“Wait a minute, honey,” Robert said as soon as he stopped the car. Susan was reaching across to open the car door with her good hand. “Let me get the wheel chair out of the back.”
“Robert, I do not need a wheel chair. You’ve already described how small the house is.” She could see that for herself as they pulled into the tiny front drive. The little bungalow was what would have been considered modern sixty years ago with its cypress beams, low-pitched roof and plate glass eves. It had obviously been well kept up. The yard was miniscule, but there were towering oaks that completely shaded the house. It looked rather dark.
“The only way I could spring you from the hospital was to assure them that you would not be on your feet any more than absolutely necessary, remember?” Robert pulled the folding wheel chair from the trunk of the Lincoln and set it up with ease, quickly wheeling it to the side of the car.
Susan sighed and tried to nod, then checked herself. Her whole head seemed to throb. It was almost impossible to tell what part of her head hurt the worst, the skull fracture, the torn ear, or the cracked cheekbone. “All right,” she said reluctantly. She took his hand with her good arm and allowed him to guide her into the chair.
Once she was conscious, Susan had grown tired of the hospital quickly. She wanted to go home. She wanted a peaceful night’s sleep without someone taking her blood pressure every time she dropped off. After nearly a week, she held a powwow with Robert and Helena and her doctors. She had already pitched one fit and sent Melissa, Alan and John home to Florida where they belonged. They had left Helena behind to help deal with the doctors and Robert.
To her surprise and delight, both Helena and Robert seemed to be on her side. She was afraid they would be too cautious, wanting her to remain in the hospital with constant care. But both seemed to understand her need for rest and solitude. Helena was the one to offer the solution of leasing a place in Austin. It would be close to the hospital for her check-ups and therapy, but quieter, allowing her to recover and rest. Robert even seemed to know of a place that would be available. All he had to do was call and sign a few papers. Helena insisted on checking the house for handicap access, then she had furnished the place, with plenty of reports back to her mother.
Yesterday, Helena boarded a plane to take her home in time to attend Sammy’s class Halloween party and today Susan was released from the hospital.
There was a wreath of dried flowers and a few small squash hanging on the door. Tonight there would be Trick-or-Treaters. Robert assured her that he remembered how to dole out candy from their days in suburban Chicago. The ranch was not a place that attracted trick-or-treaters. They paused at the door while he reached forward to open it. Susan was prepared for the worst, but she was pleasantly surprised. There was a small foyer with terrazzo flooring. To the left of the door was a small narrow hall tree. An orange bowl filled with chocolate candy bars – Robert’s favorite, she noticed-- sat in the center and one of Robert’s battered baseball hats hung on the rack above.
Doorways turned to the right and the left. The house smelled fresh and clean. And there was also the odor of… fresh baked bread?
Robert turned to the left which led into a spacious living room with glass panels and a glass door leading onto the backyard deck. More trees could be seen beyond, moving down into the canyon. The place looked wild and rugged here on the steep bank of the Colorado River. You would never know that you were in the middle of the state capital.
There was an entertainment system along one wall with television, VCR, stereo and a small collection of video and audio recordings. A sofa was angled so that you could look out the windows or watch the television. There were also two easy chairs.
To the left again was the kitchen and dining area. Both were small. The dinner table was round with a glass top. Fresh fall flowers in yellows and oranges sat in a stoneware vase in the center of the table. Two matching placemats already held china for dinner. And best of all was in the kitchen. Maggie stood there smiling and waiting for Susan to take everything in.
“Oh! Maggie! What are you doing here?”
“You need to gain your strength back. Who else do you think is going to make all the things you like to eat?” Maggie replied with a smile. She came forward and took Susan’s good hand then leaned down and accepted Susan’s kisses.
“I’m so glad to see you. But are you staying here? Robert said the house is so small!”
“Alejandro and his family live right down the street. I’m staying with them. They were the ones who told us about this place. I’ll come over and fix everything up for you and we can visit a while, then I can go play with my granddaughters in the afternoon.” Alejandro was Maggie’s oldest living son. He had four daughters who frequently came to visit their grandmother at the ranch.
“That’s … marvelous.” Susan felt tears coming to her eyes. She hadn’t considered what they would eat. She had just wanted to be out of the hospital. She had assumed Robert could get takeout food from nearby restaurants.
