All Aboard Andi's Dream Ch. 07

Paul looked at the check again. She actually got more than it was worth. He grinned and said, "Welcome to the family of Jarecki Motors."

As they hugged and kissed, Kenny said, "If you sold your car, what is the trailer for?"

Andi's mom, Heather, stepped into the apartment and said, "Her dad's Volkswagen."

"You never mentioned a Volkswagen," said Paul.

"It's in Mom's garage."

"It was last driven just before Dan was sent to Iraq," said Heather. "I don't drive a standard and I can't..." She sniffed back a tear and said, "Dan put it up on blocks and let the air out of the tires. We thought that you being a car guy could get it back on the road and Andi could sell it if she wanted to."

Harold appeared behind Heather and gave her a hug and she turned in his arms to him, allowing Harold to comfort her. Andi watched in amazement as that happened. Harold and Heather's relationship was cool and aloof, until Heather finally faced her feelings. The Heather that Harold always knew was beneath all that pain finally emerged. "We're going to take the twins to Georgetown for dinner, and a train ride, would you care to join us?"

"Root beer!" cried Sandy.

"If you're good on the train," said Grandma Heather.

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Georgetown, Colorado, was the richest failed gold mining town in the Rocky Mountains. They honeycombed the nearby mountains looking for gold and instead all they found were gray rocks. The gray rocks made nice gravel and the streets of Georgetown were paved with them. Then the gold boom ended, and some sharp-eyed lad realized that the gravel on the streets was silver ore. In the dead of night, those gray rocks were scraped up, and Georgetown had to find new gravel because the silver rush became a craze. The mountains echoed with the sound of men digging out silver ore by the ton. The Colorado Central railroad started digging a tunnel through Gray's Peak, trying to get to Leadville, but hit a huge lode of silver ore and the tunnel became a mine and building the Colorado Central was forgotten.

In the 1980s, the remains of the Colorado Central railroad in Georgetown was rebuilt and had become a marquee attraction in the Colorado Rockies. The little train started in Silver Plume, just a couple miles west of Georgetown and a thousand feet up. They boarded the train and Paul and Andi found a nice seat in a coach, but the twins began pulling at them. "Come on!" they demanded, and Paul turned to Andi.

"Don't ask me," said Andi. "Grandpa Harold brings them here all the time. They grew up riding the Georgetown Loop Railroad." Paul, Andi, Macy, Yi, and Kenny followed the lead of the twins and they ended up in the last car of the train. It was a gondola, a flatcar with low sides, and they sat on wooden benches in the open. It was cold that high up, but they were warm having dressed for North Dakota.

The view was simply amazing; the mountains towered over them, and all over the steep faces of the mountains were piles of mine tailings. Paul tried to count them but gave up at fifty on one peak and he didn't count a quarter of them. "For every gigantic pile of mine tailings you see, there's a dozen more back on the other faces of the mountain," said Andi's mom Heather. "The twins grandfather loved it up there," she sighed and grabbed Andi's hand. "Our mountain man."

"Dad would bring the twins here constantly so I could get some rest," said Andi and she started weeping, then she hugged her stepfather Harold and said, "I never said thank you... I'm so sorry..." and she burst into tears which caused Macy who was sitting across from her to burst into tears.

"Hearing you call me dad was thanks enough," said Harold, which made Andi and Macy both cry harder and Harold was soon hugging both women.

"What is with these two?" Kenny whispered to Yi. She whispered in his ear, and he looked shocked. "Does Paul and Pastor John know?" asked Kenny.

"Shit, Andi and Macy themselves don't know," said Yi, which caused Kenny to laugh.

The last person climbed on, a Japanese family who didn't speak English, but the father spoke Korean, so Yi translated for the conductor. Soon the little train was winding down the hill and the conductor began his story. "In 1884 the Georgetown Loop was one of Colorado's first visitor attractions with seven trains a day running out of Denver at the height of its popularity, the Georgetown Loop became Colorado's scenic must-see." He described how the chief engineer, Jacob Blickensderfer, devised a system of curves, three hairpin turns, four bridges and a 30-degree horseshoe curve to allow the little trains to climb the steep mountain from Georgetown to Silver Plume in their drive to get to Leadville Colorado.

