously on her lap and she looked down at them, muttering, "I didn't even know until this morning."
"And where was Pete? He was supposed to go with you." Jane reached for her cigarettes and Midgie saw her hand shaking. Midgie realized how badly Sarah's mom was shaken by this, and she wished she could say something to help her.
"I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Winston, really, but Sarah knows what she wants." Midgie sighed. "She won't change her mind on this. But Sam will take good care of her, I know. She will call you soon."
Midgie's next stop was at her mom's salon. She was due to start work, and knew there was no way she could do that. After a brief explanation, and brushing off her mother's questions, she set out to find Pete. After nearly an hour of frustrated searching, she found him at the campground helping Dave repair a broken shower head.
"I need to talk to you." Midgie dodged a spray of water as the guys laughed at her.
Pete saw the serious look on her face and hopped down from the ladder. "What's going on?"
"Sarah stayed in Cleveland with Sam. She is going on tour with him." Midgie blurted it out in a rush, then cringed when she saw Pete's face. Hurt showed first, then changed to anger, and then rage.
"I'll fucking kill him!" Pete clenched his fists, tightly.
Dave stood beside him, putting his hand on Pete's shoulder. "Calm down and think about this first, Pete." He continued as he felt Pete shrug off his hand. "Sarah went because she wanted to!"
Dave raised his voice, trying to get through to Pete. "She wanted to go with him! Do you understand?"
Pete looked over at Midgie and saw her nodding in agreement. He stepped back and looked at them both.
"Ok, then that's Sarah's choice." Pete shook his head, sadly, as he flexed his shoulders to loosen his tight muscles.
Midgie spoke around the lump in her throat, "She said she would call."
WEDNESDAY - JUNE 2, 1976
Sam felt Sarah move beside him, and he snuggled her closer to him, smiling as she curved her leg around his, tangling their feet.
"Good morning, beautiful." He'd been awake for awhile, listening to her soft breathing as she slept. He had feasted his eyes on her face, the small dip of her nose, the curve of her lips. He leaned forward to kiss the top of her forehead and he caught of whiff of her soft fragrance. He paused to inhale again and it filled his senses. He didn't understand the power she had over him, and sometimes it left him breathless.
After a rocky beginning the first day, things had began to smooth out. Whatever Trish had told Georgie must have worked; he was coming around to having Sarah with them.
Gisette had been the worse, yelling and screaming at him after pulling him aside at practice.
Last night, after the show, they loaded up their gear and drove the short distance from Columbus to Cincinnati.
Sam and Sarah followed behind on his bike. They stopped at a few rest areas, just to sit on a picnic table and talk, snuggle and steal a few kisses before catching up to the bus.
After checking in at their hotel, they had gathered in Georgie's room and partied for a couple hours, then they all staggered back to their own rooms.
Sam and Sarah had spent the next couple hours making love and talking. They covered every subject from childhood, school, favorite foods,colors, songs, every subject led to another. They talked themselves to sleep, then one or the other would move and they would make love again. The pattern was repeated several times until sleep overcame them.
Sam watched Sarah as she came awake; he loved how she looked when she first woke up. Her eyes fluttered open, then she smiled and closed them again, with a sigh. "It still feels like a dream."
Sam kissed her, softly. "That's the way it is for me, too. I'm so glad you're here, sweetheart." He said as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Sam curled a finger under her chin, lifting it and looking into her eyes. "You have to call your parents today. I'm sure they are worried about you."
Sarah nodded in agreement. "I know, but it's going to be so hard. I don't know how to make them understand."
"Sarah, they will probably never understand. But they will forgive you. They are your parents, they love you. It's important that you let them know that you're alright. You have to promise me that you'll call them every couple days. Ok?"
He saw her nod again, and he smiled. "My god, you look beautiful."
He trailed his fingers over her belly, causing her to giggle.
"Sam! I have to go pee!" She squirmed under his tickling fingers and felt his reaction. "Let me go pee! I'll come right back!" Sliding out from under him, she ran to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, she ran back out and jumped on him, straddling him. "Alright, now you pay!"
She tackled his belly, feeling him squirm under her, as she unmercifully tickled him.
Sarah saw a wicked gleam sparkle in his eyes and felt him push against her, and smiling slyly, she lifted her hips to accommodate him.
Sam entered the bathroom as Sarah was braiding her hair. He watched as her hands worked the plaits. "That's amazing to watch."
She smiled at him, rolling her eyes. "Only you could think this was amazing."
"Everything you do is amazing to me, sweetheart." Sam kissed her neck, then swatted her butt. "I have to go to practice. Don't forget to call your parents."
"I'll be in Trish's room when you come back." Sarah kissed him soundly on the lips. "Don't be too long."
Sarah sat on the bed, holding the phone on her lap. She had told Sam the truth. This was going to be a hard call to make. She groaned to herself, then lifted the receiver and dialed the number. Her mother answered it on the second ring; Sarah wondered if she had been waiting by the phone.
"Hello, mom." Sarah felt the tears forming, and her throat ached, as she tried not to cry.
"Sarah Jane Winston! I don't know why you are doing this!" Her mother began in an angry voice that cracked at the end.
Sarah heard her mother draw in a deep breath, then Jane Winston continued. "Your father and I have been worried sick!"
