Steamboat Springs New Start Pt 06

Part Six, Steph and Strawberry Park

A day off, my first since arriving in Steamboat Springs. I had chores I needed to attend to. I needed down time to consider my thoughts from days of Denver to Steamboat Springs and the days till now. A lot had happened and I needed to understand where I stood in this disastrous move I had made. I needed to make some changes to better prepare me for what might be coming my way in the days, weeks and months to come. Moving out on my own was not going anywhere near how I thought it would go at the outset. I needed to make some plans to salvage my sanity and revisit my goals.

I woke up early, no alarm needed. My inner clock was adjusting to the new life in Steamboat. Sandy's panties caressing my dick felt comforting. The panties brought a feeling of peace. I carefully removed them, took a whiff of her scent and placed them back under the pillow. Nothing to do today. No plans. Nothing to do for another couple of hours. So, I lay in bed and relaxed.

Having a day off might let me see where I was living. With a new job, it was hard to learn anything about The Barn or Steamboat Springs. I leave before the sun comes up and get back after the sun goes down. My life was a bedroom, the bath house and the worksite. I was beginning to think I didn't have it so bad while I was at home in Denver. I'm not even sure I had a good excuse for leaving. But I certainly was seeing a different world here in Steamboat. The opening of my eyes was the result of a sound ass kickin'.

Time to get up and face the new day and whatever it held for me.

I put on a pair of board shorts and sandals and a clean t-shirt. I put all my dirty clothes into a duffel bag and headed for the laundry room. All the laundry machines took quarters, of which I had none, so I couldn't buy soap or use a washer or dryer. Shit. I went to the office to get change. The sign on the door said "Closed". Of course it did, because it was early Sunday morning, it was Steamboat, the world hated me and wanted me to suffer. Fuck me. I turned and walked away. After a few seconds I heard the door open. Steph yelled:

"What 'cha need?"

"Laundry soap and quarters."

"Come on in."

I went back to the office and Steph opened the cash drawer.

"Shit. We're out of quarters. Busy weekend already."

My shoulders slumped and I dropped my duffel bag on the floor. Frustration set in and anger was welling up inside.

"Is there a laundromat in town?"

"Yeah, but you don't want to do that. Nasty place. Come with me."

Steph got her keys and we walked over to the laundry room. She used the master key to unlock the machines. She set two washers and two dryers to manual mode. Then she opened the soap box dispenser and got out two boxes of soap.

"Gimme two bucks and we'll call it even." I gave her the money and took the soap.

At least I didn't have to drive to Steamboat and spend the rest of the morning in a smelly laundromat. I loaded the two washing machines and dumped in the soap. I set the washers for full, dirty loads and closed the lids. They started as soon as the lids were closed. Make a note for the shopping list: Soap and Quarters.

I headed back to my room to see if there was any food left in the cooler. Of course, the sandwiches I bought the night before were stale and tasted awful. I threw them in the trash. What a waste of money. I walked around the building to find a place to sit while the laundry ran. Steph was walking around the office building, saw me and waived me over. Might as well see what she wanted because the laundry would run no matter what I was doing.

"Coffee? You had breakfast yet?"

"Yes and no. I haven't had a chance to get to town to get to the store. Work is too busy and time ends up being short. Things don't seem to work out for me right now. This is all kinda of new to me and I'm just trying to figure it out. Kind of a cluster..." I guess I sounded a little frustrated.

"Yeah, life gets like that. When you can plan better, you'll enjoy it more. Just learn something every time you get smacked down, eh?"

"Come help me make breakfast. Coffee is already made." Steph led me into the kitchen and the coffee smelled great. I thanked her again for her kindness earlier in the week.

She handed me a sharp knife and some vegetables. The cutting board was on the counter.

"Dice those up nice and small."

The yellow onion was really potent and I had tears in my eyes. Steph looked over and chuckled. Then I diced up some red and green bell peppers. There was a small piece of ham to dice. Last were a couple of mushrooms. She looked at my work and spoke.

"You're not much of a prep cook are you. You be a mamma's boy?" Steph was very perceptive concerning my skills in the kitchen.

"Yeah, I've only lived at home and mom cooked and washed for me. My dad wasn't too impressed with me and he let me know it. We didn't get along. Got to where I needed to move out and be on my own."

