120 days...

by Stratton, M.

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re fighting dirty.”

  “Hell yeah, I’ll do whatever I need to, in order to spend some more time with you and show you how sorry I am for this morning.” He held up his other hand, which held a large bouquet of flowers. “See, I tried to find something that matched your beauty, but none did. These were the best I could do.”

  A smile twitched at her lips. “And now you’re charming me. What else do you want?”

  “Nothing, I just want to spend some time with you . . . please?”

  “Okay, but no repeat of last night.” She held the door open for him as he walked in.

  “Of course. Honestly, I don’t think I want to look at any booze for the next decade or so.” He stopped in front of her and looked down. “But I do need to know, does that include the kissing part too?”

  All day she had wondered if she had dreamed the kiss; it appeared she hadn’t. Lord help her, but she wanted more. “Yes, it does include the kissing part.” She couldn’t help it, she smirked at him when his face fell. “For now.”

  “As long as there is hope . . .” He quickly leaned down and kissed the top of her head before going over to the counter and putting the bags down. “Here.” He handed her the bouquet. “You put those in water and I’ll take care of everything else.”

  When he turned his back, she buried her face in the flowers and inhaled deeply, touched he’d brought them for her.

  Once she’d arranged her flowers, Sam crossed over to the sink, and placed them on the windowsill above it. She’d be able to see them from her back porch while she relaxed on her swing. When she turned around, Ethan had the table all set, and the aroma of the food permeated the area and made her mouth water. Holding herself back from running to the table and shoveling the food in, she crossed to the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of lemon flavored water, pouring them each a glass. She knew better than to offer a glass of wine after their drinking session.

  He pulled out a chair for her. “Please, sit.”

  “Thank you.”

  They didn’t talk much through the dinner and it didn’t feel uncomfortable to be sitting there eating in silence together. Sam didn’t feel the need to fill the gaps in the conversation with nonsense. By the time dessert came around, she was full, but there was no way she was going to pass it up. She needed to move before she could eat another bite. “If you don’t mind, let me clean this up and then we can finish on the porch. I always like to sit out there this time of evening. The trees are starting to change. Just wait, another couple of weeks and it’s going to be spectacular here.”

  “I think it’s already pretty spectacular from where I’m standing,” he said in a low voice.

  She turned and saw him looking at her. Shaking her head, she brushed him off. “There you go again, trying to sweet talk me.”

  “It’s the truth.” He moved closer to her and she backed up until she was trapped between Ethan and the counter. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as beautiful as you.”

  “Come on, I’m not going to fall for that. I know all about you. You’re worth more money than I can count. I know you’ve had all the beautiful, single, and sometimes married women throwing themselves at you.”

  “Yes I have, but none can compare to you.” He cut her off when she tried to interrupt. “Hush now. There is the beauty everyone sees first, then that which is inside.” He tapped her chest, above her heart. “It’s what’s inside you that makes your outer beauty pale in comparison. You give so much of yourself to others and never ask for anything for yourself. What you do here.” He gestured wide with his arm. “It’s nothing more than a miracle to these people. Don’t you understand that? Not many people would ever even think to do what you do. And yet here you are, again and again, allowing people to come here, and help them make the most of their last days while you hold their hand. To someone who has nothing, that would mean everything. To someone who doesn’t want to burden their family, it means everything. More people should know about you and this place.”

  With tears in her eyes, she shook her head. “I can’t take any more people. I don’t have the resources.”

  “But you do! Don’t you think people would be jumping on board to support you here if more people knew about it? And then there’s the gold mine. If you could find that, you’d be set for life and you’d never need anything from anyone and you’d be able to help so many more people.”

  Her heart sank. The gold mine. Everyone who was ever interested in her property always went back to the legend of the mine. The fact that Ethan went there, started to break her heart. She thought this place meant more to him. “The mine is a myth. There is nothing.” She tried to pull away from him.

  “There’s a lot of talk about it, some of it has to be true.” He wouldn’t let her go.

  “No, Ethan, there is no gold, nothing. It’s an old tale that people love to keep alive so the mystery of the gold rush stays alive.” The exhaustion she felt in her bones seeped into her voice at the thought that he was only after her property.

  “What do you know?”

  She slapped the palm of her hand on his chest, angry at him, that one of her biggest fears was coming true right before her eyes. “Don’t you think when I bought this ranch I looked into everything that had to do with it, not to mention talked to everyone who had ever worked or lived on it? You know what that kind of money could do for my ranch, as you said, how many more people I could help. I’ve done all the surveys, hired the best people, actually walked every inch of this property. There’s nothing, only people wanting to get their hands on it, and doing whatever they needed to do in order to get me to sell. Well, I’m not going to sell.” She wiggled in his grip. “Now let me go. It’s been a long day, and I want to be alone.”

  “No dammit, I’m tired of you walking away from me all the time. You’re going to stay here and listen to everything I have to say. To talk to me for once without running. Don’t make me beg, Samantha. You have to listen.”

