"Yes,

asked as his curiosity got the best of him. I have a daughter but she wanted to go along with her father." "That's too bad," he replied not really knowing what to say. From the look on Susan's face he was sorry that he had brought the subject up. She had a faraway look in her eyes as if she was remembering something and it demanded all of her attention. Just as rapidly as she had gotten it, the look passed from her face. "Your room is the first door down the hall to the left. You may as well go in and get settled." He picked up his things and trudged down the hall.

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The room was furnished simply and neatly. Along with the dresser, a reading lamp and a small bed there was a hand hooked circular rug that covered most of the hardwood floor. The walls were decorated with paintings of fine, strong horses rearing up on their hind legs or snorting at full gallop. "Do you like it?" Susan asked, catching him offguard. "It's fine," he replied. "I was so involved in looking at these paintings that I did not hear you come in. "I am,' Who's the artist?" she said proudly. "It's a hobby of mine. When you live alone for awhile there are all kinds of surprising things you learn to do." As she talked Terry really saw her for the first time. He had not paid much attention before because he was either picking up groceries or talking his own fool head off. She was slightly taller than him with a nice well rounded figure. Most likely she was around thirty-five years old. Despite the rain they had walked through her appearance was fresh and neat. He found himself thinking about how attractive she was with her sandy brown hair just touching her shoulders in a smooth even curl, a soft sweater that emphasized her small waist and full busom, and her colorful eyes and pink mouth. She broke him from his thoughts with a question. "Would you like to take a shower?" "I sure would! A hot shower would feel great right now!" he said as he rubbed his hands together. "Well get to it. I'm going to fix dinner so take your time. Use plenty of hot water to get the chill out of your bones."

He stepped across the hall into the bathroom -8-

hair

and turned on the shower to let it warm up. He kicked off his damp shoes and peeled his shirt up over his head. Susan came into the bathroom. "Here is a bottle of cream rinse for your hair, Terry. "I've never used it before Susan so I don't think I'll need it. Thanks anyway. "Don't be aflip," she scolded. "You hate to all tangled and knoted! Why fight to comb it when this will make it easy? Just massage it into your hair after you rinse the shampoo out. Then leave it on a few minutes and rinse it out." "Okay, I'll give it a try. I usually do have to struggle to get it untangled after I wash it." Susan fingered his long strands of damp hair and then ran her finger down his bare chest. "You don't have much hair yet do you?" she asked. He blushed a little. "No, I do not. My father isn't very hairy so I guess I won't be either." She was fascinated with his bare chest and shoulders and pulled some of his hair forward so that it came over his ears and fell to the front. "Your hair is longer than mine," she commented. "It's grown since I left on this trip and could probably use a trim," he said. "If you like I've got a friend who is excellent with hair that would trim it for you," she answered. "That would be nice of her. We'll see what happens in the next few days. Right now I'd better get in the shower and stop wasting water." She left the bathroom and he latched the door. He slipped off

his pants and climbed into the shower where the torrent of hot water massaged every muscle in his tired body. He lathered up with soap time and time again just for the feeling of cleanliness it gave him. He rubbed shampoo vigorously into his scalp and rinsed it off grinning at the sound of squeaky clean hair. The he grabbed the bottle of conditioner and poured some on his head. While it worked its way into his hair he stood in the warm stream of water and relaxed. A couple of minutes later he rinsed it off, turned off the water and dried himself. He had brought fresh clothing in with him and it felt good to be dry for the first time in days. He toweled his hair dry and returned to his room to get a comb. "Here let me brush

it for you, "1 Susan said as she followed him into the room. "That's okay I can manage," he respond"No, I want to," she insisted as she began

ed.

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