Tales of a Trail of Life Read Free

since you didn’t seem to recognize who I was
or who I became.”
     
    “They not only caused a spark of
memory they seized my heart and squeezed it so hard that I had an emotional
seizure Dwayne. I blanked out, my vision darkened and I lost control, so yes,
it was your fault and I thank you for it. It was the best accident I ever had.”
     
    Dwayne smiled and took both of
Ashley’s hands into his. He pulled her closer to him and gave her a long warm
affectionate embrace. Just a few hours ago they were two people on the trail.
Now they are two people who have shared some of each other’s early life on
their trail of life journey and are blessed to be able to once again ride on
the same trail of life together.
     
    Ashley whispered into Dwayne’s ear.
“Would you please stay for dinner?” Dwayne commented that he was sorry but he
had to leave. Ashley felt disappointed and simply said, “Perhaps another time
then.” 
     
    Dwayne with a twinkle in his eyes
looked deeply into her eyes and said, “I would like that very much. Could we do
it in about a half hour, after I bicycle into town to get your SUV?”  Ashley
was elated, “Oh my goodness, I completely forgot about that detail, and yes do
that and I’ll start supper. Around these parts we call it supper.”
     
    As he began unloading Ashley’s bike
and then his, he looked up and saw her standing in the doorway and he had to
ask. “Ashley, can this be considered our first date?” Then as he mounted his
bike and fastened his helmet she came out on the patio in her bare feet,
standing there in her casual dress looking so inviting, she blew him a kiss.
     
    Ashley stood there watching him bike
down the lane and when she couldn’t here him whistling any longer she turned to
walk back into the house to begin preparing their evening first date meal.

Chapter
Six
     
    Almost on the button, Dwayne was
pulling into the driveway with Ashley’s SUV. In the half hour it took him to
bicycle to the train station and drive back she was preparing a salad from her
own garden produce. The spaghetti was almost done boiling and the meat sauce
was simmering.
     
    Dwayne walked in and commented,
“Smells good Ashley; is there anything I can do to help?” “If you like, you can
set the table. We are Italian tonight, Spaghetti with meat sauce and a fresh
salad right out of the garden.” As an afterthought Ashley asked Dwayne if he
liked cooking and didn’t he cook on the farm as a teen?” “You remember, yes we
all cooked on the farm. Many of my fondest memories were in the kitchen on the
farm.
     
    “Hmmm the farm, one of my scariest
memories was in the hayloft Dwayne.” “Oh my, we sure stirred up the dust on a
few occasions while pretending to feed the cows, didn’t we?” “I don’t mean that
Dwayne, I mean the time when we were walking the rafters and I froze. It was in
the spring and the hay was almost gone and the bare floor was a long way down.
You had to walk out and take my hand and inch me off the rafter. I’ve been
afraid of heights ever since that day.”
     
    “I remember that afternoon perfectly.
When I got you down you were shivering so bad. I didn’t know what to do so I
just held you tight; we both settled onto the floor and just embraced for the
longest time. I remember feeling so grown up and needed.”
     
    They continued to reminisce until
almost midnight. The meal was delicious, the after dinner, rather supper,
coffee and desert was so comforting to their appetites but also to their
comfort of being around each other after all these years. “How could that be,”
Dwayne wondered out loud?  Ashley easily explained her version. “Dwayne, there
is no doubt that we each had wonderful lives but I must admit I often wondered
how different it would have been if you and I married. Didn’t you think about
that a few times?”
     
    “When we were doing the dishes Ashley,
those were my thoughts. How many times did I wonder what we would have