“It’s exactly eighteen hours?”
She shrugged, “Give or take half an hour either way. It depends on how long I stop for gas and bathroom breaks. I drove out here twelve hours the first day, six the second, then had to hole up for two days because of the storm. I was about an hour on the other side of Fool’s Gold. So close, but so far. I got a fresh start here yesterday, I was about two to three hours, slow going because of the blowing snow and wind. Don’t quote me on this, but do you think the storm blew out and we’ll be following it? Or are we in a lull?”
“Let me go check my computer.” He rose, and used one crutch as he thumped down the hall. He was back in a few minutes with it, and sat at the table, moving his place setting to the side as he opened the machine. As she cooked, she heard the light tapping of the keyboard, and didn’t turn around until he called her over to him.
She went over, stood next to him, and placed her hand on his shoulder, while she still held the spatula she’d used to turn the hamburger in the pan. “Is this up-to-date?” She looked at the screen and saw where they were located, and the storm went off to the east.
“Yes, as of five minutes ago. I’d say you were correct, the storm blew over, and we’ll be following it.”
“Is there anything coming from the west?” She leaned down for a closer look, and when she reached to touch the mouse pad, their fingers touched. They both froze, then she jerked her hand back. With saying a word, she straightened and allowed him to continue. She stood there and wondered at the tingling that had gone up her arm at their touch.
“What?” she asked when he said her name.
“It’s clear behind us,” he said as he pointed again, and she nodded, without getting too close to him again. Not that she wouldn’t mind it, but she didn’t want to start anything on the second day of meeting him, and especially not if they had to travel to her home in close proximity of one another for the next two days.
“Good,” she said, and went back to the stove. It took ten minutes to finish putting the meal on the table, and they settled down to eat. Neither of them spoke until they finished eating, and Shay was the first one to speak.
“I’m sorry.”
Faith lifted her head in confusion. “For what?”
“I said I’d buy you lunch, but you ended up cooking for the both of us.”
She leaned back in her seat with a slow smile. “How about this?”
“What?”
“Since we’re going to have to stop for at least one night, why don’t you buy dinner then?”
“I can do that, I can also buy us breakfast. Are you going to want to eat before we leave tomorrow?”
“Not unless you want to eat cold spaghetti. That’s basically all that’s left in your refrigerator.” She looked at him with a smirk. “Some time when we’re gone, we’re going to have to make a grocery list so we can stop on the way back here.”
“I agree, and we’ll probably stop in Fool’s Gold. I have a silly question.”
“What’s that?”
“Is there anything, anything at all that you can get in Kentucky that you won’t be able to get here?”
“Maybe,” she said. “I’ll double check when I get home.”
“Double check how?”
“Look up on the internet to see where it’s sold. I purchase it at Wal-Mart, but there isn’t one of those here.”
“Only up in Denver, three hours away.”
“Yeah, maybe we can stop there on our way out of town. Not that I do it often, and I might be able to find something similar here, but do they usually have deliveries this far out?”
Shay looked at with wide eyes. “No clue, I do know that the gas and electric company comes out here. Just because we’re on one property, it doesn’t mean we’re cut off from the rest of the world. I have seen UPS and FED EX deliver to the main house.” At her frown he smiled.
“The one where Ducky and Clem live. We drive past it when we enter and exit the ranch.”
“Ah, something to look into.”
“Yeah. I was only asking because I’ve seen you eat your two main meals of the day. I’m not saying anything bad. I enjoy watching a woman eat.”
“As long as I eat healthy, I’m good. One thing to know about me, when I go to a grocery store, I don’t indulge in cookies, chips, soda, and stuff like that. I may purchase some ice cream every once in a while, but not very often.”
