The Vacation: Saddles and Secrets Short Story by Shirley Penick

Author:Shirley Penick [Penick, Shirley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Andrea breathed a sigh of relief, as the door shut behind the bellhop, who had helped her bring all her crap to her room. Carl Ray had offered, but she’d been firm about using the hotel staff. If she’d had her own car, she would have left most of the food and drinks there.

How could she get out of going with Carl Ray to Sturgis? She felt so awkward after his declaration in the restaurant. On one hand, she was selfishly glad he hadn’t moved on and still loved her, on the other, it messed with her heart and mind. Hating him and thinking he didn’t care for her was a whole lot easier. Knowing he still loved her made her wonder if she felt the same and was hiding it under anger.

Two whole days were ahead, where she didn’t have to think about it or him. He would go to his convention and she would enjoy Wild Bill Days and the book signing. Before she unpacked, she wanted some ice. Grabbing the ice bucket and her room key, she pulled open her door. The door next to hers opened at the same time and she prepared to smile at her neighbor, hoping to keep things friendly, since they had an adjoining door, and loud neighbors were not fun.

She looked up into the startled eyes of Carl Ray, also holding an ice bucket. Dammit, she didn’t want him to be her neighbor. She wanted to growl.

“Hell, why are you my neighbor?” she asked accusingly.

“I didn’t know I was, until just now.” He shrugged. “At least we won’t have to worry about wild parties in the adjoining room.”

She scowled at him. “I can have a wild party if I want.”

“Um, sure. Of course, you can. Are you meeting up with some people you know?”

Dammit, of course not. “I could make friends.”

He nodded and held out his ice bucket. “I was going to get ice.”

“Me too,” she said stupidly, and they turned to walk down the hall.

The trip to and from the ice machine was awkward, each of them trying to act normal and failing. Thank goodness the darn machine was only a few doors down.

When they got back to the room. He put a hand on her arm. “I’m sorry. For everything. For six years ago. For what I said in the restaurant. Just everything. If you don’t want to go with me to Sturgis, I understand.”

This was her chance to get out of it, but he looked so sincere, and kind of sad, that she couldn’t. “No, I think it will be fun to go.”

A glimmer of something, hope maybe, lit his eyes. “Yeah. Guess I’ll see you at the dock dog’s competition and we can cheer for Flying Festus.”

Andrea laughed. “Perhaps. Have a great conference.”

“Thanks, have a great vacation, buy lots of books tomorrow.”

Andrea let herself back into her room, feeling better than she had in… well… a while. Glad to finally have some closure with Carl Ray, now she could move on with her life.

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