The Bartender by Shanna Handel

Author:Shanna Handel [Handel, Shanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blushing Books Publications
Published: 2017-12-13T16:00:00+00:00

“Thanks, Glenn.” With a tip of his hat, Wes took the mail Postmaster Glenn handed him and headed back to his truck. The feed bags were piled high in the truck bed and Wes was grateful to have just completed his last errand of the day. It had taken weeks for things to get back to normal after the wedding. Finally, back into his usual routine, Wes had enjoyed making the monthly purchases for the ranch.

In the passenger seat, Carrie was happily sipping a strawberry milkshake. Wes had promised a visit to Burger Barn to entice Carrie to make the trek to town with him. Already finished with her fries, Wes watched, chuckling from the window, as Carrie helped herself to what was left of his share.

Wes rapped his knuckles against the glass, laughing, as a startled Carrie looked up with a guilty expression. She gave a small shrug and smile, mouthing the words, “I’m hungry.”

Wes went over to the driver’s door, making a face of mock surprise when he saw what was left of the Barn Double Burger he had ordered. Looking over at his tiny wife, seated in a sea of empty wrappers, Wes asked, “Carrie, is there something you need to tell me?”

“Like what?” she replied, taking a final, loud suck on her straw. “All gone,” Carrie said sadly, placing the Styrofoam cup reverently down in the graveyard of trash.

“You seem to be eating for two lately.” Wes turned the key and headed down Main Street, back to the ranch. He could only be off his land for so long before he begun to feel the ache to return.

Carrie turned to Wes indignantly. “Weston. Are you calling me fat?” she asked, astonished.

“That’s Wes, or Daddy to you, little girl, and no, I am simply asking why my itty-bitty, little thing of a wife is suddenly eating more food than me?” Wes had meant it as a joke, but as he said the words he realized Carrie had been a bit obsessed with food lately. She had eaten enough brisket to feed three grown men at the wedding and had put away a half a pan of leftover Banana pudding the next morning.

“Bah,” Carrie said, waving her hand in Wes’ direction. “I’ve always been this hungry.”

With a shrug Wes dropped the subject, navigating the curves of the familiar roads back to the ranch.

A few moments later, Carrie asked, “Would it be a problem if I were eating for two?” while gazing out her window, her voice quiet.

“What do you mean?”

“Have you ever thought about us having kids?” Wes caught Carrie sneaking a shy glimpse at him out of the corner of her eyes.

Wes’ focus was on the present, not one to spend time dwelling on the future. At first, with Carrie, Wes’ energies had been spent making her his. Then there was the renovation of the bunkhouse and planning their own wedding. That was the time when Carrie had become so ill. Wes’ only thought was of keeping Carrie alive.

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