“Good, maybe by the time we return home, it’ll start warming up, and we can get the track done, and the horses raced.” She looked at him and saw him nod, but he wasn’t really paying attention to her. She walked over to the bedside, where she’d placed his bottles of pills and held them up. “Which one?”
“Not the Oxy, can I take two of the other?” He pointed to his leg and she winced when she saw it was still black, but tonight it looked a little swollen. She shook two in her hand, gave them to him, then the glass of water. He finished the entire glass, and nodded. “Go take your shower, I’m going to settle in bed and watch the news.” He looked between her and the bed. “I promise, I’ll keep my hands to myself.”
“That’s a pity,” she whispered with her back to him. She gathered her set of night clothes and hurried into the bathroom, not seeing his thoughtful expression, and not realizing he had heard her.
She took her time, and went back out to the bedroom forty minutes later. She didn’t know why, but she’d taken the extra time to shave her legs, not that anything was going to happen, but a girl could wish. On a heavy sigh, she walked back into the bedroom, and the first thing she glanced at was the bed. She didn’t know if he was asleep, or faking it, but as she walked around to turn off all the lights, and shut the curtains, he never moved. She even paused beside his side of the bed and watched as his bare chest rose and fell with his deep breathing. She nodded, and went back to the bathroom, turning on one of the lights, but leaving the door open a few inches, using it as a nightlight. Not that she needed one, but she hated waking up in complete darkness in an unfamiliar location. She finally settled in the bed, with the remote on her nightstand, and lay there for roughly an hour before she yawned, turned off the TV, and snuggled down into the bed.
Hours later, she tried to roll over, and couldn’t move very far. She froze when she heard deep breathing by her ear, but when she smelled the familiar scent of Shay, she relaxed back into sleep. He had rolled over and wrapped his arms around her while he slept. She was good with that.
The next time she woke, she rolled over and was free to move. She stretched, with her eyes closed, and drew in a deep breath, sitting up when she smelled coffee. Looking around, she spotted Shay in front of the window, in the armchair provided, with his feet on the windowsill looking toward the arch.
“Is there more coffee?”
“Yes, your cup just finished brewing, it’s in the machine.”
“Thank you,” she said as she flopped the covers back, rose, and got the cup. She came over to him to look out, while cradling the coffee in her hands. “What are you looking at?”
“The scenery. Do you know what river that is?”
“I believe it’s the Missouri.” At his look, she smiled. “St. Louis is in both Missouri, and Illinois.”
He nodded as he sipped his coffee. “That’s right. I’m used to either open farmland, or the hills of Colorado.”
“Where did you grow up?”
“Pennsylvania, but it was basically in the heart of Amish country. Large farms, rolling green fields, more horses and buggies on the road than vehicles. It was peaceful. Growing up, I helped out on the farms in the area. I learned a new appreciation for their way of life.” At her look, he smiled. “No electricity, no tractor, bailer, elevator.” He looked out the window again, with a long, lost look. “The first couple of years, they cut the hay down by hand, then put it in the barn by pitchfork.”
“What changed, it seemed like something changed.”
“It did. One of the non-Amish neighbors experienced a house fire, they lost everything. Once the insurance money came in, the family had to decide if they were going to rebuild or move. The Amish community banded together, and helped him rebuild. They refused to take any money from him. The house fire happened in the spring, and it didn’t affect his barn or animals. It only took that group of men two months to rebuilt the house.” He looked at her with a grin. “There were well over fifty men working at any given time. The only time they didn’t work was on Sunday.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, anyway, because the Amish refused to take any money from him, he used his equipment, tractor, rake, bailer, and elevator to take care of their hay fields. The Amish didn’t do any of the work, because the equipment went against their beliefs, but they did put the bales of hay on the elevator, and take it off up in the barn. That happened when I was around ten. I drove through the old community when I came to Colorado, and talked to some of the people still around. Both Amish, and non-Amish.That guy whose house burnt down, passed away, but his son, who remembers the fire and the house being rebuilt, continues to cut their hay.”
“Wow, how long have you been away?”
“I was nine when I started helping on the farms, up until I was eighteen. I went into the Army after high school, then was transferred closer to Philly, so I’d say about eighteen, or nineteen years. I’d go home on occasion, but once my family died out, I never went back.”
They sat there in silence for a long time, sipping their coffee, watching the lazy river below, the birds flying overhead, and reflected on what he just said. When someone’s stomach growled, they chuckled and Faith grabbed the bathroom first to get ready for the day. As soon as she came out, Shay went in, but called out that the coffee was gone. She made sure her things were packed, and sat in the chair he had earlier, waiting. When they were ready to go, she took both suitcases, allowing him to have his hands free for the crutch, and once they were downstairs, she took the cases to the truck. Back in the hotel, they went to the breakfast buffet, filled their plates, and ate their fill.
Faith checked out, and when she joined Shay she held up two small pieces of paper, and wore a gigantic grin.
“What do you have there?”
“Two free tickets to get into the Arch. They don’t say this when you check in, but apparently, if you spend a certain amount, you can get the tickets. With charging our breakfast to the room, we met the criteria.” She shrugged and laughed joyously. “I don’t know if it was true or not, or if they have a deal with the people at the Arch, but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“Me neither. You’re going to let me pay for half of the hotel, correct?”
“We’ll see,” she laughed and turned to point. “We need to be over there. We have thirty minutes before it opens, and I’m hoping you can make it.”
“I can. I had a great night’s sleep, so I’m good to go.” He saw her look at him, and frowned. “What?”
“Nothing,” she said with a grin, and they headed out to their destination.
Hours later, Shay shook his head. “Wow.”
“What?”
