Route 66-based story
written by OC,SH’s founder, inspired by his September 2009 Route 66 road trip

CHAPTER 10: STALL TACTIC

The middle sibling steered her car into the business parking area right next to her older brother’s Caprice.

“Figures he would bring that one,” she muttered to herself as she turned her car off. She wasn’t exactly a big fan of older cars.

As she stepped out, she began to wonder how the conversation with her younger brother would go. She knew she & her older brother needed to find out what was going on, but didn’t think they should push him too much. She was worried the youngest would take offense & run back to Nashville without much explanation.

She shook herself out of her wild imagination & closed her car door. She hit the key FOB to lock it, though as she did so, she felt a little silly. This was, after all, small town America. Route 66 small town America at that. She knew she didn’t have to lock her car, but it had just become habit when she, her husband & children had lived in the “big city” … a habit she never had been able to shake. She hesitated for a second, but kept walking towards the building.

Before she went inside, she stopped & glanced around. It was a gorgeous morning … plenty of sunshine, nary a cloud in the sky, & comfortable temperatures. She had a feeling the business might see a number of people today. Weather like this always seemed to bring the visitors in droves. She loved how Route 66 still does that.

“We moved here to be closer to people,” her mother had told her once. At the time, she couldn’t understand that concept since the “big city” has far more people. But, over the years, she came to realize exactly what her mother meant. Now, she wouldn’t trade it for anything.

She glanced around again, slowly this time … as if taking mental pictures to form a panorama. She’d done this before, of course, but this time, it was, subconsciously anyway, a stall tactic. She sighed deeply, took a 3rd quick look around, eyed her car, then walked in the business’ front door.