Ray Gorham - 77 Days in September

He vividly remembered how heartbroken Jennifer had been when she had learned about his past with Chelsea, his high school girlfriend, to the point of nearly calling off their wedding. Chelsea hadn’t had the same values as Jennifer, and Kyle had experienced a lot of firsts in his young life with her. He had thought he loved Chelsea and expected that they would get married some day. When Chelsea went away to college, he had taken a year off to work and put some money in the bank so that they could take that step, only to discover during a surprise visit to Chelsea at college that she wasn’t nearly as lonely as he was, leaving him disillusioned, but wiser.

Once Jennifer came into his life, Kyle had forgotten all about Chelsea, but had nearly gone out of his mind when he realized that his past with Chelsea might cost him his future with Jennifer. Somehow, Kyle and Jennifer had weathered that storm, and never at any time since had Kyle regretted marrying her. David had been born a year later, and Kyle had had to quit school and get a job, but even then Jennifer had never made him feel like he was worth less because he hadn’t finished college. If anything, her love for him seemed to grow stronger.

Their life together over the years had been good. Jennifer was a devoted and loving wife and mother, and they loved each other, but they were busy with life and children and work, and the flame didn’t always seem to burn as brightly as it once had. Kyle wondered if Jennifer would ever cheat on him, then knew immediately that the thought was ridiculous, and that she would be devastated if she even thought he doubted her faithfulness. The fact that he was tempted to stray had nothing to do with Jennifer and everything to do with him. She was everything he could ever hope for in a wife, and more. He just needed to realize that. Rose was a good person, a miracle really, a woman who would have a place in his heart forever, but now that he was thinking with a clear head, Kyle knew that Rose was not someone he’d risk Jennifer for, no matter how sure he was that she would never know.

Kyle found his cart, filled with snow, on the side of the road where he’d left it. He scooped the snow out and examined his belongings. Everything was soaked through but salvageable if he could get the cart back to Rose’s and dry it all out. He stepped into the familiar position behind the handle and started to pull, his legs protesting a little with the exertion. Despite the slushy conditions, Kyle towed his cart to Rose’s without any problems and an hour after returning had his possessions drying by the stove.

“You planning on getting out of here soon?” Rose asked when the cart was empty.

“If the weather’s good, I’ll leave tomorrow. The longer I wait, the closer winter gets. I dodged a bullet this week, and I don’t want to push my luck too hard.”

“You know you’re welcome to stay as long as you want to, don’t you? I wouldn’t mind the company, and traveling might be better in a couple of days.”

“I know,” he answered. “You’ve done so much for me already, Rose. I’ll be grateful forever, but I need to get back home to my family. There’s a big part of me that’s missing.”

“I understand,” she said, her head hanging down and her hair shielding her face. Kyle thought he detected a sniffle, but wasn’t sure. “You hungry?” she asked after a pause.

They ate lunch together, then spent the remainder of the afternoon gathering supplies. Rose went through Anthony’s closet and found two old coats, a good pair of winter gloves, hats, and some thermals, along with extra changes of clothing. A pair of her husband’s winter boots was added to the pile, and by dinnertime, Kyle was re-outfitted and packed, ready to go.

Dinner was quiet, the conversation continually grinding to a halt until Rose broke the silence once again. “How many days do you think it’s going to take you to get home?”

Kyle thought as he chewed. “Hard to say. I’ve got over five hundred miles left, and the travel doesn’t get any easier from here, still lots of hills. Probably four weeks, maybe a little quicker if the weather cooperates.”

“Are you scared?”

“Of what?”

“Well, you know. It is getting to be wintertime. Maybe freezing, starving, wild animals, people. You never know what you might run into.”

Kyle shook his head. “I’m not really scared. Concerned maybe, but not scared. I know there are risks, but I can’t let that stop me. No matter what I do, there will be risks. If I wait until it’s easy or safe, who knows if my family will be there. The longer I wait, the less of a chance there’ll be of a happy ending.”

Rose nodded but didn’t say anything. Her head was bent forward, so Kyle could just see the top of her head. A tear rolled down the side of her cheek, which she tried to discreetly wipe away.

“You okay?” Kyle asked.

Rose nodded.

“Are you sure?” he asked again, leaning forward to look into her face. “I see a tear Rose. What’s wrong?”

She let out a puff of air. “Don’t worry about it, Kyle. I’m fine,” she said as she turned away, wiping tears that were flowing more freely.

“Your fine seems different from most people I know. Usually it’s not associated with tears. Maybe that’s a Wyoming thing?”

Rose laughed. “Nope, not a Wyoming thing. Just a Rose Duncan thing.” She got up from her chair and headed towards her bedroom.

Kyle got out of his chair and reached for her, but she pushed his hand away as she hurried past. He stood awkwardly by the table, not sure what to do, then gathered their dishes and took them into the kitchen.

He found a book and tried to read but couldn’t concentrate. He and Jennifer occasionally had disagreements, but having been together as long as they had, he knew how to handle those and what he should and shouldn’t do. He wasn’t sure how to handle this situation. He checked his bags that were piled by the door, went outside and inspected his cart, walked up to the highway to check the road, then came back inside. Rose still hadn’t emerged from her room.

He went down the hall and knocked on her door.

“Who is it?” she called out.

“Fed Ex, ma’am,” Kyle replied. “I need a signature for this delivery.” He heard her laugh.

“Well, I guess you’d better come in then,” she said.

Kyle opened the door and stepped into her room. Rose lay on her bed facing the ceiling, her tears long since dried. “Took you long enough,” she said.

“Pardon me?”

“It took you long enough to come and check on me. How long has it been, one hour or two?’ she asked, a slight grin showing.

“Sorry, I wasn’t exactly sure how I was supposed to handle the situation. Some people like privacy, so I was torn.”

“Don’t worry about it, Kyle. Thanks for finally showing up,” she sighed.

“So you okay?”

Rose nodded. “Yes, I am. Sometimes I start to feel a little sorry for myself, that’s all.”

“What do you mean?” Kyle asked, sitting down on the bed beside her.

Rose brought both her hands up and rubbed her face, then let out a deep breath. “Over the past four days, I’ve been on quite a roller coaster of emotions: worry, fear, helplessness, excitement, happiness. You name the emotion, and I’ve probably felt it. Before you came, even before the attack, there was just boredom and loneliness, day after day, so you can imagine the change you brought. These last couple of days, I’ve really liked being with you. I guess I was hoping you’d be around longer.”

“If it means anything, of the past two months, the last two days have been my favorite.”

“That’s not saying much, is it?” she said, swatting at him with her hand. “I know your story. You’ve walked a thousand miles and almost died a half-dozen times, and that’s the best thing you can come up with?”