  “Two minutes.”

  “I can tell you think I’m only after your property, and yes, I’m sure you’ve had a lot of investors here who tried to get their hands on it, one way or the other. But I’m not them. Can’t you tell? Can’t you see, you’ve changed me? Yes, I can look around and see what this property could be developed for, how much money it could make me. Sam, I have more than enough money. It isn’t about that, but it’s about you and Last Resort. There is more that can be done here. If you find the mine you won’t have to worry about money, but that’s not the only thing. I want to help. I may have come here trying to find out if you were scamming people out of their money, but I know you couldn’t. It’s not who you are. I want to do what I can to make this place everything you want it to be.”

  She wanted to believe his words but her exhaustion made it hard for to stay awake and not fall asleep standing up in his arms. She wanted to go bed and think about everything in the morning. “You know, you aren’t the first person to come here thinking I was running a scam. I can’t fault you for looking out for your brother. Now please let me go. I just want to go to bed.”

  “Why do I get the feeling you’re brushing me off? Come on Sam, let me finish, I still have another minute. Listen to me.”

  “I don’t have to, now let me go. You don’t want me to have to say it again.” Anger crept past her tired voice. Obviously, he didn’t understand how much she’s been through and how badly she needed rest.

  “Or what? You’re going to hurt me?” He puffed his chest up trying to intimate her. “Maybe you’re scared of being this close to me.”

  “Oh, please. Ethan, I’ve taken many self-defense classes I can drop you on your ass quicker than you know. So let me go.”

  His eyes narrowed at her. “Well, if you aren’t scared then maybe this is just an excuse for you to get your hands on me.”

  Sam closed her eyes, not believing what he’d just said and wished him away. “Sorry to burst your
bubble, but it actually has been a long day and I’d like to be alone for a bit before I head off to bed.”

  “Answer one question, one only . . . for tonight, and I’ll leave the rest for another.” He tipped his head down so it rested on hers and whispered. “I still have thirty seconds or so.”

  She was so tired she felt as if she’d agree to anything just so he’d go away and leave her alone. Alone, that was what she was used to. The last thing she wanted was to get used to having someone around at the end of the day to talk with, especially someone who was going to be leaving soon. “Yes.”

  “I know because of the circumstances, it would be hard to do this in the usual way, but I’d like to find a way to date you, to get to know you better, but you’d have to not run away from me every time things got too serious.” When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “Samantha.” He used his fingers to tip her chin up so she’d look at him. “It’s obvious we both like each other. Even if I don’t stay here as an employee, it doesn’t mean we still can’t be together. My office is only an hour from here. All I’m saying is if this is something we both want, we can make it work, but we both have to want it. So, do you?”

  After all of these years up here, alone, along came Ethan McGregor to make her want a normal life like other women her age. If she was honest with herself, looked into the deepest, darkest corners of her heart, she knew it was what she’d always wanted. Love. The love of a man, a partner to share her life with. The ups and downs, everything. There were things he didn’t know about her, things she would have to tell him, but there was time for that. But at that moment, she couldn’t speak; the lump in her throat was too large. It was going to be one of the scariest things she’d ever done, but she wanted to. She simply nodded and laughed when his arms moved tightly around her, picking her up off the ground and swinging her around. In that moment, everything was perfect.

  Day 27

  Ethan–

  There’s something about this place. I swear it’s magic or something. You know we were never big into the outdoors, and I hated basic training when they made us rough it. Remember, they always called me City Boy? But here, being away from the hustle and bustle, it’s so peaceful and quiet. We all come here waiting to die, knowing it’s coming. Like me, most count the days they are here. I’ve seen it time and time again when someone makes it past the number of days the doctors gave them. It’s almost like renewed hope. When they walked through the doors here, it was renewed, then again, when they beat the doctor’s predictions, and if they make it past one hundred and twenty days . . . ? So far I’ve seen it twice since I’ve been here. We partied like cancer-ridden rock stars each time. We’ve learned not just to celebrate the little things in life, but to really appreciate the big ones too.

  Evan

  Ethan woke up with a smile on his face. It wasn’t like he typically woke up in a bad mood, but he had to admit, the past six months hadn’t been the best. Swinging both feet over the edge of the bed, he ran a hand over his chest. It had become a habit every morning to see if the ache from his brother’s death was still there. While it was still present that morning, the pain wasn’t as sharp.

  Sitting for a minute, he listened to the hush of nature around him. There had been a gentle rain falling most of the night. He had left his window open and for the first time in a very long time, he’d slept like a child who had no worries hanging over his head.

  Last Resort always had a plan for the days when rain would wash outside activities away. They’d make sure all the guests who wanted to go were safely moved to the rec center and they’d spend the day playing games and watching movies. There was always a huge amount of competition between everyone. They even made up teams and whichever team’s members won the most games, picked out the movie they’d watch later.

  The rec hall also had a huge fireplace and they’d have it burning all day to help keep the chill away and make the room cozy and inviting.