"How's that workin' out for ya?" she asked.

"It's a lot harder than I thought it would be. I can handle learnin' the construction job for now. It's the other side of living that I'm having trouble with. The stuff mom always did. She was an organizer. I guess she had a hard life. Harder than I realize now. Now I gotta pay my dues..."

"Well, that's a start. At least you're moving in the right direction. Grate that cheddar, would you?"

While I was dicing, Steph was frying bacon on the stove. My gas delivery was being put to good use. The bacon smelled great. God, I was hungry.

There was a chunk of cheddar cheese and a grater. Those scalloped cutting edges on the side of the grater were sharp and looked wicked and mean.

"Leave the skin and blood on your knuckles, not in the cheese."

"Thanks for those tips. Good to know. I'll try my best."

So, I picked up the grater in one hand and the cheese in the other. I carefully pushed the cheese over the sharp scallops and grated cheese fell onto the cutting board. It was a little worrisome having those cutting edges so close to my knuckles. I made a pile of shredded cheese and Steph finally said that was enough for what we were doing. There was still cheese left in the block and all my skin was intact. A small win...

"Put half a dozen eggs in that bowl. Add half a cup of milk and whisk it up until it's all mixed. Throw in some salt and pepper. Not too much."

So, I carefully cracked the eggs, trying to keep the broken eggshells out of the egg whites. Then I split the egg shells open and let the whites and yokes drop into the bowl. After all the eggs were in the bowl, I added the milk, salt and pepper. Then I got a whisk and stirred it all up until the mix was one solid color, smooth and a little frothy.

"Very nice. I'll cook the rest. You'd probably screw it up. You can watch and learn."

The bacon was done, pulled out of the pan and put on paper towels to soak up extra bacon fat. Steph got a second pan and put it on another burner to heat up. She dumped half the bacon fat from the bacon pan into the new pan. When both pans were smoking, she took the egg mix and dumped half into each pan.

"Make us some wheat toast with butter..."

She poked at the egg disks with a spatula, while she was cooking, to make sure they didn't stick to the pans. She took the diced ingredients and put half onto each egg disk. She added the cheese and flipped one half of the egg disk over to make omelettes. A few minutes later she flipped the omelettes onto the other side to finish cooking.

The toaster popped up and I began buttering the toast. That smelled good too. Amazingly, everything was finishing up at the same time. How did my mother do this every day and make perfect breakfasts? And be so happy? Why didn't I ever notice that, when I was at home?

Steph turned off the stove. She got out two large plates. She put one omelette on each plate, followed by three slices of bacon. She took the toast, made two stacks and cut each stack diagonally and placed four cut pieces of toast on each plate.

"Get the Cholula, salt, pepper, marmalade, napkins, knives and forks and bring them out to the picnic table. Then bring out the coffee." As I got all that stuff and the coffee and mugs, Steph got cranberry juice and two glasses. We were set up outside for a hearty breakfast. She had put the plates down, folded napkins, placed silverware on the napkins and poured out juice. I poured the coffee.

I sat down with Steph for an unexpected breakfast on the flank of Mt. Werner, sitting under aspen and pine trees on a cool, but sunny, Sunday morning. It couldn't be any better. How did Steph pull that off? How did I get so lucky?

"I hope you enjoy your breakfast. You owe me a dozen eggs, bell peppers, an onion and a loaf of bread. Still waitin' for the coffee..." She was serious. No free rides at The Barn. My grocery shopping list was growing.

"You got it. Can I get a list from you? Don't want to screw up forgettin' somethin'..."

I poured fresh cups of coffee and we enjoyed our morning under the aspen trees on The Hill.

We talked about life on The Hill. It was the only thing we had in common. Her job was much less chaotic than mine but it took almost all her waking time to keep the place together. Turns out, if you wanted clean linens and towels, you had to pay for the linen service. You were welcome to do your own thing, but most everybody paid for the service because they didn't want to mess with it themselves. And if you wanted laundry service you could pay for that too. I could see weekly costs going up if you wanted to pay the price. So, living at The Barn wasn't actually $30 a week. It could be more like $50 or $60 if you wanted a rental mom. Steph had a hostel full of children. She had to bust her ass and not get paid that much to do it. And, here, I thought my life sucked. I was getting a real-life education.

