Hollis woke up with the sun in his face. The sleeping bags around him felt damp against his exposed skin. He sat up as much as he could under the camper shell and looked at Claire. She was still asleep but she was sweating profusely. He felt her head; she didn’t feel abnormally warm or cool, just damp. He didn’t know what else to do so he tried to wake her up. He had to shake her repetitively and say her name over and over until she opened her eyes. They were bloodshot. She groaned and rubbed her face with her hands, rolling over and burying her face in the sleeping bag under her. Hollis was relieved she was at least functioning normally.
“Claire,” he said, “you need to drink some water, and eat something.”
“No,” she said into the sleeping bag. “Liquor.”
This made Hollis chuckle. “No, water,” he replied. “You’ve been sweating… a lot. You need to get water back into your system.”
Claire groaned again. “Then liquor,” she pleaded.
“We’ll see,” Hollis said. He pulled gently at her arm and helped her sit up. Claire propped herself on her elbows, squinting in the sunlight. “I’ll get you some water,” he told her, sliding out the back of the truck and going around to the cab. He came back in moments with the rest of the water gallon they had, sliding back into the back of the truck next to Claire and handing her the plastic jug. She was wiping sweat from her face with her sleeve, sighed and took the jug, drinking several gulps then putting it down with a grunt. She leaned back and laid back down, shutting her eyes. Hollis took the jug and drank some for himself, then put the cap back on. He pet Claire’s head, moving hair away from her face. “I want you to eat,” he said.
“I don’t want to eat,” she told him, keeping her eyes closed.
“But you need to eat. If you’ve been eating as much as I’ve seen you eat for the past few days for a while, you need food and nutrients in your system.”
“No, I’m fine.”
Hollis chuckled again. “No you’re not. You used to love to eat.” He was still petting her. He wasn’t even thinking about the motion. He just wanted her to feel better.
“Used to,” she said. She opened her eyes and looked up at him leaning over her. She gave him a weak smile. She sniffled and looked around at the sunlight. “Where are we?”
“Not quite sure. Somewhere in the Sierras, maybe near Tahoe.”
“We got that far? That was fast.” She thought about how long it took her to get anywhere without her own vehicle in the past few years.
“Yeah.” Hollis leaned back on his elbow looking at her. He watched her yawn, cough and roll onto her back, sniffling. “There’s snow outside,” he told her.
“A lot?”
“Kind of. A couple of inches.”
Claire sighed and draped her arm over her eyes. “Are we stuck?”
“Dunno. Don’t think so. I haven’t really checked. But unless the road’s been cleared, we’re stuck here for now.” Hollis paused. “I’m going to go check it out.”
“Yeah?” She asked,
“Well, that and I have to crap.”
Claire gave a weak laugh through her pain she was trying to hide. “Have fun.”
“Sure will.” Hollis climbed out of the truck bed and opened the cab, pulling out some toilet paper and disappearing into the trees. Claire looked for her duffel bag, couldn’t find it and guessed Hollis had moved it into the cab. Carefully she crawled out of the truck and walked around, sitting in the cab reaching for her duffel bag. From it she pulled out a jeweled box which she opened, revealing a mirrored inside and a baggie full of the familiar white powder and a small blue glass tube. She picked the tube out and then the bag, opened it and stopped halfway through the motions to portion some out to use. Yes, she would feel much better if she used it. But then, she would withdrawal again and go through this pain again. She took the bag and held it upside down over the snow, watching it fall, blend it and dissolve into a hole. She wanted to get over this pain and not live through it again. She also knew if Hollis found out she had it he’d make her get rid of it anyway, so she wanted to detour that scene. Watching it melt into the snow, though, she regretted it. She could have done it at least one last time. But maybe Hollis would have been able to tell. In her state of mind now, she didn’t think it would be wise to do anything to upset him.
She rubbed the edges and corners of the box with her finger, licked it and threw the box and glass tube far off into the snowed-in trees. She couldn’t see where it fell. That was probably a good thing. She sighed and looked back into the truck, into her duffel bag. She put it away and grabbed a random bottle of liquor from the booze bag, then went back into the bed of the truck, lying down in her damp spot.
Hollis came out of the trees from a different direction in where he went. First he went into the cab to grab something, then climbed back into the back of the truck with her, not noticing a change in her position. “Yeah, well, the road hasn’t been plowed and there’s at least five, six inches of snow.” He was holding the bag of jerky and the box of crackers.
