“Can you tell us about it?” Juniper asked as she shrugged off her coat and the sweater underneath. “Or is it, like, classified?”
I chuckled at her question. It wasn’t the first time I’d gotten curious questions like these. Just a few months ago, I’d fielded some from my own grandkids as they excitedly asked me about my days as a federal agent.
“I think I can share a story or two,” I shrugged. “If you’ve got the time. I have a habit of rambling once I get started.”
“Yes!” Juniper answered immediately, turning to look at Mark. “What do you think? We can wait here for the sun to go down. It’ll be cooler by then, so it wouldn’t be such a pain to carry everything. The rain might help to bring the temperature down too.”
Mark looked a little unsure about her proposal but eventually relented.
“Alright,” he smiled as he, too, shucked off his coat. “I guess we can spare a few hours.”
“Alright, then,” I nodded as I led them over to the dining room. “You two can leave your stuff wherever. Charging stations are over there against the wall.”
Juniper beamed before moving over to the row of outlets set into the wall. I’d had them installed about a year after moving up here when I’d noticed that running out of battery seemed like a common complaint among people who stopped here. We were out in the middle of nowhere, and since most people used their phones as navigation these days, it was common for travelers to be running low by the time they made it here.
I raised an eyebrow as I watched her pull a phone, a laptop, two tablets, and a handheld video game console out of her large backpack.
“She doesn’t know how to travel light,” Mark whispered as he noticed my expression. “And she’s addicted to technology. Way out here in the wilderness, and she still has to have her devices.” Mark spoke as if he were criticizing her, but there was a warm and loving look on his face as he watched her, and I could tell whatever he said was out of fondness.
“So, uh…,” Juniper trailed off as she approached our table. “How much is a room here? We probably won’t stay the night, but I could use a hot shower. I’m feeling pretty nasty after walking around in the heat for so long.”
“Don’t worry about that,” I replied as I stood up and beckoned them to follow me back into the lobby. “Get yourselves cleaned up. I wouldn’t feel right charging you a night’s stay just to have a quick wash.”
“Seriously?” Juniper’s eyes lit up as she beamed. “Oh Em Gee, thank you so much!”
“Yeah, that’s awesome of you,” Mark nodded in response.
“No problem,” I chuckled. They seemed like nice kids, and I couldn’t imagine they were very comfortable wearing heavy, sweaty clothes that they’d been walking around in for days now. I wasn’t expecting customers today anyway, so a few bucks wouldn’t make a difference.
I walked back behind the counter and pulled a key off the wall at random.
“Room fifteen,” I announced as I handed them the key. “Feel free to go back and get changed in there.”
“Ooh, how old fashioned,” Juniper cooed as she took the metal key from me and examined the long wooden tag hanging off of it. “That’s so cute!”
I smiled at her enthusiasm. It was true that most hotels these days used programmable electronic key cards, but my little roadside motel such little traffic that I didn’t see any point in updating to a more modern system.
“Let’s go back and get changed, babe,” Mark suggested before leading her away.
I watched them head down the hall before walking back into the dining room and toward the small kitchen. I didn’t have a lot back here, aside from coffee and some basic ingredients, but I could probably throw together some sandwiches for the three of us while I waited for them to get back.
I glanced out the kitchen window and sighed a little sadly. It had been shaping up to be such a relaxing and lazy morning, but I could already the telltale signs of rain as the wind picked up and dark clouds loomed overhead. So much for enjoying the rare sunny morning.
Still, it was nice having a visitor now and again. I enjoyed my privacy, and most of the time, I was perfectly content to go entire days without seeing anyone else, but a nice change of pace was welcome too. Especially from an energetic pair of kids who reminded me of my own youth. My knees and back weren’t what they used to be, and it was nice having the chance to reminisce about the days when I used to be able to sprint after suspects and take a bullet wound with hardly a flinch.
“Those days are long gone, you old geezer,” I chuckled to myself as I carried the tray of sandwiches back out into the dining room. I didn’t have any regrets about my life. I’d gone on so many adventures and had so much fun, and I was content to sit back and enjoy my retirement now.
The sandwiches looked a little bare on their own, so I decided to head back into the kitchen to find something for us to drink. Coffee would be the easiest and quickest thing aside from plain water, though I wasn’t sure they’d have the appetite for something hot after spending so long sweltering in heavy clothes. I brought the coffee pot out into the dining room just as they returned.
“Okay,” Juniper announced as she bounced into the dining room wearing a thin t-shirt and a pair of leggings. Mark trailed in behind her in similarly lightweight clothes. “Thank you again so much. This feels so much better. The last