As he spoke, Yi translated for the Japanese man, who translated Yi's Korean into Japanese for his family. The twins watched in stunned awe as noises came out of Yi's mouth that they couldn't understand, but one man acted like she was talking. "I think Yi is broken," Sandy told her mother.

"No, she's saying what the guy on the speaker is saying to that man in Korean, and he's telling his wife in his language.

"But we can't understand!" insisted Madeline.

"That's how I feel when you two speak in your own language and I have to tell you to use your words," said Andi.

"That's just weird," said Madeline. And she walked back to Yi, who was continuing to translate.

"Learning has not occurred," said Paul.

"Not even close," said Andi. But Sandy and Madeline showed their parents that language is a barrier that's bridged in multiple ways. The Japanese family's youngest child was probably four and the same size as the twins, and he clearly understood Sandy when she said, "Come on!" The three of them raced to the very back of the car and leaned over the car side, looking at the rails below them.

Paul was just amazed at the majesty of the towering mountains. "Look up there," said Harold. "See that ledge with something standing straight up? That's the Griffin Monument by the 7:30 Mine. Clifford Griffin would stand on that ledge and play the violin every night. It was said that all work would stop when he played. One day he got a letter that told him his wife had died. He went up there, dug a grave, then played his violin for her. When he was done he shot himself in the head and fell back in his grave. His workers found him there the next morning."

"Wow, I'll bet there's a hundred more stories like that," said Paul as he watched the mountains pass by.

"Thousands," said Harold.

They wound down the mountain, weaving back and forth, crossing Clear Creek several times, until they ended up on a spidery bridge one hundred feet above the creek. The Devils Gate Bridge. The train stopped so they could take photos, then proceeded down a wide sweeping loop and ended up passing under the bridge.

At the base of the hill, the locomotive swapped ends and coupled to their car, but the twins screamed, "Come on! It will spit on you!" And they raced to the other end of the train with three laughing Japanese children in tow.

"She's right, it will spray sooty water when it starts up," said Harold, and all the adults moved to the other end of the train with the children. This time it was going uphill, so the steam locomotive barked as it climbed the steep 3.5% grade. The exhaust barks echoed off the mountains, calling back to a different time when the railroad was the top gun, and the steam locomotive was the Maserati of its day. The working locomotive was so loud the conductor couldn't have been heard if he tried to speak, which was why he did all his talking on the downhill portion of the tour.

The scenery was breathtaking and much of what they saw was amazing. At one point, the little train passed through a narrow cut through a section of the mountain and the walls of the cut were held back by hand laid stonework that would look incredible around anyone's fireplace. The stonework was all done by Scottish stonemasons who used no mortar. All too soon, the train pulled into Silver Plume station, and the gang wandered around the Silver Plume roundhouse and looked at the Georgetown Loop Railroad's collection of locomotives and other equipment.

After looking around, they drove down to Georgetown and got root beer floats at an old-fashioned soda fountain with a marble counter and the best vanilla ice cream you ever ate. "Christmas is beautiful here," said Andi as they walked down 6th Avenue, which was the center of Historic Georgetown. "The lights and garlands, Santa puts his reindeer right here, over there they roast chestnuts. There's warming fires here and there. I used to hope and pray it was a specially cold winter so the Denver people would stay down there, and I'd have this whole town to myself."

"It's a pretty town," said Paul. Not as pretty as Springville, but Springville doesn't have mountains like this.

They ended the day with dinner at the Raven Hill Mining Company, a saloon whose owner was an incredible chef. When he found out that Yi was a trained chef, he gave her a tour of his kitchen, then they sat down, and he begged her for her opinion and suggested improvements on his menu. "This is all great stuff you're doing here, and you're doing it right, but it's so hard to make," said Yi.

"I know, but I like to challenge myself," said Chef William.

Yi opened the menu and pointed to everything that was listed. "You have a choice, do you want to make money, or do you want to show off? Most places I've worked feature good meals that are easy and inexpensive to make. Then show case the chef's skills in one special dish, their special of the week." She worked with William on a menu that would save him money, yet still let him show off his skill as a chef.

When they were done, Yi turned to Kenny and said, "I'm sorry about that, but I love cooking and managing a kitchen."

"It's fascinating to see you work," said Kenny. "I'm a microwave popcorn and Pepsi kind of guy, I've learned more about cooking listening to you tonight than I learned in my whole life of helping mom."