“It snowed a lot, huh?”
“Yeah, and fast. And then it stopped. There are no clouds in the sky”
“Weird.” She was thinking about the sunken hole in the snow next to the truck. “So what does that mean for us?”
“It means we can’t go anywhere for now. I’d be able to dig us out, if the road were clear, but I can’t dig out the road.” He opened the jerky and started eating some. “Hopefully it’ll be plowed today. Tomorrow at the latest.”
“Yeah.”
He held out the bag to her. “Eat some.”
She looked at him, not moving for the jerky.
“Eat some for me.” He looked back at her, straight into her eyes. He held the bag closer to her.
Claire looked at him helplessly and took out a small piece of jerky. She nibbled on it. She did it for him. She also wanted him to stop bugging her to eat. Out of all the things she was feeling, hunger was definitely not one of them. “So what are we going to do?”
“Wait. There’s not much else we can do.” Hollis started on a new piece of jerky. “It’ll be okay, this has happened to me before.” He remember in the past getting caught in snow drifts with no food, cold and hungry. Only the thought of his life with Claire kept him warm, satiated and sane. This time he had Claire with him, and food.
Claire pulled her liquor bottle close to her, opened it and drank it. It was the Glenfiddich scotch whiskey. She swallowed and grunted.
“Hey,” Hollis said.
“What?” Claire said, looking up at him with control in her eyes.
Hollis paused. “Eat more, if you’re going to drink. I don’t want the alcohol to eat up your stomach.”
Claire raised her eyebrows and said, “Fine,” agreeing. She took a full bite of the jerky. Hollis held the open box of crackers to her and she ate one before drinking more of the scotch. The liquor helped her forget about her pain and feel normal. She needed something, at the very least, and this was all she could get. She burped. Hollis smiled at her, leaned back and ate a handful of crackers. She drank her scotch and finished the jerky she was eating.
When Hollis ate enough of the jerky and crackers he said, “Give me some of that scotch, yeah?” Claire held the bottle out to him and he took a good, long swig, smacking his lips and exhaling when he put the bottle down. “You can still make a damn good breakfast.” They grinned at each other and he handed the bottle back to her. She took it and drank from it. They sat in the camper shell talking, drinking and smoking cigarettes until Claire had to urinate in the woods. Hollis stood outside the truck smoking, waiting for her and saw her frozen footprints around the side of the truck in the snow. He figured that was when she got the bottle of scotch out. The sun was getting high in the sky and he wondered if the road was going to get plowed. He walked through the trees to catch a peek without loosing sight of the truck. He could see the road, and it wasn’t clear. He guessed this road didn’t have enough traffic to be priority. He walked back to the truck, tossed his cigarette butt into the snow and sat on the tailgate taking a swig from the bottle of scotch that was already half gone. Claire emerged from the trees. She wasn’t walking in a straight line. She plopped next to him on the tailgate and drank from the scotch bottle. They began to talk about old times and eventually Claire started to nod out and fell back asleep on the sleeping bags. Hollis sat looking at her for a while. Sleeping, she didn’t make any movements or sound. It kind of scared him, but her chest moved up and down normally with her breath that it didn’t concern him too much. After a while he got up and walked around their surroundings. There wasn’t much to see. He wished the road would get cleared already so they could move on. He thought about where they could go. There was no where he wanted to go. He would like to return to their hometown, but she didn’t care to so that was out of the question. He’d be happy as long as he was with her.
He walked back to the truck and checked up on Claire. She hadn’t budged. He walked around the truck and popped up the hood, checking out his engine. His oil and fluids were all fine, his belts were in good condition and the engine looked clean. Of course it was in good shape. He knew engines like he knew himself. He shut the hood, hoping he hadn’t woken Claire up and leaned against the truck. He lit a cigarette. He didn’t know what to do. Claire was asleep, he wasn’t hungry and he couldn’t go anywhere. He sat in the cab of the truck and pulled a map of the area, finding his location and scoping out what was near and where would be best to go. When he was done he pulled out a book he’d read several times already. As he read he drank from the scotch bottle and ate some popcorn and then he heard the sound of an engine echoing off the trees through the snow. The sun was already halfway across the sky. He jumped up and jogged to the road where he saw a plow driving away. He smirked to himself, turned and walked back to the truck. He checked the clock, guessed that Claire had been sleeping for a little over two hours. He wanted to get moving so he pulled a shovel out from the truck and dug some trenches into the snow for the truck to move through. Lucky for him the snow was still soft so he got it done quickly. He made sure to dig up enough dirt to sprinkle throughout the trenches for extra traction.
