The phone rang in the room of the “Town Motel” and the voice said, “This is your wake up call.”

“It can’t be. Who asked for that?” Karen groaned as she dropped the handset on the cradle and rolled roughly onto Janet, an arm flopped over her back. “Just ravish me for a few more days dear.”

Karen and Jackie took turns taking a bath in the shower that was too small to share. Dry and dressed, they walked the block to the diner from the day before. The same guys were sitting at the counter and Doris was filling up their cups with coffee once again, as the smoke from their cigarettes clouded the air around them.

“Hi girls, want the same as yesterday?”

“Sure.” Karen called out as they sat in the same booth, the same rip under her.

Doris sat the thick ceramic mugs full of coffee on the table, a small oil slick floating on top of the black liquid, and a spoon in each cup. “Did you have a nice time at “Julie”s’?”

“The best,” Janet said. She turned and whispered, “Just as long as you are next to me darling.”

“Betty was quite taken with the dance. No secrets in Barton.” Doris laughed as she walked away.

Fred and the other man walked past their table on the way out. “Sorry about yesterday,” he said as he tipped his hat.

Doris returned with the waffles. “He can be an ornery old coot, but he can be nice too.”

The door to the Blazer shut with a crunch as some snow fell on the pavement. “Do you want to go on down the road?” Janet asked.

“I will do down any road anywhere with you. If you don’t mind, I’d like to run naked around the cabin with you. Forever.”

“I couldn’t find a nicer person to do that with. Forever.”

The wildflowers were blooming and the days of early spring provided a wonderful contrast to the cold winter that thankfully was now over. They sat naked on the large flat rock by the stream, the sides of their hips touching softly.

“I don’t feel 61,” Karen groaned. “Where have the years gone?”

“Me either. And it doesn’t feel like this will be our eighth spring,” Janet said as she lay back on the rock letting her legs spread slightly. “The warmth of this rock will always remind me of your warmth against my back at night. I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“We’ve shared so many wonderful things – like that first night in the blizzard, or that wonderful dance at “Julie”s’. I can’t forget the month in San Francisco. It would have been so grand to share all those years before we met with you. At least we get to have these.”