Samson and Sunset (34 page)

  Shay went right to the floor with me;
holding me tight saying, “Let it out, just let it all out,
princess.”

  By now he was crying, too. I finally
settled down and he picked me up and took me out of the shower.

  He pulled my soaking wet t-shirt off
over my head, but he had a hard time getting those soaked jeans off
me. Finally, he rolled them down and off. He took off his wet
clothes, while he reached in and turned on a real warm shower. Then
he picked me up and put us both back under the warm water.

  He held me gently, looking into my
eyes, saying, “I’m here in your life now, princess. You don’t have
to suffer these things alone anymore. You can tell me anything.
I’ll never laugh at you, I’ll never leave you. I love you so much.
I’ll never let you go. When I met you I was just a shallow party
guy, chasing women around. Now I wouldn’t trade my life for
anything. I would never pick any of those women over you. You’re a
keeper, Kathrine Mitchell Westover. You’re mine, and I’m keeping
you!”

  I couldn’t believe I had just let all
of that out. But that was Shay; if there’s a problem, get it out in
the open, don’t let it simmer until it boils. Well, that’s what had
happened to me. I had let everything get to a boiling point and it
had almost done me in, but my Shay was saving me.

  After a while of holding me close
under the warm water, he got me out of the shower; dried me off,
then dried himself. He put my lotion on me, picked me up and took
me to the bed. “No lovemaking for you right now, Callie,” he said.
“You need to be held and loved; you need to feel secure. That’s
what I’m here for. I love you so much. You are my whole life,
princess.” His voice quivered a little.

  As he held me, brushing the hair back
from my forehead, he kept his beautiful eyes on mine.

  “Shay,” I said, “I think we can go
home now. I don’t want to go to Hudson anymore. My home is with
you. I want to live in your heart like you said I could. My home is
in Westover with you and the kids. We can go home, darlin’. We can
go home to our home.”

  “No, my baby doll,” said Shay, holding
me closer, “we’re here for the week and we’re going to relax and
enjoy each other. I want to give you my full attention, ’cause,
woman, you already have my full heart.”

  We were both so wiped out we fell
asleep in each other’s arms. As I drifted off to sleep I felt a
calm like I’d never felt, it was a new feeling. I felt completely
safe.

  A Love Like Ours

  When I woke up that day, a weight had
been lifted off me. I was ready to enjoy my lover. I woke him and,
I’m sure much to his amazement and using some of the techniques
he’d taught me, I gave Shay a run for him money. I think I can
proudly say I wore
Shay
out for a change.

  Later that day the sun was out and we
walked all over the ranch. We always had to wear our western boots;
the ranch had rattlesnakes. We did some horseback riding, even went
into the nearby burg. There, I saw an advertisement saying there
was a cattle auction the next day and, much to Shay’s amazement, I
said I wanted to go.

  “We’re not buying anything, Callie,”
he warned. “We don’t need any cattle and we already have the two
best horses in the world. But we can go watch, that can be
fun.”

  So the next morning I fixed a big
breakfast, we grabbed our jackets and were out the door for the
cattle auction in the Sand Hills, once again. This time Shay didn’t
have to tell me the difference between a cow and a steer. There
were people selling vegetables, so we bought some. Then I saw this
couple with several big boxes out by their car and a For Sale sign.
I went to have a look and my heart just caved: they were selling
puppies! I looked up at Shay with that Callie-look.

  Shay was smiling. “Yeah,” he said,
“you can buy a puppy.”

  “Darlin’,” I said, “if we buy just
one, the kids will fight over it. Can’t we buy two puppies?”

  “Two of the same?”

  “No,” I said. “A boy puppy for Wessy
and a little girl puppy for Kelly. I want that tiny little
reddish-brown and white Pekingese runt for Kelly, and, Shay, let’s
get that sweet Keeshond for Wessy. Can’t you just see the little
guy wrestling with him?”

  Well, our family had just grown at the
auction where Shay said we weren’t going to buy anything. These
were registered puppies; together they cost Shay four-hundred-and-
twenty-four dollars.