“Now, I have your dinner all ready, my home-made stew, made with beef from home. It’s just the thing to build you back up.”
“Oh, that sounds wonderful, but I’m not sure I can chew beef…”
“You leave that to me,” Maggie insisted, pointing them toward the table. “I have everything under control.”
The doctors were not sure she would keep her teeth. Her upper jaw was broken and the bruising might kill the roots of the teeth on the right side of her mouth. Chewing was agony and she was so tired of jello and the bland soft foods of the hospital.
Maggie first served a guacamole salad. The avocados and peppers were blended into a cream that seemed to melt in her mouth. Then she was given a plate with beef chopped so finely it could have been pureed. It was served over a slice of Maggie’s fresh bread with the crust cut off. There were also potatoes mixed with onions and mashed to an almost liquid consistency. A pat of butter melted on top of them. Robert ate the same, although his plate included two freshly cooked carrots from the stew. For desert Maggie served them bowls of dark chocolate mousse, which also required no chewing, but was light and foamy as if you were eating a chocolate cloud.
By the time the meal was over, Susan found that she was tired, really tired. And she didn’t have to say anything to Robert. He knew. She moved back to the wheel chair without protest and let him wheel her to the bedroom. There was a small teak dresser in one corner and a king-size bed that filled the room.
“We’ve never had a bed this big,” Susan said, realizing they could barely put the wheel chair all the way into the room.
“You’ll need some extra room with those broken ribs. I could sleep in the twin bed we put in the other bedroom, but I’d rather be closer by.”
Susan smiled. “I’d rather you were too. I take it the bathroom is through there?” She pointed at the doorway near the head of the bed.
“Yes. It was recently remodeled and is very ergonomic. Helena had a few adaptations added for you as well. The shower has no step up, and we’ve put a stool in there for you to sit on.”
“A shower…” Susan said longingly. She reached up with her cast-covered arm to touch the bandage on her head. “I’d love a shower.” The right side of her head and ear were still covered with a bandage and she knew the area up to nearly the crown of her head was shaved. The other side of the head was still its normal length. Between the cast and the incisions, she had only received sponge baths since the accident. They didn’t leave her feeling particularly clean.
Robert closed the bedroom door and clicked the lock. He pushed the chair into the bathroom and helped her stand. He helped her remove her clothes without a word and sat her on the stool in the walk-in shower. He removed his own clothes and entered the shower with her, turning on the water and placing the shower head, which was attached to a long hose, in her good hand while he gathered one of the monogrammed wash cloths hanging on the rack outside the shower. He carefully removed her bandage around her ear and very, very carefully began to wash her hair, or what was left of it.
He made sure not to wet the area around her wounds or her cast, but thoroughly scrubbed her. Starting with the uneven hair, he gently applied shampoo and massaged her undamaged scalp. Then he soaped the washcloth and gently washed her good ear, her face, avoiding the yellow and black bruises on the right side of her face, but gently dampening the skin. He moved down to her neck, breasts, back, underarms, her arms—avoiding wetting her cast. He scrubbed her fingers, spraying carefully so he could wash the fingers of her right hand below the cast. Then he knelt in front of her and gently washed her tummy, between her legs, and all the way down to her toes.
It was one of the most luxurious and sensual experiences she had ever had. By the time he finished she felt as relaxed as if they had just made love. He turned off the water and dried her just as carefully. Then he pulled a canister containing her favorite bath powder from a cabinet and gently applied the fragrant powder. He helped her to the side of the bed, pulled one of her favorite cotton nightgowns from the dresser and helped her pull it over her head. He helped her lie back on the bed then brought fresh bandages from the bathroom and reapplied the bandage over the ear and across her abdomen. Once she was completely settled, he moved back to the dresser and pulled on his own pajamas. It was mid-afternoon and he pulled the heavy curtains to block out the light and crawled into bed with her, taking care that her arm was propped up and she was settled so that her head wound was in the most comfortable position. He gently wound his fingers with hers at the end of her cast, closed his eyes and relaxed completely.
She drifted in a relaxed state for a few moments and a question occurred to her.
“Robert?”
“Mmm?” he responded sleepily.