"Gail and Sandy were good kids. I liked them a lot. Pretty brave to hitch to KC and back from SF." She said.

Her subject of conversation caught me off guard. I wasn't sure I was ready to talk about any of that.

"Yeah, they looked like they could use a turn in their luck when I came across them."

"Sandy was really glad you stopped. She took a liking to you immediately. Thought you were a good guy. Gail looked at you as another ride."

"I kinda felt the same thing. Gail was pretty matter of fact. I liked Sandy better of the two."

"I'd say the feelings were mutual and pretty strong between you two. Sandy told me all about the physical stuff in the truck and how tender you were later that night. That's when she knew you were the one."

I was a little uncomfortable with this conversation. Steph seemed to know a whole lot about me and Sandy and Gail. Especially me and Sandy.

"Sandy told you everything?"

"Don't act so surprised. You know how women tell each other everything. There are no secrets. Strength in numbers when it comes to women against the men folk."

"So, you know about our last night together?"

"Every detail. She was crying most of the time she was telling us. She fell hard for you. You treated her so nice and tried to meet all her needs. And you did, to your credit. Sounds like you are quite the lover."

"Shit, that kinda puts me at a disadvantage, doesn't it. I have to be very careful of what I say."

"That's right, Jim. The truth is always best the first time around. You never know what someone else might know."

"Well, I fell hard for her too. Sandy is the only thing on my mind when I'm not at work. She was beautiful in all ways. I miss her so bad."

"Gail and I talked to Sandy for a long time before they left. Sandy was going to stay."

"What?"

"Yeah, after you left, she came back to my room and told Gail and me she was staying."

"Really?" now my heart really ached.

"She really wanted to stay. But Gail and I were able to talk her out of it. And by the time they left, Sandy knew it was the best thing to do."

"Why was it a bad idea for her to stay with me?"

"Really? The two of you knew each other less than 24 hours. You have no life and not much maturity. She would have to provide all your emotional strength. She had a real life in SF. She had a place to live. She had friends and family. She couldn't stay and be your mom. Wouldn't be right."

"So, you don't think it would work between us?"

"Hard to say. The cards are stacked against you. She had to consider the odds. She has stability in SF. You got nothing here. Two wrongs seldom make a right. Who knows...she may have found a job here, you both made good money, got a place to stay, built a good life and lived happily ever after. You and I both know that seldom happens."

"Yeah, maybe..."

"You're a good man Jim. Not very worldly yet, but you got potential. Sandy says you are the best soul mate she's ever met. She's never had a lover as good as you. But life isn't all sex. There's a whole shit storm right outside that door. You're not ready for that. And Sandy isn't strong enough to carry you through to the other side. In a couple of years, yeah, maybe. Right now? No."

"Sandy asked me to take care of you, just before she left. I told her I would look after you if I could. I'm not going to be your mother. I wouldn't want that grief anyways from the looks of things with you."

"This all hurts a bit. I had no idea. You're probably right. But I miss her so much. It sure feels like love to me. Was she happy when she left?"

"She was glad she met you and that you bonded so tightly, emotionally and sexually. She was sad to leave, but she knew it was the right thing to do. She knows she will hurt until she comes to grips with reality. You will always be a very happy moment in her life. She knows you will succeed and find happiness if you stay in Steamboat Springs and work at it. So, it is best for both of you to remember the good times and move on with your lives. Sandy wants you to be happy and she wishes you the best."

"Thanks for the head's up. I don't feel so bad, but, God, I miss her."

After breakfast, we cleaned up the dishes. I washed and she dried and put them away. Mom always did that job by herself. She never asked for help. With Steph, a joint project had everybody pull their weight and contribute to the outcome. That made complete sense to me now. I wasn't very invested in family dynamics while I was at home, so I missed a lot of things that didn't show up on my radar. My radar screen was starting to get cluttered now.

My washing machines had finished by now. I went to the laundry room and put the wet clothes into two driers. I assumed it was going to take at least 30 minutes to dry the clothes. Then I would have to put them away. I would be done with laundry by 10:30. Then I could drive to town and see what JCPenny had for clothing. I figured if I could get 8 days' worth of clothing, I would only have to do laundry once a week. So, I got a magazine and sat in the laundry room to wait for the driers. While I was waiting, Steph came in and started her laundry. She only had one small load. I told her I could put her wet clothes in a drier if I was still waiting for mine when hers finished washing.

