Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Stone
“Oh, I’ve heard of this place,” Micah said as they passed an old-weathered sign proclaiming they’d entered Terlingua. “We should have asked Lydia to join us!”
Stone took another glance at the second line of the sign that read, Ghost Town, and chuckled. “I’m no expert, but I thought once a ghost chose a place to haunt, they pretty much stayed in one spot.”
“That’s a good point; I’ll ask her tonight, though maybe we’ll get to see some other ghosts and I can ask them.”
Stone hoped not. One friendly lady ghost was fine, but if you considered the history of Terlingua, you’d be far more likely to encounter a surly miner pretty pissed off at some wealthy owner who failed to give a moment’s consideration to the safety of the mine he sent men down into.
“Isn’t this place famous for its chili cookoff?” Micah asked, her head on a swivel as if looking for rows and rows of simmering crockpots full of different types of meat and, though frowned upon by some, beans.
“That’s in November when the town goes from ghostly to booming during the cookoff. Teams sign up months and even years in advance just to get a spot. If you want, we can try to come back one day and taste some chili.”
Micah gave it some consideration and then shook her head. “I think I like it better now. It’s like we have the whole town to ourselves. But I am hungry.”
“No worries. Ghost town or not, people actually do live here.”
“They do? Where?”
Stone shrugged. “I don’t have any personal addresses, but according to Google, there is a population of around a hundred year round. And I’m pretty certain the restaurant is run by those still breathing.”
His words proved true as he pulled the Jeep to a stop not far from a restaurant with a long porch out front. People were sitting in rockers or on benches, some perched on railings just chatting or snapping photos with their phones.
“We’ll have some lunch then take a tour.” At her quick glance, he smiled. “One that doesn’t include bulls this time.”
“Sounds like fun,” Micah said. “I’m starving!”
They hadn’t made it to the porch steps before Micah stopped and pointed. “How do you feel about snakes?”
Stone read the sign which had a drawing of a snake in mid lunge, his mouth wide open and venom dripping from its fangs. Crude lettering above the snake’s head warned people of “viper crossings”.
“Let’s just say I’d rather face a raging bull,” Stone said. “Maybe our hike will be confined to whatever we can see from the car.”
“Don’t be a wuss, Daddy, I’m sure they’re more scared of you than you are of them.” Seeing his expression and watching him give an exaggerated shudder, had her giggling. “Don’t worry, I can suck the venom out.”
A far more pleasant picture formed in his mind. “Can’t think of a better way to die than to have you sucking me.”
Micah burst out in full laughter, which had several of the porch sitters looking their way. Lowering her voice, she bumped her hip against his and said, “The chances of that snake biting you in the location you are fantasizing about are slim to none. He’s far more likely to sink his teeth about three feet lower.”
“A man can dream,” Stone said, popping her on her ass as she skipped up the steps ahead of him.
Though they did indeed eat some chili, it was only a scoop added to their thick hamburgers. When Micah tried to get her mouth open wide enough to take her first bite, Stone’s mind went directly back to that dream.
“This is impossible,” she declared, setting the huge bun full of beef, onions, pickles and chili back on her plate and stuffing a french fry into her mouth instead.
“All you have to do is squish it,” Stone said, reaching across the table and using the flat of his palm to compress her hamburger.
“What happened to the surgeon who is such a stickler about hygiene?” she asked.
“He wants his Little to be able to consume enough calories to have the energy to hike and enough protein to be ready to do all that sucking she’s promised.”
Micah rolled her eyes. “A poet and a dreamer, you’re such a Renaissance man, Daddy.”
“I’ll plead guilty as charged or perhaps enter a plea of not-guilty due to temporary insanity as just the vision of those pretty red lips parting and your sweet mouth opening wide as you?—”
Her instant flush and the dilation of her pupils belied her protest of, “Daddy!” as she scanned the area around them. “People might hear you!”