"So, you don't mind women that work?" asked Yi.

"No, why would I?" asked Kenny.

"I thought your type didn't like their women working."

"My type? What do you mean my type?"

"You know... rednecks."

Kenny opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. Then he got up and left.

"Yi, what did you do?" asked Andi.

"I didn't do anything! He got mad at me then left."

"That's not exactly the truth," said Macy. "You inferred to Kenny that hard working men were beneath you."

"No, that's not what I said, I said I didn't think that rednecks like him liked their women to work."

"If you wanted to break up with him why didn't you just tell him to go fuck off?" demanded Paul, and he went in search of Kenny.

"What? I didn't do no such thing."

"You called him a redneck," said Andi.

"So?"

"He sat here and told you how proud he was of what you do, and you thanked him by calling him an uneducated slob," said Macy.

"I didn't! Redneck means a hardworking man!"

"In Florida it means that, in New York a redneck is a beer drinking slob that is looked down on by snooty people from the cities," said Andi.

Yi looked around the table and Macy said, "Oui, it has a completely different connotation. Kenny works very hard to insure his family is housed... their business is failing, and Kenny blames himself. His sense of humor is stretched very thin."

"Failing?" gasped Yi.

"You've got to let a man have his pride," said Macy. "Your father is a great sailor, would you let anyone call him Popeye? Kenny isn't a proud person but he's earned the right to be one."

Yi couldn't imagine Kenny's grandfather Archie without his "museum of new antiquities" to care for. "I didn't know."

"He's usually not touchy," said Macy, "but you hurt him."

"What do I do?" her eyes were wide in terror.

"You go tell him you didn't understand and beg him to forgive you," said Andi. "NOW." Yi ran out of the restaurant looking for Kenny. She dashed up Sixth Street, but she didn't see him anywhere. Yi turned around and ran the other way and she saw someone walking down Taos Street, passing under a streetlight. Running up Taos Street, she saw it was Kenny. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry Kenny. I didn't mean what I said. Please, I was teasing, and I used the wrong words and I'm so sorry."

"It don't make no difference, thank you for your affection but we both know I was playing too far out of my league."

"What do you mean?"

Kenny sighed. "You're a very beautiful, accomplished chef that's in demand in multi-million dollar yachts all over the Caribbean. I'm just a grunt with a rowboat that sells bags of pelletized hay." He felt his dinner coming up. "I'll keep my promise to doc Jarecki and finish loading the truck. I'll drive the truck; you drive the van and I won't bother you anymore."

"You're just feeling sorry for yourself."

"I think I'm entitled, by this time come fall, I'll be just what you said, some unemployed drunk living in a ratty old trailer. The feed store is going under and there's nothing I can do to prevent it. The only thing keeping me alive is the fact that I don't have life insurance which would take care of mom and dad. I'm sorry you had to be seen with me."

"What do you mean 'had to be seen with me?'"

"You're so smart and beautiful, a joy to be with and I'm nothing. No skills, no looks, and soon no job and no place to live. I have nothing to offer you other than my heart and my..."

"I'll take it," said Yi.

"Huh?"

"Your heart. I'll take it, and those fly fishing lessons too. You keep telling me how wonderful I am, so let ME decide on what YOU are worth to me. Please?" Yi took Kenny's hands, and he was shaking. "What is wrong?"

"I am so scared for my folks and Grandpa Archie and Grandma Lacy, we're all going to be homeless soon, and all I can think of is you. There's so much to do in the Feed store that I should be back there working, but when Doc asked if I'd come out to help here I came mostly to be with you. I love you so much Yi-jin..." Yi silenced him with a kiss.

"I love you too Kensington, and I don't know how to deal with it either, but I know we can't solve anything by turning our backs on each other."

Paul returned to the Raven Hill Mining Company and Andi asked, "Did they make up?"

"I never found Kenny," said Paul. "I figured he'd head up to I70 and hitch a ride, but I never found him."

Marcy looked out the front window and sighed, "They're sitting on the Library patio talking. They don't do enough of that."

"What do you say, girls, do you want to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa?" asked Grandpa Harold.

"YES!" the twins cried.

"Ok, we'll take these kids with us," said Heather. "You go collect your kids and we'll see you in the morning."