“What happened to Bear?”
Only a soft snore answered her. Her eyes dropped closed. Her head almost didn’t hurt. She would ask him about the horse later.
She missed the Trick-or-Treaters completely. She slept soundly not hearing Robert rise near sunset. He kept the door open and dispensed candy without letting the children ring the doorbell. Then he returned to bed himself. The sun was rising when she finally woke. Robert opened his eyes at almost the same time and turned and smiled at her. The long sleep really helped her feel more rested, but she was hungry.
Always an early riser anyway, Robert was up and fixing coffee and putting a pot of grits on the stove for her. Then he returned to help her dress and wheeled her to the living room.
They spent a lazy morning together on the sofa watching an old movie. She enjoyed the peace. Maggie arrived with bags of groceries at midmorning and made another marvelous dinner. She also left them plates to warm for supper and Susan knew that this time she wouldn’t sleep through supper. Yesterday’s sleep had been marvelous, but she had never needed that much sleep.
The next day when she woke from her afternoon nap, she could hear voices in the living room. Robert heard her when she opened the bedroom door and was there with the wheel chair in a heartbeat.
Katherine was in the living room. She had driven over from Fredricksburg a couple of times while Susan was in the hospital. Susan was so glad to see her. Robert deposited Susan on the sofa, brought her a soft drink, refilled Katherine’s highball and retreated to the spare bedroom which he had converted into an office.
It was so nice to have a private chat with her girlfriend. She loved her husband and her daughters, and her sons-in-law, but it was wonderful to have Kat all to herself. First thing they did was plan what to do with her hair. Kat suggested she just trim it all extremely short for right now until the shaved part grew out. Once the stitches healed a little bit she could wear turbans over the short hair. Susan agreed and they made plans for Kat to cut her hair the next week.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do about Thanksgiving,” Susan mused.
“Do?” Kat drawled with her North Carolina accent that spending most of her adult life in Illinois had not been able to vanquish. “Susan, honey, you’re not going to ‘do’ anything. Why don’t you and Robert plan to come to our house?”
“Oh, Kat.” Susan’s eyes filled with tears. “We’ve always celebrated Thanksgiving at Miller’s Bluff. For over a hundred years! I can’t imagine the house sitting vacant on Thanksgiving.”
Kat tried to look sympathetic, but Susan knew her friend really didn’t understand. “Honey, you’re just not going to be up to it.”
“I’m sure the girls—“
“The girls have their own families now, and their own careers,” Kat reminded her gently. “And they were both here for… nearly a month. They may not be able to come back, at least not for a long stay.”
Susan nodded reluctantly, still fighting tears.
“What about this…” Kat offered. “Monica has been calling me daily for reports on you, and they were planning to come down for Thanksgiving anyway. Maybe she can come down earlier and she and I can help Maggie get things ready. Not a big do, you understand, just us, and your kids if they can join us.”
Susan smiled and reached out with her good left hand for Kat’s hand. It was so good to have a friend like Kat.
Susan had good days and bad days. The pain from the broken cheekbone was awful – much worse than the ribs or the ear. She had trouble concentrating, and was almost scared there had been some kind of brain damage, but the neurologist reassured her that wasn’t the case. She was healing as well as could be expected from such serious injuries. They went back and forth to an array of appointments with specialists and the trips exhausted her. She was glad Robert had found the place here in town. But she still wanted to go home. She wasn’t used to being inactive for so long and even though she knew there was little she could do, she was bored.
The day Kat returned and cut her hair was more traumatic than she thought it would be. She was fine until she looked in the mirror in the bathroom and saw her almost bald head. She couldn’t stop the sobs that came and Robert finally put her to bed and gave her something strong enough to knock her completely out. When she woke up late that night, Robert held her close and assured her that he loved her whether she had hair or not, and she let him gently lull her back to sleep.
The week of Thanksgiving was finally upon them. Susan had insisted on getting the week’s doctor appointments and therapy sessions out of the way by Wednesday. That morning, Robert met Monica and Charley at the plane then returned to the small bungalow to pick up Susan. Maggie had returned home the day before to get things ready. She and Susan had already been preparing to-do lists and shopping lists. The girls and their families would be flying in on the Wednesday evening and flying back on Friday. Helena had negotiated to work at the hospital that weekend in exchange for time off at Christmas. But, they would be able to be there for Thanksgiving and Susan was so utterly grateful that she would soon be seeing the grandchildren again.
