Chapter 4

Blake and Tanya-Lynn arrived in Amarillo and went straight to a nice hotel and secured a room. It was dinnertime so before they got too comfortable they decided to grab a bite to eat.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving!” Blake said when they had went up and put some things in their room.

“I am too ... you kinda work up an appetite in me!” Tanya-Lynn said, biting her fingernail coyly.

He smiled and pulled her to him in a kiss. Then they left to go to the front desk and inquire about a restaurant. After dinner they went back to the hotel room to relax. It had been a long day of travel and both were glad to be able to lay in the bed.

Blake was especially tired and it wasn’t long before he had fallen asleep. Tanya-Lynn lay there watching him sleep, tracing her finger across his bare chest and staring dreamily at him. She knew what was happening and was scared to death.

Tanya-Lynn was falling in love, yet he had made no indications that he shared in her feelings. Their trip was coming to an end ... they would be headed back to Dallas soon and there they would part ways – him to Amarillo, and her to wherever she decided at that point.

She had quit her pitiful job as a barmaid at the little roadside bar she worked at, so her future was up in the air. All she knew was, for now, she was perfectly happy being with Blake and she wasn’t looking forward to that ending

The next morning Blake was up before Tanya-Lynn and was sitting there drinking a cup of coffee he had made with the room’s little coffeemaker. Tanya-Lynn woke up to the smell of coffee and turned to see him watching her.

“Morning beautiful,” he said cheerfully, “How did you sleep?”

“Mmm ... wonderfully!” she said, smiling and stretching. She got up slowly and walked over to the table “Is that coffee I smell?”

He poured her a cup of coffee and they drank it as they woke up. After their morning coffee they went downstairs where the hotel had a free Continental breakfast available for their guests. They had a little breakfast and while they were eating they discussed what they were going to do that day.

“I know you have never been to San Antonio, Tanya-Lynn, so before we leave and head up to Dallas, I wanted to show you around a little bit. There are some sights here in San Antone that you should really see,” he said.

“Oh wonderful! I was hoping to do a little sightseeing, instead of just rushing through the whole state and not seeing anything,” Tanya-Lynn said.

“Well we did go through Houston without stopping and now that we are ahead of schedule we can afford to do a little looking around here,” he said.

So after breakfast, the two took the bike and rode around town. Blake showed her the Alamo and the site where Santa Ana and his 6,500-odd Mexican soldiers overran the 200 Texan defenders, slaughtering them all.

After that they went to the San Antonio Botanical Gardens and spent some time walking through the different gardens there. Finally, they went along the famed San Antonio riverwalk for a little ways enjoying the sights there.

Tanya-Lynn was having a wonderful time, seeing parts of her state she had only read about in schoolbooks. And Blake was quite knowledgeable and Texas history, about the flowers they saw in the botanical gardens and about the city in general. She listened intently as he told her what she was looking at and the story behind it all.

“How did you learn all this stuff?” she asked him.

“Well I love history and I love learning about how Texas came to be. There is a lot more to our country than what you read in the history books!” he said smiling. She took his arm as they walked through the botanical garden.

As much as she was enjoying her personal tour of San Antonio, it was soon time for them to think about heading to Dallas. They went back to the hotel and packed up their few things and Blake paid the hotel bill and they got on the bike.

Tanya-Lynn took a last look at San Antonio making herself a promise to come back soon when she could spend more time here. Blake pointed the bike north and they hooked up with the I-35, the highway that would take them to Dallas. They had a 4 hour ride to get back to Dallas and there was a storm starting to kick up. So they needed to get going.

Interstate 35 took them through Austin, a little over an hour from San Antonio. There they decided to grab a bite to eat. They stopped at this little roadside Mexican restaurant. Even though Tanya-Lynn had spent a good part of her life here in Texas, she had yet to have authentic Mexican food. So when the went inside and sat down Blake ordered for them both.

“Tendremos los tamales, frijoles refritos y chiles rellenos. También dos horchata’s” (“We’ll have the tamales, refried beans, and chilli rellenos. Also two horchata’s.”) Blake told the waitress. She smiled appreciatively to Blake for using her language, and then turned to put the order in.

“You speak Spanish very good!” Tanya-Lynn said, in awe of him once again.

“Well, living in Texas, you have to know Spanish,” he said chuckling.

“Yeah, I tried taking it in school but I suck at it. It’s hard because Spanish puts words in a different order than in English!” she said.

Their food came a few minutes later and they ate lunch while they talked some more. Blake noticed how easy it was to talk to Tanya-Lynn and how they were able to talk on just about any subject. As soon as their lunch was finished and they hit the road again. They went through Waco and then a little ways north the highway split and they had to take I-35 East.

Soon after that they saw Dallas approaching and Tanya-Lynn’s heart sank knowing this meant their time together was almost over. She began to think about how she would say goodbye to this man ... she always hated goodbyes and this one was going to be very difficult.

“Well, I think we should make sure we have a hotel room before we do anything else – it’s late and I want to make sure we have a place to sleep tonight besides Jim’s house!” Blake said. They found a very nice hotel that had a room available and Blake secured the room.

“Wow! Blake this room is beautiful – are you sure you can afford it?” Tanya-Lynn asked.

Blake smiled, “Yeah, I can handle it. It’s our last night together so I wanted it to be a nice one.” The words hit Tanya-Lynn hard and she could feel a lump in her throat. But she knew it had to end eventually and so she kept quiet. Once they had put their things in the room, they went over to see Blake’s friend Jim. They rode over to his house, but him and Amy weren’t home.

