Patrick hit the turn signal and after the semi truck passed, he pulled onto the dirt road. Forty yards down on the left was the Spoon River B&B. He pulled into a spot under a ponderosa pine and turned off the engine. “Shall we?” he asked.
Ginny got out of the Subaru and stretched. The smell of pines, dirt and clean mountain air hit her nose. She inhaled deeply. Her scalp itched with the urge to shift right that moment and run up into the hills. She turned to see Patrick scenting the air as well. She smiled at him.
“You wouldn’t think the air could smell so good would you,” she said.
“Yes, but it has been way too long since I was in the woods. Let’s get checked in and then see the sights,” he teased. The stretch of road inhabited by the town probably took up a whole two city blocks.
Ginny laughed. “Sights? Wow… Three restaurants, two tourist shops, a hotel and the Dog Bar. Yeah, heavy civilization up here,” she joked. They grabbed their suitcases and headed inside. The B&B was a huge multi-story log cabin. The lobby looked like a cross between Little House in the Big Woods and a chintz snowstorm. Behind the desk was a tiny woman with a sunburned face and a shirt that complimented the fabrics.
“Howdy folks, What can I do for you?” she asked. “My name’s Sam. Short for Samantha, but no one calls me that up here. Not unless they want punched,” she said with a smile.
Patrick and Ginny smiled at the feisty old woman. “Dorrit, reservation for two?” Patrick said wondering where that printout with the reservations had gotten to. Checking his pockets, he found it folded up. “Here’s our reservation.”
The woman took it and looked it over. “Ah yes. Got a call about an hour ago. Do ya know a man named George?” she asked.
Ginny and Patrick nodded.
“Well, he went and upgraded your room. You have a real nice place all to yourselves now. Not exactly the bridal suite, but just as spacious. He said not to fuss, otherwise he’d send Sara up to you,” she said with a smile. “Follow me.” She grabbed a set of keys and headed off down a hall. Her cowboy boots clumped across the floor, and then up a flight of steps.
Sam moved much faster than Ginny expected for someone her age. “Damn short and damn fast!” she thought.
At the end of the hall, Sam opened a door and ushered them into the room. It was dominated by a huge four poster bed on one side and a fireplace on the other. A dresser, a few chairs and an armoire completed the room. One door lead off to a balcony and another was probably a bathroom or closet.
“Think this’ll do ya?” Sam asked.
“This is fine,” said Patrick.
“This is wonderful,” said Ginny putting down her suitcase.
“Well, if you need me, I’m downstairs ’till nine,” Sam said. “After that, I’m in my room.”
“All right. Thank you Sam,” said Ginny. She closed the door after Sam left and walked around the room. The balcony looked out onto the main road on one side and met the hill on the other. The ground was only about a foot lower than the decking planks. The other door lead to a bathroom done up in moose and coyote motifs. The bathtub was an old clawfoot that must have been six feet long.
“Patrick, come see this tub,” said Ginny.
“Wow,” he said looking in over her shoulder. “Think we can fit it in our luggage and take it home?” he teased.
“Well, maybe. Depends on how well it folds,” she teased back. “Better than that though is the fact that we can leave the room via the balcony.”
“I saw that. I was worried about how we were going to exit unseen,” he said.
Ginny laughed. “You mean you didn’t want to walk out in the woods and get naked, shift and then hope like hell you remembered where we left our clothes?” she teased.
“Right. I’ve never done that, Ever! And don’t you believe a word about any such incident that my lying cousin Cal may have told you about,” Patrick said laughing.
“I think we all do it, just most of us pretend that it never happened,” she said as she dropped her clothes on the floor.
“And what do you plan to do all ‘nekkid’ like that for at least an hour until our B&B mom goes to her room?” Patrick asked smiling at Ginny.
“I plan to take a long hot bath,” she said and headed for the bathroom. She turned on the taps and started filling the tub. She turned to get her cosmetic bag from her suitcase to find Patrick standing in the doorway naked and ‘happy’ to see her. “Why Patrick, what a big um.. ‘nose’ you have,” she giggled.
“All the better to tease you with,” he countered. “Is that bathtub filled yet?”
“No, give it a few minutes. It is really deep,” she answered as she scooted past him. She found her bag and headed back to the bathroom to find Patrick stretched out in the tub. She smiled.
“Hey, can I play with you boat mister?” she asked.
“Any time you want. Just climb aboard,” he replied.
Ginny crawled into the deep tub. She sighed as she relaxed in the deep water. “Oh this feels good,” she said.
“I agree,” Patrick said as he turned off the water which had begun to lap the overflow drain. They sat facing each other just letting the heat of the water soak into them. Ginny’s eyes started to close and Patrick reached for one of her feet.
“No going to sleep on me!” he said. “We’ve got mountains to run and deer to hunt tonight.”
“Stop! You’re making my mouth water,” said Ginny as she rubbed her eyes.
“Then don’t get sleepy on me,” he countered.