Driving in rain like this was hard for me, I don't like to drive in any inclement weather and it was pouring rain and the wind gusts were horrible. A little sports car with oversized tires did not help much. I knew I would reach the Canadian border soon and could stop at a little café` and rest a while and see if the rain eased up at all. Making this trip was important to me had to be because I hate to travel. Long road trips in the car were very unpleasant especially traveling alone.
I had thought about flying but that scared me even more I never did like to fly. Not since that flight from LA International into Portland that one December and the landing gear froze up and we landed without any. I remember vividly the plane spinning around and seeing sparks or what looked like fire to me in the windows. That was years ago but it may as well have been a week. I have flown since but not without a few shots of Jack Daniels.
Since I had been through so much at home I thought this trip would do me some good. Knowing that once I got on the road I would be okay getting started was always the hard part.
I had not seen my girlfriend Ursula in several years we were nurses together in a detox center downtown. We had kept in touch but never made a trip to see each other after she re-married and moved to Canada. Why not was all I could say when she called and asked me to come out her husband was going off on a hunting and fishing trip with some friends they would be in Montana in the mountains for about 10 days. Ursula was a beautiful woman tall and slender brown hair and brown eyes so naïve we had become very good friends. She suffered from anorexia she always thought she was fat; shit she was gorgeous almost without flaws. We used to smoke quite a bit of pot in those days. Stayed high on weekends and hung out in cowboy clubs. My husband at the time was abusive and stoned on hard shit all the time, hers was unstable and he eventually killed himself which sure took its toll on her. I was so glad when she remarried and got her life together. I knew what it was like to be a punching bag and an expert liar in order to cover abuse even around my friends.
Ursula was new to the United States and not real fluent with English, I had a lot of fun with her because of it. She married a serviceman stationed in Germany and he brought her to the U.S. and then just seemed to forget she was around. We were a fine pair. She finally left him and he finally pulled the trigger as promised.
Once passing through customs at the border and inquiring about a place to stop I continued on about 12 miles and stopped at a little diner didn't look like much on the outside but the border patrolman said it was clean safe and friendly so I stopped.
I sat in my car a couple minutes to see if there would be any let up in the rain and there wasn't. I decided to just go for it and run inside. Grabbing my purse opening the door and heading for the door I did not realize I had dropped my passport and cosmetic bag on the ground beside the car. I went inside and took a seat.
"You look like the beautiful woman in the picture" I turned to see a man standing beside me holding my cosmetic bag and what was left of my passport in his hands. I guess I looked shocked. He said he had found them beside the red convertible in the parking lot and knew it could not have been there too long. I thanked him and offered to buy him a cup of coffee. "Sure" he said and sat down.
We talked about the weather some I of course complained about driving in the rain, he laughed as he told me that rain was now turning to snow. I did not know what I was going to do now I sure as hell could not drive in snow. I asked him if there was a motel or something nearby. He said there was but probably no room as there was a convention in the city and the motels even in the outlaying areas were full. I had about 2 more hours of driving before I made it to Ursula's town.
Making idle chit- chat for the time being seemed to pass some time. When the waitress came over to the table and told us they were closing up so they could get home before the storm I was again reminded of my situation. We walked out together the cold just seemed to slap me in the face and snow was beginning to stick on the ground. I figured I would try to find some place even if I had to beg. I could not get the car doors open they were frozen shut. Talk about a bad feeling.
His name was Charles he was married and had a bunch of kids. He was kind and I did not fear him at all. He had waited to be sure my car would start I was thankful he did. He was in a big pickup that set high off the ground the kind you almost need a step stool to get inside with. He said he lived just down the road and I could go with him. He saw my hesitance but we both knew I really had no choice. "Night Charlie" the waitress yelled over and he responded in like.
I thought well everyone seems to know him and they saw me with him so I should be okay. I climbed in the truck with a little help from Charlie he put his hands on both cheeks of my ass gave me a little push. He pulled out of the parking lot. It seemed as if we were going out in the middle of no place, no houses along the path and the roads did not even resemble roads anymore. I got a little nervous but was doing ok.
I saw some light up ahead as we got closer I saw it was a cabin of sorts. The kind made partially with logs there was a porch light on and a light inside the house. I guessed going inside and meeting the wife and kids would be awkward for them as well as me, but I was wrong. I followed behind Charlie and he shut the door behind us laid his keys on a table beside the door looked at me smiled and said come on in.
He pulled his boots off and his coat told me to make myself at home and have a seat. "Where is your wife" he smiled at me and said well darlin she isn't home right now and I don't expect her for a bit she is staying in the city attending that convention and I probably won't see her for a few days. "What about the kids?" The younger ones are staying with older siblings hell they don't want to stay with me out here without their momma. I could not help but wonder why not.
I did relax some Charlie showed me pictures of the wife and kids, pictures taken on hunting trips and family outings. He was quite the outdoorsman. He was a big man, stocky and firm, he wore a full beard and moustache had a beautiful smile and such a brilliant persona to him. He was the kind of man you could not dislike. I seemed to forget where I was and my situation in general.
Charlie offered a glass of wine and I agreed. Before I knew it we were on the second bottle of red wine. I was feeling pretty good about that time. I watched the snow through the window and commented on how beautiful it was especially since I did not have to drive in it. Charlie asked me if I liked the snow and if I liked to swim in it. "What, swimming in snow now that was a new one to me. He took my hand and said come on darlin come with me grabbing another bottle of red and heading for the door.
We were outside and it was snowing harder now and the ground was covered. Charlie led me to a shed of some sort and from it grabbed up a satchel and motioned me to hope on back of a snowmobile looking thing and I did. We headed away from the house and across a field or something. I had not realized how mountainous it was before. The silhouettes of mountains and cliffs were beautifully painted in the background. The terrain got a little harsher and I hung on tighter to Charlie and the bottle of red. I wasn't sure where we were but it had become foggy or at least it looked like fog.
A couple more turns down a path and I saw it the most beautiful waterfall I had ever seen outside the covers of a magazine. It wasn't fog I had seen it was steam.
"She is beautiful isn't she?" he said. It was beautiful and with snow falling it was even more entrancing. Charlie got of the machine took my hand and led me to the waters edge. I thought he had lost his mind when he began taking off his shoes and then his clothes I figured a bit too much red wine. He just laughed, and asked, "joining me?" and pointed to the water. No way I found myself saying I am tipsy but not stupid drunk. I found myself watching him undress.
I had not really given a lot of thought to his body until now. He was a bit older than myself but not so much that it seemed strange or anything. I could see his breath in the cold air and he just sort of glowed in the steam with the moon and the snow it made kind of an erotic glow all around him. I just could not believe this man was going to get in that water in a snowstorm. I got cold just thinking about it.