When Hollis was done he set the shovel to lean against the truck and went to wake Claire up so they could get going. She woke up with a jolt, wide-eyed, breathing heavy. When she looked into his face she grabbed his arms and buried her face in his chest, like she was relieved to see him. He couldn’t even imagine what she’d been through all this time to make her afraid to wake up.
“They plowed the road. We can go,” he said softly when she let go of him.
Claire nodded. “Okay.” She sat up. Her hair was plastered to the side of her face. “Where are we going to go?”
“I don’t know. I was thinking, a hotel or something. We could stay somewhere for a couple of days, or we could keep driving. But I don’t really want to get caught up in some snow again,” he said to her.
“Yeah,” she said. She looked around and saw the trenches outside the truck. “Hollis…” she began, leaning her forehead onto his chest.
“Yeah?”
“I’m not okay. I think I need to stay somewhere for a while… get myself back together…”
“Yeah. I understand. We’ll find someplace, okay? Someplace nice, secluded,” he told her.
She smiled at him. “Okay. That sounds good.”
Hollis hugged her and he felt her arms squeeze around his torso. He could feel her body shaking slightly. He would take her wherever she needed to go.
“Come on,” he said, “let’s get out of here. We’ll find the closest town and rent a cabin or something.”
“Okay,” she repeated and pushed herself out of the truck. Stepping lightly down into the snow she walked with the truck leading her to the passenger seat where she sat, waiting for Hollis to start the truck and navigate his way out of the snow drift. She trusted that he knew what he was doing.
Successfully making his way to the road Hollis turned north and headed towards a small vacation town bordering a small lake. It was about sixty miles away. Claire was curled up in the passenger seat, hiding her face in her legs away from the light. He could hear her sniffing from her runny nose.
“Do you want to listen to some music?” He asked. He hadn’t listened to much music on his trip, all the tapes he had in his trucks reminded him of her. He had enough memories running through his head and didn’t need to be reminded of others. But if she wanted to listen, he would let her. It didn’t hurt to be reminded of their past anymore since he was with her.
“No.” Claire’s voice was muffled from talking into her body. She didn’t want to hear anything. The constant white noise of the truck driving along the road was all she could bear.
Hollis didn’t say anything back. He kept his focus on driving. His odometer told him they were halfway to the town. He hoped they’d find a good place to stay at, not just some motel. If it was a vacation town, there wouldn’t be many vacationers there in the middle of December around a half-frozen lake. At least, he hoped so.
As he drove he glanced over at Claire from time to time. She hadn’t moved much. Each day she just kept feeling worse than she had the day before. He wanted her to eat more, and if he got her to eat a little he knew it would help her recovery. This wasn’t the first time he’s dealt with drug withdrawals.
It took them an hour to get to the town. He had to drive around small, winding roads and he eventually saw a sign that said “Star Lake Town Welcomes You,” and in smaller lettering below is read “Population 380.” Hollis remembered the lake on the map looking somewhat star-shaped.
The town didn’t have too much life in it. Hollis saw a few cars on the road and no one walking around. He passed a Sherriff’s cruiser and nodded politely. The Buildings were painted in bright colors; blue, green, peach, yellow, but snow covered them all. He didn’t see any houses; there was only the main street. He saw a town hall, a library, a post office, a general market, some closed tourist shops and a handful of restaurants, most of them closed for the winter. All he saw open was an Italian pizza parlor, a deli and an American diner. He parked outside of the local market. Claire looked up and looked around the street.
“I’m gonna go into the market and see if they know of any places we could rent out. I was thinking we could stay here for a month or so, until you feel better. How does that sound?” Hollis asked her.
“Sounds good,” she said almost in a whisper. “I’ll wait here.” She put her head back down between her knees.
Hollis smiled and stroked her hair a couple of times before getting out and leaving her alone. He walked into the market and found himself hungry, so he bought a small roasted chicken, some French bread and two gallon jugs of water. As he was checking out he made small talk with the clerk who was an aging man wearing a dark green cap with the words “I Love Fishing” on the front.
