A Cold Drive and A Warm Night: Chapter Fifteen

He scrapped off his face with his razor and remembered that he had better prime the generator as soon as possible.
He used it for electricity but also for the water heater.  You can’t write if your toes are freezing and can’t get a hot shower now and then.

He had rigged something up and looked forward to those warm showers in the morning.

 He also thought of her and the events of the night before and a warm glow come over him. Jenny was, he thought, someone he had just met and he didn’t really know her very well. But, he knew he liked her and that he felt comfortable with her, even though her story about how she came to travel in a bad snow storm up the mountain to deliver papers to him didn’t ring true as the whole story.

But no matter, it would all be part of the process getting to know her; he anticipated that with a sense of joy. He liked the woman.

Wiping his face he peeked out to make sure she was still in bed. She was. A doll’s face serene and pretty in the way, he thought,  where the soul shows though when people are sleeping. Her soul did show  through, he thought.

He put his rain slicker on over his parka, over his long underwear and marched out past her to check the generator.

It was near noon he thought and just maybe the cell tower was back up.

He flipped open the phone cover and saw no risers. That answered his question.

Meantime, at the generator, he checked the gasoline level, primed it, and pulled the cord to be sure the thing was working. It was. The rain whipped over him, a bone chilling rain which told him that it would soon turn back to snow.

That was bad and that was good. Bad because they would be up there at least another day. Good because there was to be another day with her.

He came back inside after turning the generator off, thankful that the electricity was still on and decided to test the hot water heater by taking a shower. He moved past her and she stirred only slightly and he opened the folding door of the shower stall and dropped his clothing on the floor, after testing the water.

It wasn’t hot but warm enough to make it worth it.
 He hung the towel over the stall and moved inside the shower welcoming the warm water splashing over his body.

Thinking back he wondered how much of the evening had been in his dream and how much of it had been real. He knew some of it really happened, but some parts he wasn’t sure about, and those parts he needed to verify with her, planning to  ask her a few discreet questions when she awakened.

He didn’t have to wait long.

 He heard her voice saying:

"I hope there is enough hot water for two showers. It is very cold out here.”

“Not sure." he said in the stall smiling, happy to hear her husky morning voice. She had a wonderful voice.

She said:

“Move over. Coming in. But don’t get any ideas. I read the book. No sex.”

He smiled and stage-whispered “Damn,” and heard her laugh.

 
To be continued.