Chapter 11 #2
“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?”
“Nothing, just looking at the pictures I took from the top of the Arch. I can’t believe we could look out from it.”
“Yeah, and on both sides.” She laughed as she continued driving.
They had spent almost two hours between touring the Arch, and the other tourist attractions in the building, and the gift shop.
She purchased a tee shirt for herself, and a key chain.
They continued driving, and she looked at the GPS, the odometer, the gas tank, and Shay.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I’m calculating the time.” She laughed and pointed. “The clock on my phone just switched back to Eastern Standard Time. We’re three hours from home, so we should arrive in plenty of time to still have daylight.”
“Do you live close to a town?”
“I do, maybe about five minutes away from any major shopping, why?”
“What about when we get closer, you call and order a pizza or Chinese?”
“I can do that,” she said and discussed what was available, places she had used a lot since living in her home for the last ten years. They settled on pizza and wings, and when they got to the point where she needed gas, she looked at him with a grin.
“If you pump, I’ll order. The food will take roughly forty-five minutes, we’re thirty minutes out.”
“Got it, go ahead.” He pumped the gas, and when they got underway, he started paying more attention to his surroundings.
They had just taken their suitcases into her house when a car pulled up, and Shay went out to get their food, giving the delivery boy a large tip.
By the time he was back inside, there were paper plates, and napkins on the table.
“I have beer, wine, and water.”
“I’ll take a beer.”
She got them and they settled down to eat. At one point, he looked around with a frown.
“What’s wrong?”
“This place feels like it’s the same size of my cabin, maybe a little smaller.”
“It might be, smaller, that is. It’s actually three bedrooms, which are small. I converted one into an office, and there is only one bathroom, off the hallway. Do you know how much land your cabin sits on?”
“Tony and Cole both told me that each cabin has access to the two acres around it. That’s why they are spread so far apart. As long as we maintain it, we can do what we want with it, except destroy it.”
“That’s a given. I have just a little over a quarter of an acre here. I’ve always wanted more space, I’m going to love living in the cabin.”
“Yeah,” he said as he picked up another slice of pizza and took a bite.