It had, of course, seemed like a really good idea at the time Shannon thought as she guided the truck onto the off ramp. The snow was coming down in clumps, and the wipers and defroster were fighting a losing battle to keep the windshield clear. Her husband had been in Denver on business, and it had just made sense to fly the twins there when their classes ended for the semester, rather than back home to Albuquerque. The three of them would drive down to Colorado Springs, she would drive up from Albuquerque, and they would spend Christmas with her husband's parents.
Then there was a crisis at work, which prevented her from leaving when she'd planned, followed by this damnable blizzard. If she'd left on time, she'd have been there by now, but instead she'd been creeping along the highway for the last two hours, fighting the snow and ice. At least she'd taken her husband's truck, and wasn't in her BMW, she thought, giving the steering wheel an affectionate squeeze as the turbo-diesel chugged along. She was also grateful that her husband had called damn near every hotel along the highway in order to find her a place to stop. They would undoubtedly be closing the highway soon and she wasn't going to make the Springs before then.
She gently brought the truck to a stop at the end of the offramp. She surveyed the area as she waited for the light to change. She could just make out the sign for the La Quinta through the snow. There was a pair of gas stations, a Longhorn Steakhouse and a McDonalds huddled around the intersection. The light turned green and she crossed the road, then turned into the hotel parking lot.
She found a spot mercifully close to the front door, and was texting her husband to let him know she'd arrived when a battered looking Toyota pickup pulled into the spot next to her. She kept a wary eye on it as she put on her jacket then gathered her purse and overnight bag off the passenger seat. Two people got out, already wearing heavy coats and gloves, grabbed a bag from the back of the truck and hurried into the hotel. Shannon followed their lead, picking her way across the snow-covered parking lot.
A blast of warm air hit her as the automatic doors slid open, she hurried through the second set, some corner of her mind not wanting to "waste" all that deliciously warm air. The occupants of the Toyota pickup were at the front desk. She could finally get a good look at them. Both were small, that much was obvious even through the heavy coats they wore, a man and a woman, both maybe 5ft 4in tall a good 6 inches shorter than her own 5ft 10in, and slender with light blonde hair, short cropped for the man, a pixie cut for the woman. The man was talking to the desk clerk, his companion looking around the lobby nervously, almost like a mouse afraid it had been caught in the open. Their eyes met, and Shannon smiled at her.
"Glad we managed to get off the road," Shannon said conversationally.
The younger woman, Shannon guessed she had to be 19, maybe 20, smiled back, still obviously nervous, "Maybe, I don't think they have any more rooms," she responded the weariness in her voice unmistakable.
Before Shannon could reply another desk clerk called to her. She excused herself and stepped over to the waiting clerk.
"Reservation for Thompson, Shannon Thompson."
"Ahh yes Ma'am, I have that right here."
Shannon handed over her ID and credit card as the clerk went to work.
She listened to the other clerk apologizing to the young man, "I'm really sorry, but we just don't have anything, I understand about the weather and," he looked around conspiratorially, "you're welcome to stay in the lobby. We don't normally allow that kind of thing but..." he gestured to the increasingly heavy snow falling outside.
The clerk assisting her put a stop to her eavesdropping by placing a card key on the counter and handing her license and credit card back.
"I've got you in room 608, it's one of our extended suites, with two queen beds. Is there anything else you'll be needing?"
"No, that sounds wonderful. Thank you."
"The elevators are right down the hall to your left, there is a continental breakfast starting at 6, also, we've talked to the manager at the Longhorn, they are going to be open."
Shannon picked up her bag and turned to head down the hall.
The other two travelers were sitting on one of the couches in the lobby. The girl had a battered cell phone in her hand, searching for something while the boy looked on. They were twins Shannon realized, they had to be.
The girl looked up from her phone at her brother, "next hotel is 25 miles down the road, and they might be full too," a tear started to form in the corner of her eye," and it's just so cold."
He looked down, hiding his shame, "I know... I'm sorry, I really thought there would be more time to get the heater fixed, and the parts were so expensive. I just..." his voice trailed off.
She tucked the phone away and slid closer to him putting an arm around him, "I wasn't blaming you; we always needed the money for something else. It wasn't like you wasted it buying magic beans or something."
That got a laugh from her brother and he looked up. When he did, he noticed Shannon watching them.