"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't do this to hurt you, and I don't want you to worry about me." Sarah clutched the receiver tightly. "I'm happy with Sam. He's a good person, and I want to be with him."
"My god, Sarah! You haven't even known him a week! How can you know what he's like in that short of time?" Her mother sounded horrified.
"I know that I want to be with him. I know that he wants to be with me, too. I can't explain it any clearer than that. I'm an adult, I can make my own choices now."
"You keep saying that you want to be with him. I haven't heard you say you love him, or that he loves you." Jane was flabbergasted at the way her daughter was acting. "Are you sure this is the right choice?"
"Yes, mom. I'm sure, I can't say it enough. This is what we want, Sam and I. We need each other."
"But I still haven't heard the word love." Jane pressed on, relentlessly. "He's a singer in a band, are you sure you aren't just one of his groupies to him?"
"I'm not a groupie." Sarah was irritated at the thought of it.
She held her temper at bay, switching the subject. "I'm in Cincinnati now. We are in a different city every day. It's pretty exciting." She tried for a lighter tone in her voice. "Tomorrow we will be in Louisville."
"Sarah, please just come home." Jane's voice was pleading.
"I will, mom. As soon as the tour is over. I will be back before August, I still plan on finishing college."
Jane heard the stubbornness in her daughters voice and knew Sarah was set on doing this. "You have always been so damned independent!" She said, exasperated.
Sarah let out a small laugh, she knew her mother was calming down. "You know, you always said that I take after you. Mom, I love you. I promise I will call you regularly. I have to go now, give my love to dad. Please help him understand why I have to do this."
"I don't understand why you are doing this. But I know you well. I know there is no way I can change your mind. Just promise me that you will be careful." Jane lowered her voice. "And you know what I mean."
Sarah knew what she meant. It didn't take a lot brains to count back seven months from her birthday to her parents anniversary.
"Yes, mom. I know what you mean. I am on the pill." She hesitated, "I'll call you again soon. I love you."
After she hung up, she debated on calling Midgie, then she shook her head and put the phone on the nightstand. One tough call was all she could make in one day.
Sarah was sure that Midgie was waiting for a call, but she wasn't ready to talk to her. She knew Midgie would mention Pete, and that was one person that Sarah tried to avoid thinking about.
She had never gone more than a few hours, without talking to him when they argued. It seemed so final, Sarah felt the ache in her gut when she thought about it.
Sarah set about picking up the clothes in their room, straightening the bed and tidying up the bathroom. She felt guilty about leaving a mess for the maids. Not that she ever saw them, she and Sam would be up and moving on to the next city in the morning.
Picking up her shorts from the day before, she reached in the pocket to retrieve the blue stone heart that Sam had given her.
She carried it in her pocket at all times; it felt good when she held it in her palm, warm to the touch from her body heat.
But as her fingers felt around the pocket, she realized it wasn't there. She panicked and searched the room, thoroughly. After an hour of desperate searching, she sat on the floor in shock.
Somehow, she had lost the stone. She tried to think back to when she had last felt it. They had been in Georgie's room, she remembered.
She stood up and ran out of the room. She desperately hoped it was there.
Trish answered the door, laughing. "I thought you had forgotten about our shopping trip!"
They had made plans the night before to see the city and go shopping while the band was practicing. Sam had given Sarah his credit card, cautioning about buying too much, reminding her that they didn't have much room in his saddlebags.
"No, but, I have a problem." Sarah described the blue heart, asking if Trish had seen it. "Sam gave it to me, I don't want to lose it."
"No, I'm sorry." Trish swept her arm around the neat room. "I picked everything up and I didn't see it." She crossed over to the bed, kneeling down. "You and Sam were sitting here. Maybe it fell under it."
Trish raised up and looked disappointed. "Nothing under there." She put her arm around Sarah's shoulders, "It will be okay. Sam will understand."
Sarah nodded, dejectedly. "It just meant so much to me. I feel awful that I lost it."
"I'm sure it will turn up somewhere." Trish picked up her room key and motioned for Sarah to follow her. "Sam will do everything he can to replace it."
She looked sideways at Sarah. "You know he loves you."
Sarah looked at her in surprise. That was the second time today that someone had mentioned love. She suddenly realized that Sam had never told her that he loved her.
"No...." Sarah shrugged her shoulders. "He's never told me."
"What an idiot he is! Are you seriously telling me that he asked you to come with him and never thought to tell you that he loves you?" Trish was shocked.
"Not in those words, no." Sarah tried to explain it to her as they exited the hotel, but Trish still shook her head in shock.
"Well, take it from me. I have known Sam for a long time, he has never been like this before. And if he hasn't realized he is in love with you, maybe I better talk to him."
"No, Trish, please don't." Sarah begged her. "Let him do it in his own time."
"Do you love him?" Trish asked, peering closely at Sarah's face.
Trish answered her own question. "Of course you do, you came with him. You aren't like the ones that always follow musicians, I can tell." She laughed, sarcastically. "I've seen enough of that type."
"You're right. I wouldn't have come with him, if I didn't love him."
The truth was like a shock to Sarah's system. She and Sam weren't just falling in love, they were already in love. They had both already fallen, hard, in love with each other. She had just realized it, and she wondered if Sam would have the same shocked reaction when he realized it too.