“You new to these parts, son?” The old man asked.
“Yeah, I just got into town. I was wondering if there was a small cabin or something I could rent for a month?” Hollis told him.
“Oh yeah, I’m sure there are. I don’t know much about that. I do know there’s a lot of vacation cabins around here for tourists, mostly during the summer, but I’m sure they’d be happy to lease them out to you during this season here. We don’t get much Christmas folk around these parts. They like it in Hollywood or Florida
“That’s fine. Thank you,” Hollis said. “Where can I go to find out about leasing a place?”
The old man scratched his gray stubbled chin. “Across the street, to Town Hall. They’ve got what you might call a Real Estate agent there who takes care of most of the rentings around here for folk.”
Hollis glanced behind him through the window across the street. “Okay, thank you very much. I’ll look into it.” He put his change from his purchase into his wallet, grabbed the paper bag tucking it under his arm and with his other hand he grabbed both jugs of water. “See you,” Hollis called out to the old man as he left through the door. The old man waved. Hollis went back to the truck, set the water jugs on the hood and opened his door, putting everything inside.
“I got some warm food here, if you’re interested,” he told Claire. She looked up and glanced at him. “I’m going to go across the street to talk to someone about leasing some place around here.”
“Okay,” Claire said, peeking into the bag.
“Okay,” Hollis repeated, paused looking at her and closed the door again, walking across the street and entering the Town Hall. He followed signs in the small building to the Real Estate agent. He found the door open and there was a middle-aged woman in there with fake blonde hair wearing a gray blazer and talking on the phone. He knocked lightly on the open door and she motioned for him to come in and sit down. He complied and waited patiently for her to finish her phone conversation. It didn’t take long. A name plate on her desk said Suzie Potts and along the walls were pictures of houses and cabins, boats and the lake.
“Hello, my name is Suzie Potts, what can I do for you today?” She asked him immediately after hanging up her phone. She reached across the desk and shook his hand, flashing him her winning smile.
“I’m Hollis Day. I just got into town and I was wondering if you had a small cabin I could rent out for a month.”
“Oh, I’ve got tons of places available right now. We don’t see many tourists during this time of year. What kind of cabin are you looking for? Furnished, I’m guessing. Is it for just you or are you here with someone?”
“I’m here with,” he paused, thinking his next words were going to feel odd to say, “with my girlfriend. We’re looking for a small place to just, rest and relax for a little while.”
“I see. I’ve got several special romantic getaways around here, complete with furniture and appliances.”
“That sounds good. What do you have?”
Suzie Potts pulled out a binder and opened it for him to look at. “This folder has many choices to choose from. They’re all available. Take a look,” she smiled her winning smile at him and he examined each page, flipping to the next. She would explain some of them for him. They all had pictures of porches, bedrooms, kitchens and views. When he got to a page that said “Beautiful one-bedroom cottage over looking Star Lake
Hollis looked through the rest of the binder and went back to the cottage and said “I think you’re right. This one looks like the best.”
Suzie gave him her winning smile again and closed the binder, putting it away. “Okay. I’m going to need your information here on this sheet,” she pulled an application out from a folder behind her, “and how will you be paying? Credit card?”
“Uh, no, cash, if that’s okay,” Hollis said.
“Oh, I would love to accept cash but I’m afraid I can’t. If you went across the street to the post office you could buy a money order,” Suzie Potts said regrettably.
“Okay. Uh, do you want me to fill this out first and then go? When does the post office close?”
Suzie checked her watch. “The post office is going to close in an hour. It might be better, time wise, to get the money order now. Then after you finish the form I can take you and your girlfriend out to the cottage and get you all set up. She also needs to come in here and sign the form. Is she around?”
“Yeah, she’s out in the truck. When I come back with the money order I’ll bring her in,” Hollis said.
“Sounds good. I’d love to meet her,” Suzie Potts said, smiling her winning smile again.
Hollis stood up and said, “Okay, I’ll be back soon. Thanks for your help.”
“I’ll be here, waiting for you,” Suzie told him and waved as he left the office.
Hollis walked back to the truck and got into the driver’s seat. Claire was sitting up, stretched out, and eating part of the baguette he had bought. He smiled at her and she returned the smile. “I found is a place we can rent. I have to go to the post office and get a money order.” He ripped off a piece of the baguette and chomped into it.
“Is it expensive?” She asked.