Monica couldn’t hide her shock at Susan’s condition. The bandages, the yellowing bruises, the shorn head and the massive weight loss were alarming. Charlie rode shotgun for Robert and the girls sat in the back of the Lincoln as Robert drove them out to the ranch, Monica trying to do most of the talking since she could see that too much talking was truly painful for Susan.
Kat was waiting for them at Miller’s Bluff and she insisted that Susan head straight for bed. Susan hated being an invalid, but knew she was in no position to argue. Robert took Monica’s bags upstairs while Kat settled Susan in.
When Susan woke, it was late afternoon. Golden sunshine beamed around the thick curtains. Robert was just coming out of the bathroom.
“Hi.” She said.
“Hi to you,” he smiled at her and came to sit on the edge of the bed. “Happy to be home?” He asked, taking her fingers gently in his hands.
“Very. That bed you bought was comfortable, but this is home.”
He patted her hand. “I know. But you’re getting better every day. By Christmas we’ll be able to spend more time here and less time in town.”
She smiled and gripped his fingers with hers. “You’re wearing your barn clothes.”
“Just heading out to check on your critters,” he said with a smile. He was wearing a plaid flannel shirt, jeans and a beat up pair of cowboy boots.
“How is Bear?” Susan asked again. She had thought about the horse often, but never at a time when she could ask Robert about him.
She could feel the tension just through their linked fingers. She looked up at Robert’s face. He was frowning.
“I… I got rid of him Susie.”
“You found someone to buy him?” She was surprised. Robert never participated in her horse-trading. Plus he had been spending so much time in Austin she didn’t think he had the time to find a buyer.
He looked away from her, looking down at the floor. “No… I..” He stopped and swallowed hard. "I put him down. I couldn’t have him going after you again.”
She sat up in bed so fast it hurt. “You WHAT?”
“Susan,” Robert stood and paced across the room. “I couldn’t have him hurting you again. I couldn’t have you putting yourself in that kind of danger.”
“So you what, had the vet euthanize him? And the vet agreed?”
Robert shook his head and took a deep breath. “I shot him. I took him out and I shot the hell out of that critter.”
Susan just looked at him, stunned. “You shot –“ That was so unlike Robert. He rarely handled a gun. She had taught him how to shoot after they had moved to the ranch. He hated hunting, had no inclination for it at all, but she’d shown him the value of being able to shoot a rattlesnake. She had never considered that he might shoot a horse – one of her horses!
“How could you? How could you shoot my horse? My horse!” She would have been shouting if he hadn’t caused so much pain to move her face that much. She could barely take in what he had done.
“How could I?” Robert turned, raising his own voice. “How could I kill that bastard? Susan, he nearly killed you! I didn’t want … didn’t want to give him another shot at it, if he didn’t succeed that first time.” Robert choked. He squeezed his eyes shut, remembering.
Susan was conscious again and Robert felt he needed to go out to the ranch to pay some bills, collect some of Susan’s personal items she would want. Alan offered to drive out with him, but Robert declined. He was glad the kids were there, but he just wanted a bit of space. He remembered Alan glancing at Helena to decide whether to insist or not. He was under no illusions, if Helena decided he should have company, Alan would come along as if following a direct order. But Helena seemed to understand and without doing more than look at Alan, gave him permission to go by himself.
He got to the ranch just before noon. The place was deserted. Maggie would come and go from her own house as needed when they were not in residence. Miguel would come after school to feed the horses. Robert pulled up to the back door and planned to go straight into the house, but some kind of movement caught his eye and he glanced toward the barn. That godawful horse was in the paddock. His blood boiled. Without thinking another coherent thought he opened the back door and headed for his bedroom. He pulled on his barn clothes, jeans, flannel shirt, boots. He headed for the study, pulled open the desk drawer and removed a skeleton key from the hidden compartment at the back of the drawer. The key opened the oak gun cabinet mounted on the wall behind the door. Robert removed a 30.30 rifle and a box of ammunition. In the mudroom he collected a denim jacket with sheepskin collar.