"I'm sorry," Shannon said quickly, "I don't mean to be rude...it's just that... you're obviously having a tough time right now. I've been there too, and well, you're twins, aren't you?"
They both nodded.
"Well, I've got twins of my own, probably about your age, they're 19, off in college right now, and if they were stuck out in this storm like you are, I'd hope somebody would help them."
She took a deep breath, steadying her own nerves, she knew what she was about to say was insane, but she also knew she wouldn't forgive herself if she didn't at least try to help these two.
"I've got a room, it has two queen beds, and I obviously don't need two. So, if you want to sleep on the other bed, you are welcome to it."
The twins looked at each other, neither saying anything for a minute. Then the girl nodded at her brother, he shrugged his shoulders, she looked up at Shannon. "We'd really appreciate that."
"Well, let's get going then."
The trio headed down the hallway. They found the elevator easily enough and were soon headed to the 6th floor. As the elevator door closed behind them, she extended her hand to the young man, "I'm Shannon by the way, nice to meet you".
He shook her hand, "I'm Jerry, and this is Jenny, it's nice to meet you too, and thank you so much."
"It's nothing really."
"We really do appreciate it," Jenny added.
Shannon located their room and opened the door. Suite was a bit of an overstatement she thought. There was a small kitchenette just inside the door, with a bathroom to the immediate left. The room was long, if a bit narrow. Two queen beds with a large nightstand between them and a TV mounted to the wall opposite. Past the beds, a couch and loveseat formed a small sitting area with an identical wall mounted TV and large windows overlooking the snow-covered parking lot.
Shannon tossed her bag on the first bed, then turned the heat up a bit. She took the jacket off, and hung it up in a small closet.
Jenny and Jerry took off their heavy coats, both were wearing heavy sweaters underneath them and they removed those as well. In just their jeans and shirts they were every bit as thin as Shannon had first thought. Neither one could weigh much more than 100 lbs., and Jenny's small breasts were the only thing that differentiated her body from her brother's. Jenny carefully hung the jackets in the closet and folded the sweaters and placed them on the couch.
Shannon glanced at her watch, "It's almost 4 now, I was going to relax for bit, then fight my way across the parking lot to get some dinner around 530."
The twins glanced at each other nervously.
Shannon held up a hand, "Look, let's not make this awkward, ok? You two are going to go with me, and I'm going to treat, no different than if you were a couple of my daughters' friends, ok? I've bought more meals for their friends than I can count, two more isn't going to matter, and like I said, I've been there. I've skipped meals to make sure I had my rent money, so 20 years from now you can help someone else out. I'm going to have two teenagers arguing with me constantly starting tomorrow, let's not start today all right?"
Both twins grinned, "all right" they said in unison.
She kicked her shoes off, pulled a book out of her bag and stretched out on the bed.
"Mind if we turn the TV on?" Jenny asked.
"Go right ahead. Mi casa is su casa".
The twins flipped channels for a few minutes then settled on HGTV. A few episodes of House Hunters filled the next hour and a half, with the twins sitting on the couch next to each other, debating if shoppers had picked the "right house" for each episode.
At 530 Shannon got up, used the bathroom, then put her shoes back on.
"Well, shall we?" she asked.
"We shall, I'm starving," Jenny commented.
The two put their coats back on, abstaining from the sweaters. Shannon pulled a hoody out of her bag and slipped it on, then put her much lighter jacket over it.
They managed to navigate across the parking lot and to the restaurant without incident. There were only a handful of diners eating and most of the staff seemed to be sitting around the bar watching a basketball game.
They still got a friendly greeting and ushered promptly to a booth, the twins sat next to each other and were soon poring over the menu, occasionally glancing up nervously at Shannon.
"Order whatever you want, it's fine."
That seemed to reassure the two and they were ready when the waitress returned. Shannon ordered a sirloin, along with onions rings as an appetizer and the twins went for the New York Strip.
They wolfed down most of the onion rings, tore through their salads and made short work of the steak and vegetables. Shannon smiled to herself, fond memories of her twins, and their friends wolfing down food after a soccer game, or tennis tournament. Then her thoughts turned dark, as she remembered these two weren't hungry because they had played hard and had a wonderful time, they were hungry because they hadn't eaten, because they couldn't afford to eat. She fought back the sadness, keeping a smile on her face as she finished her own meal.
