It started in the mud

A glance at her face,
Spoke,
Symphonies,
Not romantic ones,
More Wagnerian.

That was the mood I was looking for.

It had been a rough day.
Rain.
Mud.
Stuck car blocked the off-road track.
Did I say mud?
All day getting it out.
The driver, her guy,
Left her behind,
As we finally,
Pushed him out.
(Hence her Wagnerian face.)
Did I say mud?
My day’s drive in the high country,
Never happened,
Spent,
Pushing him out.
(My mood pretty much matched hers.)
Did I say mud?

Gave her a ride back.
(They were camped next to me.)

He got back to camp first,
Packed up and left;
Left her stuff in the rain,
In the mud.

Too much mud,
Too muddy,
Covered in mud.
Wearing too much mud.

Struck camp,
Tossed stuff in the back,
Of my truck.

Wanted a shower.
Wanted dinner.
Wanted a bed.

Motels full.
Hotels also.
Found B&B.
Lady told us,
There was limited,
Hot water,
But the shower,
Was big enough
For two,
Oh, and there was only one bed.

Looked at her.
She nodded.

So much mud,
Stripped next to the shower,
In there together,
She washed my back,
I returned the favor.
Back washing led to,
Other washing.

(She had mud,
Everywhere,
Even there.
Took my time getting the mud,
Off her everywhere,
Especially there.)

(Me too,
Mud everywhere.
Took her time,
Getting the mud off of,
Me everywhere,
Especially there.)

As we were finally clean,
Mud down the drain,
Hands moving from washing to playing,
The hot water ran out.
It figured.
Cold water brought things,
To a very quick halt.

Sort of washed/rinsed our clothes,
In the cold shower water,
Squeezed as much water from them,
As we could.

Noticed that she wore,
Pink lace bikini’s.
Wondered what she bought of,
My red and black stripped briefs.

She dried my back,
(And other things),
I dried hers,
(And other things).

We were rapidly,
And enjoyably,
Becoming “acquainted”.

But the bathroom was shared with others,
So needed to return to or room.

Robes were hanging on the back of the shower door.
B&B Monogram.
Nice touch, that.

Grabbed up wet clothes.
Back in our room,
Spread them to dry,
On chairs, desk, dresser, etc.

It was while doing that,
When, I noticed her Wagnerian visage,
Had transformed.
In so doing,
It had changed mine as well.

She spread her bikini next to my briefs,
On the chair next to the bed,
And glanced sat me.

We were still in shower robes.

Knock on the door.
Lady’s voice.
“I saw the wet towels in the bathroom.
Guess the mud’s gone now.
Saw you found the robes.
Guessed that your clothes were likely wet,
If you give them to me,
I will put them in the washer,
Then the drier,
They will be ready in the morning.
With this rain,
Lots of stuff to put through the drier.
I’m guessing the rest of your stuff,
Is in the back of your truck,
Outside in the rain,
Wet.
If the rain ever stops,
You can bring it in and dry it.
Until then all you’ll have is those robes,
Which means you’ll need to,
Come down to dinner in the robes.
With this rain and mud,
You won’t be the only ones.”

Gathered up and handed over wet clothes.
Followed Lady down to dinner.

At the dinner table,
Family style.
Two other couples in robes.
Two couples in clothes.
Introductions.

Guy to my left,
“Hi, I’m Tom,
This is Kathy.”

I answered,
“I’m Jay.”
And hesitated.

Tom’s quick comment,
“You’ve forgotten her name?“

My answer,
“ I don’t know her name.”

Laughter.

She rescued me,
“I’m Jayne.”

(Jay and Jayne.
Too perfect.)

After dinner,
Back to our room.

Clean.
Fed.
No clothes.
One bed.

Before I could say anything,
She put a finger over my lips,
And said,

“You’ve washed me.
And dried me.
And I, you.
You know my name,
And I, yours.
You rescued me when I was,
Abandoned.
You found a shower when I was,
Muddy.
You found a place to stay when I was,
Without one.
You found food when I was,
Hungry.
Now,
I want to kiss you.”

And she did.
Oh my, did she.
I felt that kiss,
From my lips to my toes,
And particularly,
About halfway between,
If you know what I mean.

There was a second kiss,
As we dropped out robes.

And a third one,
On our way to the bed.

There were,
Many, many more after that.

And much more, as well.

In the morning,
We found our clothes,
Clean and dry,
Folded on a chair,
Just outside our door.

It’s been a year,
We’re still together,
Looks like it could be for,
A very long time.

This weekend,
We’re back there,
The B&B,
Sort of a memory trip,
To celebrate that day,
In the mud,
And where it led.