He headed out to the barn, passing the paddock without glancing at the horse pawing the ground inside. He headed straight to the stall in the back of the barn where Cleo, the gentle old mare he usually rode was standing patiently watching his every move. He left the rifle in the office and led Cleo to the cross ties. With a number of years practice, he automatically cleaned her hooves, brushed her down and saddled her with the big old saddle Susan had won as a prize about a hundred horse shows ago. It had never fit her and when she taught him to ride it seemed to be perfect for him, intricate tooling and silver conchos notwithstanding. It even had a matching rifle case. Robert belted it on and secured the gun.
He led her from the barn and tied her outside the paddock. He brought out a halter and a lead line and cautiously entered Devil Advocate’s paddock. The horse stood, watching him. It was easy to slip the halter over the horse’s head. Easier than he had thought it would be. He led the horse over to the fence and mounted. They headed north toward the old quarry, just him, the two horses, and the rifle.
It took less than an hour to ride the old gravel road into the hills. The quarry hadn’t been used since the early nineties. No one was there. No one had been out here in more than ten years. He dismounted and tied Cleo to the door handle of one of the abandoned sheds. He led the horse down into one of the old pits, leaned over and removed the halter. This devil horse had been completely quiescent today. Robert was still wary, not trusting the bastard. The horse watched him. He walked a short distance away, and stared back. For a moment, he had second thoughts, but then the image of Susan lying on the ground curled into a ball while this beast kicked and bucked above her. He slowly and deliberately brought the rifle up and sighted just the way Susan had taught him. Holding his breath he squeezed the trigger slowly…
“Yes, Susan. The horse is dead. Be pissed off if you want to. But I wasn’t about to allow that thing to ever be able to hurt you again.” He sounded tired and resigned. He turned without another look at her. “I’ll be in the barn. I’ll tell Kat you’re awake.”
With that he was gone. Kat came in a few minutes later with a smile on her face. Evidently Robert hadn’t shared any information about their recent conversation and Susan wasn’t about to either. She smiled back at Kat and accepted her help getting up and out to the patio where Kat and Monica had been enjoying the late afternoon sun and a cocktail. Maggie brought Susan a raspberry iced tea and some guacamole on soft fresh tortillas still warm from the griddle and light enough to melt in your mouth.
Maggie pulled up a chair and joined the conversation about plans for Thanksgiving. Susan participated, but inwardly she was seething. Robert had no right to shoot her horse!
When Maggie headed back to the kitchen to put the final touches on supper the conversation continued until Monica said “Susan, who’s that cowboy down by the barn?”
Susan looked and saw the door to the hayloft was open and Robert was winching a bale of hay down to a waiting wheelbarrow. Miller’s Bluff still used the square bales. They had their own baler that had been in use since time began and there was simply no need to change. The square bales also fit better in the barn than the big round ones.
Kat was the one to answer, “That’s no cowboy, that’s Robert.”
The three women watched as Robert winched down a second bale and used the block and tackle to lower himself to the ground. Susan remembered the first time she’d shown Robert how to do that. You’d have thought he was a child, playing fireman. The damn horse-thief.
“That’s Robert?” Monica said with surprise. “I mean, I know he’s always kept himself in shape and everything, but … my…” She was watching as he bent over and lifted the handles of the wheelbarrow and headed back into the barn. He did fill out those Wranglers nicely.
“Mon, I think our Sus certainly got the pick of that litter of frat brothers. Ours have gone to seed.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Susan protested.
“I would,” Kat drawled with her usual directness. “Ron couldn’t possibly fit into a pair of pants that weren’t ‘relaxed fit’ even though he can still get around a golf course without a cart. And Charlie…”
“Charlie,” Monica finished for her. “Is fat. There’s no other way to describe it. He hardly ever even plays golf any more. I wish I could get him to do some kind of exercise.”
Susan watched as Robert came out of the barn and headed toward the house. She idly wondered if they still hung horse thieves.
“Well, Robert wins hands down in other ways too, as fond as I am of good old Ron,” Katherine continued. “Not only is Robert still eye-candy after all these years…”
“Don’t you think he kind of looks like John Wayne?” Monica asked.