"Thanks, I can get some things done in the office. Set the drier temp for my clothes to warm...what are you doing after laundry?"

"Gotta go to Pennys to get some socks and briefs and work clothes. Then I'll stop at the grocery store and get some laundry soap, coffee and the food stuff on my list."

"Sounds good. There's an empty space in the fridge for the food we ate." Steph went back to the office building.

After about 20 minutes, her washer finished its spin cycle and alarmed. So, I moved her wet clothes to a drier. She had a couple of overalls, t-shirts and light flannel shirts. There were several pair of socks and several nylon granny panties. No bras. Could a guessed that. Didn't seem like the bra type. My driers finished while I was loading her clothes up. I threw my clean, dry clothes into my duffel bag and went back to my room. I kinda folded them and put them into the dresser. Laundry was done. Time for shopping.

I hopped in the truck and drove to Pennys. They had just opened so I was able to get my extra shirts, socks and underwear. Then it was off to the grocery store for more shopping. I needed D.O. and laundry soap for myself. Then I went to produce and got a bunch of apples for snacks and the rest of the items from Steph's list. Steph's list was definitely bigger than mine. The grocery store was busy so I had to wait in line.

I recognized the cashier. I had seen her on earlier visits. Her name tag read "Deb". She was a cutie. Only about 5 foot six with long straight brown hair. Perky tits, curvy body and nice ass. When I got to the register, I could see she had dark brown eyes and a pretty face. No ring on her left hand so maybe she was single. She wore a white blouse with the top three buttons undone. You could see the white lace at the tops of her bra cups. She had on a store coat. And she filled out her tight jeans very nicely. She was a good looker.

"When are you outta here today?" I asked.

"Seven, then I got church. Start work too early on Sundays to go to morning services. What are you doing today?"

"Gotta get ready for work tomorrow. Always working, aren't we?"

"Yep. Gotta pay the bills. You have a good day. Maybe I'll see you at church tonight..."

Maybe there were some possibilities with Deb, but I couldn't see much hope with our schedules and church seemed to raise some red flags for me. I loaded my groceries up and started back to The Barn. I figured I would get back around noon.

Traffic was light on US 40 and it was a clear, warm day. The hillsides were lush and green. The Yampa River was a dark, sparkling ribbon winding through the valley floor towards Steamboat. There were several kayakers floating lazily down the river. A beautiful day to spend time doing something for fun. No work now.

I got back to The Barn and parked. I put my Penny's stuff in my room and headed to the office to drop off the groceries. Steph was in the office looking over the book keeping notes.

"Where do you want the groceries? I can try and put them away..."

"Set them on the counter and I will put them away in a few minutes."

"Okay...I'll put them on the end, out of your way."

"So, what are your plans, now that all your errands are done."

"Don't know that much about what's around here. Kinda clueless and liable to waste a perfectly good day lookin' in all the wrong places."

"If you don't have a plan, you can come with me to Strawberry Park. I'll let you drive."

"Okay. Do I need anything special?"

"Maybe a towel. See you at your truck in 15."

15 minutes later we were driving down US 40 towards town. Strawberry Park was north, above Steamboat, and had natural hot springs beside a mountain stream. Rocks had been piled up to make a dozen soaking pools along the stream's banks. It was an undeveloped area along County Road 36. The Forest Service was pretty lax about day use. Best of all, it was only 15 minutes above Steamboat. Quick and easy.

We got to the end of the road at the hot springs and parked on the shoulder along with the other cars. We got out of the truck and grabbed our stuff. I had a towel, a cap and sunglasses. Steph had a bag of whatever she wanted. She also had a hat and sunglasses. It was only a short walk until we reached the hot pools area.

"Good, my spot's open." Steph headed for a large, shady pool.

We stopped at the 10 x 10 pool that was located under a huge cottonwood tree. Sunshine was all around, but the pool itself was in the shade. Probably no sunburn problem. I'd forgotten my sun block. Steph put her stuff down on a flat rock. There were a couple of short sections of a big log that made for places to sit. I put my towel down next to her stuff. I pulled off my t-shirt and stepped into the pool. The water must have been 105 F. A little warm at first, but was comfortable after a couple of minutes.