  We left the auction and went to buy
two dog bowls, dog food, two collars and leashes—we even bought a
couple dog beds. Oh, let’s face it: we were buying the puppies for
ourselves as much as we were for the kids. We decided to wait and
let the kids name them.

  On the way back to the ranch that
evening, Shay said, “I can’t believe we bought four dogs
today!”

  “You didn’t,” I said, “You only bought
two.”

  “Princess, are you forgetting the two
hotdogs we bought?” Shay asked with a silly grin.

  “Shay Westover,” I said, “you are such
a goof!”

  When we got to the ranch, a very light
rainy mist was coming down. Shay unloaded the car while I took the
poor little shaking puppies inside. After I fed them and walked
them, they took to their warm sheep’s wool beds fast.

  I fixed chicken noodle soup and egg
salad sandwiches with iced tea. I told Shay I was going to
shower.

  “Wait a minute,” Shay said as he
dashed in the bedroom. He came out with his beautiful Indian-print
blanket.

  “Strip, babe,” he said, as he helped
me. Then I helped him undress.

  “Come on!” He took my hand and we ran
out the front door totally naked.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “We’re going out to the very spot
where we made love on our honeymoon. Remember that erotic night in
the rain after your little naked dance?”

  “Of course I do! I will remember it
until the day I die. I really turned you on that night,” I
laughed.

  Shay spread the blanket and tackled me
to the ground. I was ready for the most explosive sex of my life. I
wanted fireworks. Well, I got lightning! Out of nowhere, a
lightening bolt struck about fifty feet away from us, followed by a
God-awful crack of thunder.

  I’d expected sparks—but not that
kind!

  Shay pulled me up, grabbed the blanket
and ran into the house. When we got inside, we were both still
shaking from our close call. Then we started laughing, saying how,
if we’d been struck by lighting, the newspaper would have read,
“Two Naked Charred Bodies Found On a Blanket, That Must Have Been
One Hot Lovemaking Session.”

  We settled for inside sex and made it
just as hot and steamy. I do still laugh, though, when I think of
how fast Shay got us up off the ground and into the house. He could
move in more ways than one!

  ***

Sunday afternoon, I told Shay I was really
craving root beer. He said that he would run into the burg, which
was about twenty minutes away, and get us some. I could hear the
glass packs making their cackling sound as he drove off. I didn’t
know what I was going to do for the next hour or so; I decided to
just do a little exploring, see what was in the dresser drawers and
the closets. There were clothes, pajamas, magazines—that sort of
thing. Then I opened the closet in one of the smaller bedrooms and
was shocked to see a box of baby toys I recognized as little
Rie-Rie’s that had disappeared before we got home from Lincoln. I
bet Maggie had sent them up when Sterling came up to the ranch. It
was kind of them to get the toys out of my sight for a while, I did
appreciate it. I sat there looking through the box, each and every
toy, so precious to me. I looked at each one and held it close to
my heart.

  In the bottom of the box I found her
Tuneyville Choo Choo train. I picked it up and took it to the
kitchen and set it on the kitchen table. I sat down and let my mind
wander back to Rie-Rie’s first and only Christmas, when she had
gotten the train.

  It was a week before Christmas that
year and Shay had gone to Hudson on business. It had started
snowing when he left, and when I looked out the window I saw that
it was really coming down. I was hoping Shay would get home soon.
At least two more hours passed until I heard the Impala pass the
house; I was so relieved.

  When Shay walked in the back door he
was covered in snow. His arms were full of wrapped Christmas
presents.

  “Ho, ho, ho! Santa’s home!” he said as
he came into the kitchen.

  Shay had never gone Christmas shopping
for the kids without me, but the Christmas bug must have bitten him
that year.

  “Gee, what have you got there?” I
asked.

  “I just have a few things for the kids
and my wife,” he smiled.

  “Oh, what pretty boxes,” I said
admiringly, “your wife is a lucky woman.”

  He kissed me and went into the living
room to put the packages under the tree. Our Christmas tree was
always beautiful, in its special place right at the base of the
curved staircase. It was always a big tree, at least nine or ten
feet tall, reaching its crowned top toward our beautiful high
ceilings. The house was probably built eighty years ago and had
excellent craftsmanship. Shay told the kids he had run into Santa
while he was out, and Santa had given him these gifts for Christmas
morning.