Susan had never noticed the resemblance. That white cowboy hat he was wearing should be black. Maybe he was more like James Coburn, he was always playing bad guys.
“… he’s also so devoted to Susan it makes other husbands look like Lotharios,” Katherine continued.
“Yes, that’s true,” Monica said. “Susan, he was so worried about you, but he still kept Kat and I informed on any change. And he barely left your side.”
“Helena also told me if he hadn’t been here to start treatment, Susan wouldn’t have made it to Austin.”
Monica reached out and grasped her friend’s hand. “And we just couldn’t lose you Sus.”
Robert passed by the patio and glanced at the three women. He touched the brim of his hat and said, “Ladies,” as he walked into the mudroom.
Both women caught their breath as if John Wayne himself had just walked by. Susan watched as Robert disappeared into the house. He did look good in those jeans, and you couldn’t walk in boots like that without a confident swagger. Of course, murderers often walked that way too.
The ladies remained on the patio catching up on gossip. In the house, the phone rang. Several minutes later, Robert stuck his head out the patio door to check on the ladies. He frowned when he noticed that Susan had barely touched her lunch. As much as he wanted to admonish her for not eating, he thought it best to remain quiet. Robert told Kat and Monica that their husbands had called and were on the way. They’d eat supper when Charlie and Ron got back from the golf course. Then he quietly disappeared back into the house.
After supper Kathryn gently suggested to Susan that she needed to rest. It would be nearly midnight before the girls and the grandchildren arrived. Susan agreed albeit somewhat begrudgingly. She woke briefly when the rest of the company arrived. The house was filled with activity and noise. Both girls peeked in on her and gave her kisses. Tired and sleeping grandchildren were put straight to bed, then John and Alan both came by to kiss her before the house began to settle down. She dropped off to sleep again before Robert retired to the bed and she began to dream.
Fitful dreams of horses and pain ran through her mind. She felt the pain of being kicked by the horse, she felt the pain of Melissa’s distraught cries for her to wake up and eat. She began to toss and turn in her sleep. In her mind, she could see Robert leading the bear out to the quarry. She could see him struggling to gather enough nerve to shoot the beast. She fought with the covers as her dreams continued. Her mind flashed to the hospital, Robert seated next to her talking to her, begging her not to leave him. Then suddenly, he was leaving her, standing to walk out of the room to avoid crying in front of her. She didn’t want him to leave, she wanted to shout out to him to stay but the ventilator wouldn’t allow her to shout out. ‘ROBERT…ROBERT ‘
Through a thick haze of sleep, Robert heard his name being called. He sat up abruptly when he realized it was Susan. She was calling him in her sleep. Quickly, with the aid of a small night-light, he moved to her side of the bed. Robert unwrapped her from the covers carefully. The movement caused her to wake.
“Susie?” He asked quietly. “Are you okay? Where does it hurt?”
Susan looked up into the eyes of the man she had called her husband for over forty years. A torrent of tears began to flow from her eyes as she reached her good hand up to stroke his cheek.
“Oh Susie. Talk to me. Where does it hurt?” He whispered as he leaned his cheek against her hand.
“It hurts here.” She said as she moved her hand from his cheek to his heart.
Robert’s eyes followed the movement of her hand then met hers in the dim light.
“I remember it all. I remember Bear throwing me, and you shouting for me while he was kicking me. I remember Missy crying begging me to eat and come back to her. And, I remember you hardly ever leaving my side, always loving me.” She swallowed roughly before continuing. “I felt your pain at almost losing me. I felt your pain when you shot Bear and …I feel your pain now.”
“Oh Susie…” Robert’s eyes were misty.
“Shh…please just listen.” She lifted her good hand to push an errand lock of hair from his eyes. “I’m so lucky to have you. I’ll admit to thinking some pretty bad things about you yesterday. I’m ashamed of those things now. You had a reason for doing what you did. If I were really honest with myself and our roles were reversed, I probably would have done the same thing.”
“Oh Sweetheart…”
“Shh…let me finish, please.”
Robert sat silently.
“Robbie, I’m so sorry for the way I acted. I shouldn’t have said the things I said. You did nothing to deserve them. You are my rock. I love you more than anything in this world. I shouldn’t have hurt you.” She returned to hand to his chest and held it against his heart. “Please forgive me.”