“Um, moderately I suppose. I don’t think any other place around here is going to be less. It’s $1100 a month plus an $800 deposit.”
“Oh, that isn’t too bad, I guess.”
Hollis pulled the chicken from the bag and tore open the packaging, eating it with his fingers. “The Real Estate agent wants you to come in and sign the form. You need your ID.”
Claire sighed. “Okay,” she said, digging into her duffel bag behind her seat and pulling out the small box she kept in there. Inside she removed her old California ID which she hadn’t used for years and stuck it in her pocket. She replaced the box into her bag and ate the remainder of her bread.
“How are you feeling?” Hollis asked.
“Okay. Better, I guess. It passed for now. I think the bread soaked up a lot of bad acids.”
“Good,” he said. He wiped his hands on his pant legs and put the chicken away. “I’m gonna go to the post office, do you want to stay here and I get you on the way back?” He pulled out some money from a cookie tin and counted out $1900.
“I’ll go with you. I want to stretch,” Claire said. She looked at him, “Do I look okay? I don’t look all fucked-off, do I?”
“You look a little tired, that’s about it.”
“Okay. That’ll do, I guess.” She was relieved she didn’t look as bad as she felt. They both got out of the truck and Claire stretched the length of her body and buttoned up her jacket. Hollis noticed there were some people walking on the sidewalks, going about their business. The town wasn’t as dead as it first looked. He and Claire walked to the post office where he got two money orders; one for $800 and another for $1100.
The post office clerk looked at him curiously. People don’t come in there and pay much with stacks of hundred dollar bills. He marked each with a counterfeit checking pen, asked for Hollis’ ID and counted the amount out twice before he gave Hollis the money orders. “So are you staying in town for a while then?” He asked, giving Hollis the eye.
“Yeah, we’re renting a place for a month up here.”
“Well, if you need any mail forwarding or anything, you know where to go,” he winked, giving his first friendly gesture during their transaction.
“Sure do. Thanks,” Hollis said, turning to go. Claire followed him out the door and across the street into Suzie Potts’ office. She was on the phone again, motioning for them to come in and sit down.
Once she got off the phone she introduced herself to Claire. She shook her hand and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Suzie Potts.”
“I’m Claire,” Claire said. She smiled and didn’t say anything else.
“You two are such a handsome couple. I hope you plan to visit our town for a while.”
Hollis placed the two money orders on the table. “I’ve got the deposit and a month’s rent right here,” he said.
“Wonderful. I just need you to fill out this form, front and back, and you both need to sign. Since this is just a temporary rental I don’t need any references or history, and since you’re paying with money orders I don’t need credit history.”
“Sounds good,” Hollis said and started on the form. Because she didn’t need their prior information and only personal it didn’t take very long. He signed it, gave it to Claire to sign and handed it to Suzie Potts.
“Thank you,” she said, putting on reading glasses and glancing over the form. “Everything looks in order here.” She took her keys and opened up a locked drawer, fishing for the keys for the cottage. When she found them she handed them to Hollis. “Now, you two can follow me up to the cottage. It’s not far, only a few minutes up the road.”
“Okay,” Hollis said, and they all stood up.
Suzie put on her coat, led them out of the office, locked up and out of the building. She climbed into her mid-sized SUV and said, “We’ll be going up this road, and at the end of the block turning left. That will take us up the mountain and after a couple of miles we’ll turn onto Spruce Drive which will take us directly to the cottage.” She paused. “Is that your truck across the street?”
“Yes,” Hollis said.
“Okay, I’ll wait for you to start up and we’ll be off.” She flashed them her winning smile and closed her door.
Hollis and Claire got back into the truck and made a three-point turn around and when they were behind Suzie she pulled away from the curb and followed her up the mountain for about ten minutes. Her directions were exact, though it was hard for them to see Spruce Drive.
The cottage looked small from the outside. It had a wide porch and the peaked roof was covered in snow. It was high on a ridge that, sure enough, gave a spectacular view of the lake. There were no other cottages nearby. They parked in front of the house and Suzie led them inside, using her master key.
