"When we were in Beverly Hills, remember I told you that I had a few places to show you?" He asked as they walked into the parking lot.
"Yeah."
"Want to go up to Morrow Mountain?"
Carrie never heard of it before. Of course, she never planned on coming to North Carolina in the first place. "Is it far?"
"Not at all. You up for some mudding?" He asked with a smile.
"Mudding?"
"Getting your pretty white Jeep dirty."
"As long as you help me clean it."
Harrison stuck his hand out for her to shake. She did. "Deal."
❺❾
An hour later, with the dogs in the backseat of her Jeep, Harrison turned into Morrow Mountain State Park.
"I don't know if I'm ready to see it get dirty," Carrie admitted while looking out the window.
He smiled, "it's going to be just fine. Trust me, this will be fun."
Harrison made another turn. "You'll see, we're going to take the hard way to the top of the mountain."
Mud was going to be so hard to get off the car. Especially dried mud after the 35 minute drive back home. But she had Harrison to help. And since this was his idea, she was going to put him to work once they got home.
"Ready?"
"I think so."
"Don't worry, these kind of Jeep's are built for this. I do think you're gonna have fun."
"How do you know all this?"
"Because I had a Jeep of my own in high school. My friends and I would do this all the time."
"Ever take any girlfriends?"
Harrison shook his head. "You're the first."
"Good."
"Now here we go."
They drove up a small trail that was barely wide enough for two cars through the woods. There were plenty of mud puddles to hit as they made their way through the woods and to a more open area that led up the side of the mountain. It was mostly thick brush and not very many trees.
"Left, right, or center?"
He was referring to the three trails they had to choose from. "Center."
It was a steep climb but nothing 4 wheel drive couldn't handle. As they got further up into the mountain, the bigger the mud puddles got.
Harrison hit the gas as they jumped a small hill and landed just behind it in a huge mud puddle. As the white Jeep landed, mud sprayed up on the windows and windshield.
He had to flip on the windshield wipers just before they hit another puddle, coating the entire left side of the Jeep in mud. Poor Wilson couldn't see out of his window anymore.
"Now this one is deep."
Carrie looked ahead. There was a large mud hole right in their way. "And?"
Harrison drove to the right and up the side of a rock to avoid the mud hole. "See? Told you these cars are built for anything."
On a long straightaway, Harrison took the time to play with the radio. There wasn't a very good signal, or cell service. The only channel that came in well was some 80's channel.
"Here we go."
He blasted the music. "This is a good one."
Carrie couldn't help but laugh at him singing along to Michael Jackson. "I'm pretty good aren't I?"
"I don't know about that."
More mud spayed onto the windshield as he drove through another puddle. Just after that, they reached the top of the mountain where it was nice and flat.
Harrison turned off the car, and for a little bit they watched the sun begin to set. His hand was still resting on the shifter with his elbow on the armrest. Slowly, Carrie slid her fingers under his and curled them around his hand.
He didn't bother to squeeze her hand back. Instead, he placed his hand on her cheek and leaned across the armrest to kiss her.
As they kissed, she unbuckled her seatbelt, and with his help, crawled over onto his lap. She accidentally hit the steering wheel with her foot and honked the horn, scaring the people walking in front of them.
It looked bad to those people. His hands where they were on her lower back, and her sitting on his lap. "Um..."
Before he could say anything else, she kissed his neck, getting him to lean his head back. "Carrie."
"I don't care what those people think. It's just me and you now."