Robert placed his hand over hers. “Honey, there’s nothing to forgive. Your accident wasn’t your fault. Yes, Missy was scared that you would leave her but you’re fine now and so is she. She even grew up a little. And as for that horse…well, I know how stubborn you can be I figured as soon as you were healed you’d be out there trying to ride that beast again…and well, I was just damned and determine that you weren’t.” Robert gave her a watery smile. She gave him one in return. “If I think about it now, I know it wasn’t the best thing to do. But it did make me feel better at the time.”
Susan moved slightly needing to change positions. Robert adjusted her pillows and helped her to a slight sitting position. When she was settled, he reseated himself next to her, mindful of her injuries. Taking a tissue from her bedside table, he softly dabbed the tears streaming down her face. “Susan, my Darling, the love I have for you is deep. Deeper than anything I can think of. It is constant. It doesn’t wax or wane, like the moon. There is nothing that you can do or think that will change that; not your hair, not the scars, not even you shouting at me. I love you. I have always loved you and I will always love you.”
Robert leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. As he went to pull back, Susan held his lips to hers. When she released him, he looked deeply into her eyes. “I love you, Robert Thompson. More than I could ever tell you.” She whispered before pressing her lips against his. When they parted they were both crying and smiling.
“Robbie, lie next to me and hold me.” Susan whispered.
Robert rose gently and assisted her back down into the covers. Then he entered the bed from the other side and carefully slid in next to her. She rolled over laying her good ear and cheek against his shoulder. Robert moved her injured arm laying it gently across his stomach. They relaxed against one another and slept peacefully.
Susan awoke rested and completely at peace. The spot beside her was empty. Robert was probably up with the rest of the family. Next to her on his pillow lay a long stemmed red rose. She shifted gently to a sitting position. As she lifted the rose to her nose, she heard a small knock at the door.
“Come in.” She called.
A small hand appeared as the door opened slightly and two bright eyed giggling little faces appeared. “Grammy?” Sam whispered.
Susan beamed back. “Sam and Robbie. Come over here and give Grammy a good morning kiss.”
The two 6 year olds bounced into the room. As they were about to jump on the bed, the big booming voice of their grandfathers came from the hall. “Don’t you two jump on that bed!”
The boys stopped on a dime as Robert’s shadow filled the frame of the door. They stopped at the edge of the bed and looked toward their grandfather. “Easy does it, boys.”
Susan laughed and patted the side of the bed. “Come stand right here.”
The boys did as they were told. Susan pulled herself up so that she could hug and kiss each one. She was surprised to see them in their barn clothes. “So what are you boys doing today?” She asked as he tugged at Sam’s denim jacket.
“We’re going to ride the tractor with Grandpa!” Sam beamed.
“The tractor?” Susan glanced toward Robert.
“Yep, Grandpa said there are wild turkeys out in the north flat.” Robbie said with authority.
Susan meet her husbands eyes with an amused smile. “But on the tractor?”
“Well now Miss Susan, you don’t expect these farm boys to ride in a truck up to the north flat now do you? That’s just not what farm boys do.” Robert winked at her.
Susan played along. “Of course not! We just couldn’t have that now could we.” She tweeked both boys in the belly.
“Let’s go Grandpa!’ The boys screeched in unison before bounding out of the room.
“We’ll be back before lunch.” Robert leaned over and kissed his wife. “Alan and Geoff are off riding. John is out checking on the landing strip. He said it was a little rough last night so he’s taken the truck out in the daylight to check on it. Helena, Melissa and Tori are down in the kitchen with Maggie working on tonight’s meal. Ron talked Kathryn into walking down to the creek and Monica and Charlie are sleeping in.” Robert gave her a wink as if telling her there probably wasn’t any sleeping really going on in the guest room. Susan laughed out loud.
“So Grandpa is taking the boys out on the tractor?”
“Yep, Do you need any help getting dressed?”
“Just a little, send Missy in, okay?”
Robert nodded, then leaned forward and kissed her again. “Happy Thanksgiving, my love.”
“You too”, Susan replied. As she watched him go, she leaned back with a satisfied smile. Her house was full of family and friends. Miller’s Bluff was alive and so was she.
November, 2003