“Normally you can park under the car port, especially when it starts to snow again, but I think you’ll be okay for now. Okay,” she said once they were all inside, “this is living room.” The room was good sized, but the large couch took up most of the space. Suzie opened the drapes and then pulled the cover sheet off from the couch and they saw it was a dark red color with a thick blanket draped over the back. Behind the couch was a large trunk which she opened to show more blankets. She pulled a cover sheet from the coffee table, a squat, long mahogany table and then she removed the cover sheet from the TV stand, revealing a large flat screened TV. She walked over to the fireplace and told them, “Remember to open the flu before you light a fire.” Hollis and Claire nodded and followed her into the kitchen. She set the sheets she was carrying on the top on the trunk. She pulled a cover sheet from over the round oak table and four chairs, folding it carelessly and setting it back on the table. She opened the refrigerator and showed them the electric stove and the phone on the wall. Then they followed her through the kitchen into a hallway where she pointed out the bathroom and into the bedroom. There she had several sheets to remove which she did swiftly and they saw a big king-sized four post bed, a tall six-drawer dresser and a shorter, longer dresser with a large mirror mounted above it on the wall. She opened the drapes and light filled the room. “Well, how do you like it?”
“It’s great,” Hollis said.
“Yes,” Claire agreed. She was starting to feel weak again and wanted to lie down.
Suzie showed them the closet in the bedroom and out in the hallway again she showed them where they could find extra sheets and towels. “Oh, one more thing before I leave you,” she said, leading them back into the kitchen and through a small door where they saw the washer and dryer. “Everything here is electric, so you don’t need to worry about shutting on gas.” She showed them the knobs and the basics on how to use it. “It’s not too difficult to figure out.” She gave them her winning smile, then followed them back into the kitchen. She walked about the house picking up all the cover sheets and holding on to them she wished them the best and gave them her card, telling them to contact her if they ever needed anything. They thanked her and quickly she left them alone in the house. They stood in the kitchen looking at each other and Claire sat in a chair.
“Thank you,” she said to Hollis.
He smiled at her, “What for?”
“For doing this for me. For us.”
“I’d do anything for you, Claire. I want you to feel better. I think this will be a good place for us, for now. I’m going to take care of you, I promise.”
She smiled, knowing that he spoke to truth. He chased after her for three years. She knew he would do anything for her. She wanted to return that to him.
“I’m going to get our stuff from the truck,” he said to her.
She stood up and said “Let me help you.” She moved from her chair and felt weak so she had to grab hold of the next chair to keep herself up.
Hollis took her into his arms and kissed her forehead. “You stay here. I’ve got it, no problem.” He smiled at her.
Claire sighed. “Okay.” She rested her head on his chest until he let go of her. She sat back down at the table.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, leaving her in the kitchen and coming in and out of the cottage several times carrying their groceries, clothing bags, cookie tins and other personal belongings they kept with them. Claire put the food away in the cupboards and wondered what she should do with the chicken. She left it on the table in case Hollis still wanted to eat some. He came back in after and saw the chicken on the table, found a fork, rubbed it on his shirt, sat at the table with Claire and started to eat it. “Want some?” He offered.
“Oh, no thanks. I’m good.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.” She smiled thinly. She didn’t want to eat anything, to chew through anything. The thought of doing so made her feel ill.
“I was thinking about going back into town and buying some… more substantial food that need refrigeration and shit,” Hollis said between bites of the roasted chicken. He stood up and grabbed the baguette, tearing large bites out of it and sitting back down. “Luxuries. Like milk, maybe. Cheese. Sandwich stuff. Cereal.”
“Yeah. Maybe some soup,” Claire added.
Hollis smiled at her, glad to hear her say something about eating. “Yeah,” he said. He finished eating chicken and bread and stood up, putting the chicken in the refrigerator and leaving the bread on the table. “Do you want to go with me? You can pick out something you might like.”
Claire was still feeling a little weak, but she felt like she could go with him. “I’d like to take a shower first.” She used her arms to push herself up from her chair.
“Go right ahead,” he said to her, and watched her walk away from him into the hallway.
When she was finished she dressed in fresh clothing, complete with underwear this time and found him sitting on the couch smoking a cigarette.
“Are we allowed to smoke in here?” She asked.
“Shit, I dunno. There’s no ashtray. I have to use this mug.” He held up a small ceramic mug for her to see and set it back down on the table.
Claire chuckled and sat down next to him, lighting herself a cigarette. “When do you want to go? Do you want to shower before?”