Not even the tiniest bit concerned, Stone sat back in his chair. “Why, Webby, why on earth should that matter? I’m simply talking about you eating your hamburger now that it’s been properly squished.”
Her gaze dropped to her plate to see her hamburger had lost at least a full inch of height and he’d cut it in half as well. Meeting his gaze, she rolled her eyes a second time. “Sure you were.” Picking up a half, she took a bite and chewed. Once she swallowed, he was treated to a third roll of gorgeous lilac eyes. “This is the best hamburger I’ve ever eaten, even if it’s more of a patty melt now that you squashed it.”
Laughing, they enjoyed their lunch at a far more leisurely pace than the ones they occasionally managed to eat together at the hospital. As Stone sat back, his long legs stretched out on the wide wooden planks of the floor, ankles crossed while he watched her pop another fry into her mouth, he knew he was the luckiest man in the whole damn town and that included however many ghosts were roaming about.
After lunch, Stone grabbed a map, and they took a self-guided tour around the town. They learned there had been far more danger than a mine caving in. Micah grew a little sad as he read from the brochure about the mine and the mercury extracted from it. As medical professionals, they both knew the horrors of toxic poisoning and were aware of the huge gap between workers and the men actually raking in the money from the thousands of flasks of mercury extracted from the ground.
He wasn’t the least bit surprised to see her bend to gather a few wildflowers growing along a rocky outcropping only to place them at the gate, which led into the cemetery. Crooked wooden crosses and decaying stones marked the graves of some of those workers.
“It’s so sad they didn’t know how dangerous fumes from the furnaces were,” she said as they looked up at the large chimney that remained of the foundry.
“It is, but Madame Curie didn’t know the dangers of radiation when she discovered radium and polonium either. Sometimes progress requires a price, little one.”
“All too often that price is way too high,” Micah said, wiping a tear off her cheek.
Wishing he’d skipped the mining part of their day, Stone took her into his arms and simply held her, knowing she’d be fine but needed to be allowed to be sad for those lost. When she gave him a hug, signaling she was ready to proceed, he bent to kiss the top of her head before letting her step out of his arms.
“I’m okay, Daddy, but let’s not mention this to Lydia, okay?”
“Okay, baby,” Stone said, brushing a curl off a damp cheek which earned him a smile.
“But I’m definitely telling her about the bull. That one has a happy ending.”
They left the ghost town behind.
“Aren’t we going to tour the park?” she asked as a sign for Big Bend National Park came into view.
“Definitely, but not for a few days. I’ve made reservations to stay in a cabin in the park and we’ll do some hiking. But first, we have a few more days with Lydia and a couple other activities.”
“Thanks, Daddy, I’m glad we didn’t go on a cruise or fly to some exotic beachy place. I’m having a lot more fun learning about our country.”
“You are?”
“Yes, some of it is sad, but all of it is part of who we are. Besides, sometimes life just seems so crowded. I’d rather be with just you and not a bunch of other people.”
Stone could totally understand that as he often felt a bit claustrophobic working in one of the best hospital complexes in the United States. He’d been born and raised in Texas and yet this was the first time he’d been to this part of the huge state. He was enjoying himself just as much as Micah seemed to be.
“Ready for the shining part of the day?”
“Definitely! Are there gold or diamond mines around here we’re going to dig?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Stone said as he drove back the way they’d come. “But I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.”
“I haven’t been so far,” she said, humming along to the country song playing softly on the radio.
Stone grinned at the sight of the toe of her shoe tapping against the floorboard. While he couldn’t two-step with her and drive at the same time, he could encourage her to just let go. He reached over to turn the radio up and pressed the button to roll down the windows.
Her shout of glee as the wind blew her curls into an adorable dance around her head was one of the best sounds he’d ever heard. As she looked up at him, her smile flashed before the chorus began, and this time his voice joined hers. They belted out the lyrics with no one but the occasional cow or soaring hawk to listen to their serenade as they made their way up the mountain.