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That night, Andi and Paul tried to make love as quietly as possible, but Andi couldn't help but squeak and gasp as Paul went down on her, giving her an "Australian Kiss." She came twice and had to gnaw on a pillow to keep from shrieking.

"What's the matter?" asked Kenny.

"Just remembering New Years Eve," said Yi. "It was a difficult night for me."

"Why?" They were sitting on the full size mattress that the twins used to sleep on. As they leaned against the wall and cuddled, they looked around the room. The unwanted toys and clothes that were too small were boxed up, ready for the AMVETS truck.

"John and Macy, Gus and Lucy, Paul and Andi, me and my fingers, need I say more?"

"I've been on campouts that ended up like that," said Kenny. "I usually end up hiking back in the woods. If we were on Josh's property I'd just head up to his cabin. Now that Josh has a girlfriend I have more hikes ahead of me."

"Who?"

"Josh Gravely, he owns the property across Trevette from Doc's property. He's a vet too. I camp and hike on his land a lot."

"I couldn't really go hiking, we were on Andi's boat."

"That would be a problem," said Kenny.

"What did you do for New Years?" asked Yi.

"We had dinner at home, watched TV then went to bed. Grandpa and I watched a John Wayne movie until midnight."

"I used to go out every New Years Eve," said Yi. "It got tiring." She leaned on Kenny and said, "please don't take this wrong, please?" she asked as she snuggled closer to Kenny. "A year ago... hell three months ago I'd never go out with someone like you."

"A redneck?"

"No, a nice guy. I always went for the bad boy, and I always ended up hung over and hating myself. You care about me; you are interested in what I do. I mention to those jerks that I was a chef they expected me to cook for them. You've never even asked for a sandwich."

"Your job is to feed Dr. Jarecki and his family, not me."

"What if I want to feed you?"

"Well, if you go grocery shopping with me. We eat simple and our pantry isn't much to talk about."

"I think that will be fun," said Yi as she wrapped her arms around Kenny's arm. His biceps felt huge, but spending day after day lifting and carrying huge fifty-pound sacks of feed he's achieved the body the guys she used to date paid huge sums of money at a gym trying to simulate.

The squeaking of mattress springs in the next room sped up, then came to a sudden stop. "Newlyweds," said Kenny.

"Can't blame them, they're in love," said Yi. "You should have heard them on the cruise." For some reason, she reached over and brushed her hand up his inner thigh. It wasn't something she planned to do, it just happened. When she got near his crotch, he winced. "You don't like me touching you?"

"Just a bit tender," he said.

"Did you strain yourself or do you have blue balls?"

Kenny was shocked at Yi's unexpected question. "Uh... option B."

"Because of me?" but Kenny was blushing furiously and refused to answer. "Oh, stop. Let Doctor Yi fix it." She wrestled with him. He fought against her, but soon Yi had his jeans and shorts around his knees and his cock was in her hand. Somehow, she ended up leaning against the wall and he ended up leaning against her as she stroked him gently.

She held him tightly around the chest and she licked and nibbled his ear as her hand traveled up and down his cock. Kenny has never had a handjob so exquisite. Yi's touch was perfect. It was gentle and sweet, but insistent, and she urged him to cum with every stroke. "Don't hold back, show me how much you love me." He never had a reach-around before and the pleasure was incredible.

Somehow Yi knew how much Kenny's balls ached because she wriggled out from behind him. Then she propped him up with pillows and went back to her handjob. With her left hand gently cupping his aching nuts, she stroked him gently and sighed. "Your cock is so beautiful," she said, and she leaned over and kissed the head of his cock, licking off the precum. "You taste amazing. We are going to taste so good together!" she said brightly.

For some reason, that set him off. Everything accumulated into a mind blowing orgasm for Kenny. His back arched, and he thrust his hips up as he came. Yi took the head of his cock in her mouth and savored every spurt of cum. His explosion seemed to go on forever and Yi continued to stroke him until the sensations became too much for him. Slowly his cock deflated while the lovers curled up together and kissed softly in the dark, both wondering where this relationship was headed. "I don't think I will need breakfast now," she said as they kissed.

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Kenny expertly backed the empty auto carrier trailer into Harold and Heather Driscoll's driveway and up to the garage. "I hope you can get it running," said Heather. "That old VW has a lot of memories for me." And she pressed the button and the garage door opened slowly.