Hollis opened his jacket, which he never took off, and smelled at himself. “I suppose so. It’s been a couple of days. Now that we’re here we’ll have the luxury of showering daily.” He sat smoking his cigarette and his gaze was focused on the fireplace. “You know, I haven’t stayed in a place where I can sleep in the same bed for a while in a long time.”
She looked over at him and couldn’t think of anything to say. For over a year she’d only slept on a couch, but that’s nothing like sleeping in a truck for three years. She leaned over to him and rested her head on his shoulder until her cigarette was gone and she dropped it into the mug. Hollis stood up, removed his jacket and disappeared into the bathroom. Once he got out of the shower he found that Claire had left a towel out for him. She had also moved both of their duffel bags to right outside the bathroom door where he put on his first fresh clothes in a week. He felt good to be clean.
He went out into the living room and found her lying on the couch. She was stretching her arm out to ash into the mug. She turned her head and saw him. He smiled at her and she smiled back and sat up, giving him room to sit on the couch.
“This couch is comfortable. I can just sink into it,” she said, comparing it to the couch she had in her apartment.
Hollis bounced a bit as he sat down on the couch next to her. “You’re right about that.” He hadn’t had a chance to sit on many things this cushy on his trek over the years. “Well, what do you say about heading back down to town?” He almost felt like a townie already.
“That sounds good. It’s almost dark, we should hurry if we don’t want to get lost on the way back…” Claire trailed off.
Hollis chuckled. “Good point. Finding this place in the dark will be a hell of a lot different from the day.” He stood up and held his hand out for Claire to take, which she did. She stood up and they went out the door and into the truck. Hollis picked his way down the road to the main street where they parked back on the street in front of the market.
Inside the market Hollis nodded to the old man again who nodded back and stood watching Claire as they walked through the small store. Claire followed Hollis who was pushing a small shopping cart. He filled it up with milk, bread, cheese, cold cuts, butter, ice cream, tortilla chips, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, orange juice, olive oil, eggs, frozen pizza, and other foods of the like. Claire picked up a few things here and there; a couple cans of tomato soup, chicken noodle soup, minestrone, some sparkling juices, and of course six packs of beer. They paid for it at the register and the clerk tipped his hat to them as they left. They were there for about twenty minutes but even so, when they went outside the sun was gone and the sky was darkening quickly. Hollis started the truck up after they loaded their bags into the back and took off for their cottage on the mountain side. When they got to the cottage the last of the daylight was slipping away. They carried the bags inside, put away their groceries and sat back on the couch smoking cigarettes.
“Are you hungry?” Claire asked.
“A little. I don’t have to eat, though. You don’t have to cook, either.”
“I still could,” she told him.
Hollis smiled at her. He’d missed her cooking over the past years. “You don’t have to. Especially not tonight, either. I’m not going to eat,” he said.
“Okay,” Claire said, looking at him. She got up and pulled a bottle of vodka from the cabinet and mixed two glasses with orange juice. “We should have gotten some tonic,” she said from the kitchen. She walked over to Hollis and handed him a glass.
Hollis shrugged. “We can always get some later.”
“True,” Claire said. They sat on the couch sipping their drinks and smoking quietly. Suddenly Claire chuckled. Hollis looked over at her with question on his face. “I just realized it was cold,” she said.
Hollis joined her chuckle. “Shall I light a fire? There’s a lot of chopped wood over in the car port next to the truck.”
“If you want to. If not, that’s okay. I can wear my jacket,” she said.
Hollis set his glass on the coffee table. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” Claire said as he walked out the door. She got up and bent in front of the fire place, feeling inside for the flu. She found a handle which she yanked and the flu fell open, dropping some ash into the fireplace. She coughed a little and stood up, wiping her hands on her pants. When she turned back to sit on the couch Hollis was coming back in with an armload of firewood, shutting the front door with his foot. She smiled at him, sat on the couch and watched him light the fire.
That night they sat on the couch with each other smoking cigarettes and drinking, talking every now and then, trying not to bring up their old times and trying not to mention the past few years. Eventually Claire passed out and Hollis carried her to the bedroom and set her on the bed, taking off her shoes and her pants, grateful that she was wearing panties. He pulled the covers down under her body, careful not to wake her even though he figured she was out and not going to wake up until her body needed to. He pulled the covers over her and returned to the couch, finishing both of their drinks, a few more cigarettes and watched the fire die down. When it was nothing but burning embers he joined her in the bed and slept until the next afternoon.
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