A Vital Appreciation

"I never get tired of this view," the man said. "I hike this every day now since the cancer took my wife."

"I am," Ray hesitated, "sorry for your loss."

"Oh don't be!" exclaimed the old man. "She was a good woman and we had a good life together. I loved her so much."

The old man paused as he recalled the good days with his spouse before continuing, "For the longest time I was angry with God for taking her, but what could I do? Then I realized I had been gifted a few more years to enjoy this world."

He pointed at the sunlit plain and the deep cut ridges that seemed to point to a small town below. "My wife and I must have driven this road a thousand times, but I never walked it till she died. It's magnificent, isn't it?" he asked.

Ray nodded.

The old man said goodbye and started down the hill he had just climbed. He turned once with a smile and waved before descending out of sight.

Ray watched him go and said quietly to himself, "Appreciate you being Appreciative."

---

The rain and darkness again came to Gillette. Dorothy held Brooke in her arms on the covered porch of the house watching the rain fall steady. The poor girl was exhausted with grief. They both knew that whatever had happened in Cody, had already happened, and it was likely they would never see Ray again.

"Oh honey," said Dorothy as she stroked Brooke's tear stained cheek, "We did out best, didn't we?"

Brooke hesitated and nodded sadly.

A pickup truck rolled up the street and sloshed to a stop in front of house. The girls watched it idle for a few minutes. Finally the passenger door opened and a dark figure stepped out. He waved to the driver as the truck pulled away and then turned up the walkway to the house. Ray slowed as he came into the porch light and stood in the rain.

Brooke disengaged from Dorothy and ran down the steps disregarding the soaking rain. She stopped a foot short of Ray and looked into his face.

"The Duster is in a shop in Tensleep," Ray said grimly.

"And the gun?" asked Brooke.

Ray looked away for a moment and said, "The gun is at the bottom of a canyon in the Big Horn mountains."

Brooke shrieked and jumped into Ray's arms. They kissed harder and more passionately than either had ever experienced.

Dorothy called from the porch, "Hey you two, come out of the rain. I'll make some tea."

Brooke and Ray unlocked from their embrace and sloshed up the walk to the house. Brooke said, "Hey Ray."

"Yeah?" answered Ray with a squeeze to her waist.

"I hear Oregon is nice," she said. "We should go there next."