Chapter 11
“We’ll take it,” Faith said as she slid her credit card across the counter.
When Shay started to say something, she looked at him with a shake of her head.
After they were checked into the hotel, and given keys, they walked back outside.
Instead of going to the truck for their luggage, they walked three doors down to a restaurant.
“Why did you take the room?” Shay asked after they were seated and were looking at their menus. “Especially for the price you paid?”
She looked at him with a grin. “First, I can afford it. Second, I drove this way, because this location is on a bucket list of mine. Trust me.” They gave the waitress their order, and because they wouldn’t be driving any further that night, they opted for a beer for him, and a glass of wine for her, making small talk as they waited for their meal to arrive.
“Damn,” Shay said after the waitress left and looked at her with a grin. “I might just get fat if this leg brace doesn’t come off soon. All the sitting around and eating I’m going to be doing, and unable to exercise.”
Faith laughed. “I’m sure you can do some chair exercises.” They dug into their meals, enjoying every bite. When the bill arrived, Shay snatched it up and withdrew his own credit card. On the way back to the hotel, she paused and looked at him.
“How observant are you?”
“I think I’m pretty observant, why?”
“Do you realize where we are?”
He looked around, then down at her with a shrug.
“Some city.” He sighed and shook his head.
“Sorry, I don’t even know what state we’re in.
That last gas station before we stopped for the night, I took one of the pain pills, and I heard your entire story about what happened when you raced, but I didn’t pay attention to our surroundings.
I guess I’m not as observant as I thought. ”
“Are you okay?” she asked in instant concern, and reached out to place her hand on his chest.
“I’ll be fine, but if it’s okay with you, I’d like to get to the room. Yes, I sat on my ass all day, but I want to remove the brace.”
“Good, then we’ll go back.” On the way, they stopped at her truck and withdrew their suitcases. Because they had already checked in, they had the keys, and didn’t have to stop. They rode all the way to the eighteenth floor, and Faith wrinkled her nose when she realized they would have a long walk.
“I’m good.” He saw her expression, and braced his crutch beneath him. “Can you take my case and go ahead?”
“Sure,” she said as she did that. When she got to the room, she looked out the windows, grinned, but closed the curtains.
She looked at the beds, and froze. “Shit,” she whispered to the empty room.
She had requested a room with the best view, and with two beds.
There was only one, but it did have the best view.
They could deal with it after they settled.
Faith stood in the doorway, with the door open, waiting for Shay, and noticed he was walking slower.
She called out, he looked up, and sighed in relief.
One inside, she shut and locked the door, but he stepped into the bathroom.
She waited for him to exit, and held up her hand to stop him from going around the corner into the room.
“What? Faith, I really need to get this brace off.”
“I know, and I realize you’re tired, in pain, and not very observant. I requested this room because I wanted the view. Like I said at dinner, this town has been on my bucket list for some time. The good news is that we do have a terrific view, the bad news, there’s only one bed.”
“It is a king?”
“Yes, why?”
“Because it will be big enough for the two of us. I’m sure you won’t take up much room, and I’ve been known that once I fall asleep, especially if I’m exhausted, I don’t move.”
“Oh, okay, so, let’s go in. I want you to sit on the bed and face the curtains. I closed them because I wanted to shock you with the view.”
Because he was in pain, he indulged her and sat on the side of the bed facing the windows, and even closed his eyes when she told him to.
“Okay, you can open them.”
He did and sat there in stunned silence. It took a good thirty seconds before he picked up his crutch and hobbled to the window to look out. He looked between what was outside and her.
“Holy shit, is that the Arch? We’re in St. Louis?”
“Yes, and yes.”
He laughed as he looked back and saw the setting sun reflecting off it, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to bring her closer and kiss the side of his head. “Can we go up in it?”
“Yes, but they don’t open until nine in the morning.”
“Perfect, we can sleep in a little, pack up, enjoy the free breakfast, then go up into the arch. I guess this has been on my bucket list too.” He hugged her tighter and sighed when she wrapped her arms around him, and they both continued to watch the setting sun. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” They watched until it was dark, then he went back to the bed and removed his brace, along with a heavy sigh.
“I’m going to jump in the shower.”
“Okay, I’m going to check the weather. Call out if you need me.” She didn’t see his nod, but he said he would. Thirty minutes later, he rejoined her and saw the weather report on the TV screen.
“All good?”
“Yes, just as I predicted in Colorado, we’re following the storm. It’s in the Carolina’s now, going out to sea.”
“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.”