  ***

On Christmas morning, Shay’s famous “Ho, ho,
ho!” rang through the house, followed by the old, “Hey! I just saw
Santa!” Which of course was the kids’ signal to come thundering
down the stairs and start their Christmas.

  I carried little Rie-Rie down and sat
her on her little blanket. She was six months old and had been
sitting up for about a month. She was excited watching the kids
open their presents, laughing at the pretty paper flying
everywhere.

  Then I sat down by her and I opened
her presents. She was so happy. She made little cooing sounds and
talked in her little baby lingo. We opened a box that Shay had
gotten for her on his snowy day shopping trip, and it was the
little Tuneyville Choo Choo. It was a little train with an opening
in the back that you inserted a little round disc into. The disc
would turn, and the cogs in the disc would move the train and play
different nursery rhythms. There were about six different discs in
different colors. Well, Shay bent down beside little Rie-Rie and
put the disc in the back but the little train wouldn’t move, the
shag carpet was too thick. Now Rei-Rei didn’t know the difference,
but Shay did. I remember him saying to her in his tender baby
voice:

  “Oh my! Looky! Train all caught.
Daddy’s going to fix it.”

  He picked her up gently in her little
blanket and took her to the kitchen doorway. With one hand he
spread her blanky down, then sat her on it so the tiled kitchen
floor was in front of her.

  “Daddy’s getting the train, Daddy’s
getting the choo choo train,” he said as he hurried to get the
train and bring it to her.

  He didn’t want her to think he’d left
her sitting there alone. He set the train up on the kitchen floor
and when he put the disc in, it started going in circles and
playing music. She got the biggest grin on her face and sat there
clapping her little hands. He must have spent at least half an hour
down there with her, playing the different discs. I think he was
having as much fun as she was. Thinking back, it had to have been
my insecurities that made me think Shay wasn’t as attentive to her
as the others. He loved that little girl.

  Just as I was thinking back on all
this, Shay walked in the door. He set the root beer down; then he
sat down at the table in front of the train.

  “Where did you find this?”

  “Your mom had Rie-Rie’s toys stored up
here at the ranch.”

  While I fixed us our root beers in
frosted glasses from the freezer, I saw Shay playing with the
train. I knew there were a lot of memories flowing back for him,
just like they had for me.

  “Callie, let’s take the train home
with us and put it up on the shelf. Is that okay with you? Can you
do that?”

  “Shay, the same thing crossed my mind,
and yes, I can handle it now. I think it would be nice.” I put the
glasses down, then put my arms around him. “Shay Man, you have
given me a strength I never thought I’d have.”

  We left the train sitting out there on
the table the rest of the time we were at the ranch. Somehow that
little train made the love we had for each other flow through the
ranch house all the more.

  ***

Monday was a beautiful calm day. I made a big
dinner—a t-bone steak, baked potatoes, frozen corn and a fresh
garden salad. I even baked banana bread. After dinner I rounded up
the dishes and Shay helped me wash and dry them.

  “Want to go horseback riding?’ he
asked.

  “I just want to sit out on the porch
and soak up this beautiful sun,” I said. “With fall coming there
won’t be too many more nice days.”

  So we went out on the big wraparound
porch. As usual I, sat one step below Shay. I loved it when he
wrapped his knees and arms around me. We sat there for about
forty-five minutes talking about how beautiful the Sand Hills were.
This was the land that Mari Sandoz wrote about. I remember reading
her best-selling biography,
Old Jules
, while I was in high
school. There were miles of prairie grass as far as the eye could
see. It was some of the greatest cattle grazing grass in the world.
Buffalo used to roam wild here—the major food source of the
Cheyenne, Sioux, Dakota, and Pawnee Indians.

  The Sand Hills had the most amazing
sunsets. I loved watching the pink, gray and golden skies slowly
merge and gently kiss the earth. It was mid-afternoon as we sat
peacefully together, the sun warming the front porch. Shay even
gave me a great shoulder rub.