  Since he ended up being one of the first to the rec center, he started moving the tables and chairs around to accommodate the different games. It may only have been his third time doing the task, but the first two left such an impression on him, he remembered exactly what to do, including the way certain guests liked things set up.

  He paused for a moment and thought of Patty—she’d loved charades. They all did. The more outrageous you could be, the better. There was always a lot of laughter going on when they played that game. There was also a lot of good-natured yelling when people didn’t guess the answer in time and the other team was able to steal.

  He thought back to the time when he was young and his family would play games. Ethan supposed every adult longed for some aspect of their childhood, especially if they had a good one. Since his adult lifestyle was so different, it did seem like a completely different life to him. There was something in the water at the ranch, because the longer he was there, the more he longed for his childhood, the more he wanted to recreate it, somehow be able to tap back into it, but as an adult. And with a new family.

  Looking around, as both employees and guests started to arrive, his stomach clenched as he saw their happy faces. The employees only stayed a short time, and the guests, unfortunately, would only be around for so long. To be fair, some of the employees stayed for a while, but at some point, they all ended up burned out by being around death all the time. The average retention was three years. Could he really be thinking of starting a ‘family’ up here with all of these people, who wouldn’t be around for as long as he’d want them to be? Hadn’t he learned anything from his family, when his parents were killed? Was it possible for him, like Sam, to go through the loss of someone you cared for over and over again? It wasn’t the typical amount of death someone dealt with in one’s lifetime. It was purposely setting out to be around people who weren’t going to make it to the next year. And not doing it a few times a year, but most likely a few times a month. Unless they found a cure, there’d be no end in sight.

  “Hey, Ethan!” Edward waved at him. “Did ya finally catch what you were running after?”

  Ethan’s heart momentarily stuttered and he took in a sharp breath. “You could say that.” He watched Sam walk in behind Edward and he could tell by the old man’s chuckle that his poker face must have taken a vacation. “Good morning, Ms. Truman.” Ethan nodded to her.

  “Good morning, Mr. McGregor. It’s a beautiful morning, isn’t it?”

  “I was thinking the same thing.” He smiled at her.

  “Well then, let’s not waste anymore of it.” She walked over to the stereo and put on some music. When “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire came on, several people started to dance, including Samantha, while they continued to set up games. Soon enough, people were seated around the tables or lounging on the couches, reading. They always started with the smaller games before doing the ones everyone could participate in. Ethan went around making sure everyone had something to drink and to snack on while settling good-natured arguments here and there.

  There was a relaxed camaraderie on these days. It really did feel like one big family. On impulse, Ethan took his phone out and started to capture some pictures. He wished he had thought of this sooner; back at his place he had a nice camera. He always told himself he needed it for documentation with all of his investments, but in actuality, he loved to take photos. Next time he was in town, he should pick it up and bring it back with him. Sam loved to video document her guests telling stories; they should also have stills. They could have a special section on the website and print copies and write on the back of them like they used to do before the digital age. Something for people to remember of those who came before them.

  He wandered from table to table, talking and taking pictures. Adding notes into his phone about everyone, not just the guests, but the employees, who gave so much of themselves so these people could have meaning to their life at the end. Everyone deserved to have their story told.

  He was also considering the building. Wh
ile it was large enough for the amount of guests they currently had, if they were going to expand, they needed something larger. But he wanted, and he was sure Sam would agree with him, to keep the charm and old-ranch feel of the place. It couldn’t be all new and shiny. The people who used this place weren’t, and it needed to reflect them too.

  Shaking his head he knew he had to stop before he completely re-developed this area. He tilted his head and stared at Sam, trying to get into her head, wondering what she would say if he brought his ideas to her. There was a good chance she’d be stubborn and say that while he had some good ideas, she couldn’t afford it, and therefore, it would have to be planned out as money allowed, never letting him put any money into it. Or she’d say she’d never want this place to become an institution, because if that happened, it wouldn’t benefit the guests anymore. He knew she wouldn’t be worried about filling the place up; sadly, there were always enough guests to fill the room.

  Sam clapped her hands together. “Anyone ready to play charades? Get in your teams, and guests decide which employees goes on which team.”

  Soon enough everyone was grouped into their teams. Sam and Ethan were on two separate teams and were chosen to be the team captains. They sat in the middle of everyone next to each other. He smirked at her. “Are you ready to give up now?”

  “Ha. Please. We’re going to wipe the floor with you.”

  “You keep telling yourself that. Have you seen my team?” He gestured toward his group. “There’s no way we could lose.”

  “I have a secret weapon, and you’re totally going to lose.”

  “Care to place a little wager on that, Ms. Truman?”

  Her eyes lit up. “Well, Mr. McGregor, I’d hate to see a grown man cry when he lost a bet.”

  “Good, then we’re in agreement. What’s your wager?”

  Sam tapped her finger on her lips and squinted her eyes at him. “The person who loses has to do the next run into town for supplies.”