“Well, I guess we will have to see them tomorrow. How about some dinner?” Blake said.

“Okay, but can we go back to the room and get cleaned up first? I want to change clothes and get some of this road dust off,” Tanya-Lynn said.

“Sure,” Blake said, and they returned to the hotel room for a bit.

“I’ll just be a few minutes ... I want to take a quick shower and change clothes. Is it okay if we take a cab to the restaurant? I’m a little saddle weary.”

“Yeah I am too. Sure, we can take a cab, hon. Have a nice shower,” he said. Tanya-Lynn smiled and then went into the bathroom to get cleaned up.

Blake sat down on the bed to wait for Tanya-Lynn. He heard the water stop running but the door remained closed for awhile. Then the door opened and he heard what sounded like high heels coming down the short hallway. Suddenly Tanya-Lynn appeared around the corner.

“Holy shit!” Blake said as an angel stood in the hallway. “Tanya-Lynn ... you look beautiful!”

Tanya-Lynn smiled. She had changed from the jeans and top she had been wearing while on the bike, to a form-fitting knit dress that accentuated all her womanly charms. Blake sat there on the bed, jaw agape and unable to speak, as she approached. She moved seductively, teasing him and giving him a good look at her.

“Now I feel like a slob!” he said, when she came up in front of him.

“Don’t,” she said, bending down the kiss him passionately. Without breaking their kiss, he rose to his feet and took her in his arms, embracing her and enjoying the taste of her sweet lips awhile longer.

“We’d better get to the restaurant,” Tanya-Lynn whispered when they finally broke the kiss.

Blake and Tanya-Lynn went downstairs to the hotel lobby and there the front desk called a cab for them.

The cab took the two of them to a nice steakhouse for dinner. Blake again ordered for the both of them and as they were waiting for their food, Blake spoke up.

“Tanya-Lynn, you have been pretty quiet since we got to Dallas ... is anything wrong?” he asked.

“It’s nothing,” she said.

“Nothing? Tanya-Lynn you and I have been talking each others ears off the whole trip and now you hardly say anything. What is it, hon?” he insisted.

“It’s just that I have had so much fun on this trip and being with you ... and now it’s coming to a close. You will be heading to Amarillo soon and I will be finding another job someplace else,” she said. The quiver in her voice was obvious to Blake, even though she was trying to be strong about it.

“Well, I guess that’s as good a segue as I’m going to get. Tanya-Lynn I wanted to talk to you tonight anyway. I have had a wonderful time on this trip as well – probably the best time I have had in a long time. And you were a big part of that. Like I told you, I probably would have just turned around when I got to Dallas and found Jim wasn’t able to go on this ride ... biking by yourself isn’t nearly as much fun as having someone to go with you. I am so happy I ran into you back at the bar.” Blake said.

“Me too,” Tanya-Lynn said.

Blake paused for a long moment gathering his courage. Tanya-Lynn waited for him to continue but he was trying to collect his words.

“Tanya-Lynn, I am not real good at this and I don’t really know any slick way of saying what I’m about to say so I’m just going to do it...” Blake started. Tanya-Lynn braced herself for the words she was dreading.

“Tanya-Lynn, I don’t know how you feel about me but I know how I feel about you. And I know we haven’t known each other long but I am in love with you and I would very much like you to stay with me. In fact – and I hope that I am not being too presumptuous or forward – but after spending this time with you, I can’t imagine being with anyone else. So ... I have a question for you...” Blake got down on one knee in front of the whole restaurant. “Would you marry me Tanya-Lynn?”

You could have knocked her over with a feather. She looked at Blake then at the ring he had in his hand, then back at him, all the while with her mouth dropped open. Her eye flicked back and forth waiting for the punchline that never came.

“Well honey?” he asked.

“I ... I... OH GOD!” she said and ran off to the bathroom crying. Blake sat there at the table dumbfounded, not sure what to do next. He mentally kicked himself for being so stupid and was glad he had made a fool here in Dallas where no one knew him and he could slink out of town more easily. It would be a long time before he came back to Dallas too! He was just about to get up and take his bruised ego and go when Tanya-Lynn returned to the table.

“I’m sorry Blake for running off like that. But you caught me totally off guard. Blake honey, I love you too and I have been quiet because I dreaded having to say goodbye. I do want to be with you and yes, of course I will marry you. But what will we do? How will we make it financially – I don’t have a job right now. I mean I can be a barmaid easily enough, but it may take some time to find a decent bar ... not some dive where I will have to beat off the drunks and molesters all the time.”

“Well you don’t worry about working. I don’t want you to work. I want my wife home taking care of the house. I will be the breadwinner of our house,” Blake said firmly.

“But how? What do you do that you can make enough for us?” Tanya-Lynn asked. She hadn’t thought to ask him what he did for a living, figuring he was just some motorhead or blue-collar something or other.

“Tanya-Lynn, I never told you who I am because I didn’t want it to cloud our being together. But I work in Amarillo as an investment broker for a major securities firm, buying and selling for people who put their retirement nest eggs in my hands. And I am very good at it. I make well over $100,000.00 dollars a year doing what I do, so supporting you is not a problem at all,” he admitted. “I know I look like just another biker bum, but it’s just so I can escape work for awhile.

“Really?”

“Yes. I’ve been doing this for about 10 years now and I have bought my house and my cars with what I make. I have never been married or even had anyone real serious, so all my money went into my house and cars and things. I haven’t had anyone to spend it on. Until now.”