It was late Friday afternoon and I had just finished up the work on a project for one of our clients here in Pueblo. We were due to submit the results of our work to the client this coming Monday afternoon. As I finished up my work, I lost all track of time. I had worked well past our normal quitting time of 5 o’clock.

As I finished up my work I neatly placed all of the papers, FEA plots, Fracture Mechanics life assessments, design calculations, parts and assembly drawings, material specifications, Bills of Materials, illustrations, and QA plans along with the index of the contents into the portfolio.

I took the portfolio into my boss’s office and laid it on his desk for his final review and approval. My boss would go over all of the material on Monday morning before the afternoon presentation was to be made to our client just after lunch Monday afternoon. I knew if he had any questions or changes he would want me to make them before lunch on Monday.

Then I looked at the clock and found that it was nearly 6:30. I really didn’t want to get in the car and drive home and have to take the time to fix my own supper, especially on a Friday night. So, I decided to walk the two blocks up the street from my office and have my evening meal at Rosie’s Diner.

Regardless of what it was, her special was always hot, very good and very tasty. Rosie’s Diner served good food at a reasonable price and it was hot and tasty especially for me who wasn’t much of a cook anyhow. That is, unless you consider making bologna or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cooking which most people want to throw up just thinking about.

I like both bologna or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but I sure as hell don’t want to have to eat them day in and day out. Once a month is sometimes too much for me and I just have to find something else to eat, hopefully a full hot meal.

It was a pretty chilly evening for late fall as I walked the two blocks up to Rosie’s Diner. I would have had a tough time finding my way to Rosie’s as it was a really dark and overcast night. That was except for the few city street lights that barely lit the streets. It kind of reminded me of the Charles Dickens book A Christmas Carol. This sure as hell wasn’t Merry Ole England from the time period of the Charles Dickens book.

The sky was heavily overcast and there were no stars shining and there certainly was no moonlight at all because of the overcast. The overcast did a really great job of making the night even darker and it seemed to make it feel even colder, too. I sure as hell didn’t feel like Scrooge.

There was a brisk cold breeze blowing out of the North West. And there were a few snow flurries filling the air strongly hinting that there was more snow to come tonight. I was certainly glad that I did not have to walk any further than the two blocks to Rosie’s Diner against that brisk cold wind.

With these cold blustery weather conditions I knew that by morning that there would be at least a light dusting of snow on the ground if not an inch or two or even more. There would probably be even more snow up in the higher elevations.

The light snow always made the area and the surrounding foothills look so very pretty with the bright morning sunlight shining on it. Even though the wind was cold and it chilled anyone who happened to be out in it to the bone like I had chosen to do this evening. It was always beautiful to see the results in the morning, the pristine beauty the snow brought to the snow covered area.

Even though I have been a lifelong resident of the intermountain area I still marveled at the awesome natural beauty of the fresh fallen snow on the surrounding hills and especially the mountain tops. That is especially with a newly deposited layer of fresh fallen snow on everything else.

The fresh snow always made the area and the hills look new, fresh, bright and clean. The sidewalks were beginning to show some signs of snow covering them but the streets were still clear and dry. There probably wouldn’t be much if any accumulation on the streets tonight, though.

I really never expected what happened that night to have occurred but, it sure enough did. It sure made my life take a turn in a different direction than what I had in my long range plans for next Monday morning.

I just wanted to stop in Rosie’s and have a hot meal on a cold blustery late fall night and then head on home for a glass of cheer and relax. Then I just wanted to go home drink a couple of shots of brandy and relax after a long hard day at work. But, looking back on it I would never have changed it even if I could have done so.

Between 6:30 and 7 o’clock was Rosie’s busiest time of the evening especially on a Friday evening. All of her tables and booths in her small diner would likely be filled. Her many supper guests would be happily having their evening meal especially since it was the beginning of the weekend.

It felt really good to step out of the cold wind into the warm diner since I really was feeling chilled to the bone myself even though I had a heavy winter jacket on helping to protect me from the cutting wind.

It was good to feel the warmth of the diner and the warmth of the atmosphere of the people talking and laughing in the diner having a good time with their family and friends. I looked forward to joining them while they were enjoying their meals with their friends and relatives.

But the best thing was to smell the wonderful aroma of Rosie’s Friday evening special always ready to be served up to her customers. I thought I can’t wait to have some of her hot tasty food in my empty belly tonight.

Her diner looked like it was packed with customers as I had already anticipated and I caught Rosie’s eye with raised eyebrows and a questioning look on my face. She came around the counter and quietly greeted me in her usual friendly manner.

“Hi, Vince. Everything is full tonight except for the back corner booth where that pretty young girl is sitting with just a cup of coffee in front of her. You might ask her if she would let you sit with her to eat your supper there.” She indicated the booth with a nod of her head.

I told her, “Thanks, Rosie. I think I’ll try that as it’ll be a lot better this evening than me going home and having to cook my own supper, tonight. You know that I ain’t much of a cook anyway. And I really don’t want to eat bologna or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches tonight, neither. I really need to have a hot meal in my starving belly tonight, Rosie.

Bologna or peanut butter and jelly fill me up for a while but, it doesn’t take long for me to want something more substantial in my belly. Once every year or so, I can stand that but, not on a continuing basis and especially not on a cold night like tonight when I need to have a hot meal in my belly. I walked up here from my office in that cold wind to have supper and I sure as hell don’t want to walk back on an empty belly, either.”

Rosie just giggled and told me, “Yeah I know just how good a cook you are, Vince.” Walking over to the back corner booth I stopped and very politely asked, “Hello, Miss, would you allow me to sit here in your booth with you to eat my supper as all the other tables and booths are occupied?”

She looked at me, smiled sweetly and replied, “Sure, there is plenty of room for the both of us here in this booth. Please sit down and make yourself comfortable. I am only having a cup of coffee.”

Then I asked, “Have you already eaten your evening meal, Miss? If not I would be happy to buy your supper for you for allowing me to sit here in this booth with you.”

“No, I haven’t eaten yet and I would be very grateful to accept your very kind offer.”

“My name is Vicente or Vince as all the Anglos call me and my friends all call me Vince, Vince Ruiz.” After introducing myself I sat down in the booth across from her.

She responded, “Hello, Vince. My name is Tina, Tina Trujillo and it is very nice to meet you.”

“I have lunch here pretty often, Tina, and occasionally I have my supper here, too, rather than have to drive home and then have to cook my own meal. I am not really that much of a cook, anyway as you probably just heard Rosie say.

Since you have not already eaten, let me recommend that you have Rosie’s evening special. Rosie’s special is always pretty good as I have it quite often when I stop in here for supper. And Rosie and her crew are really good cooks. Rosie is a good friend, too besides being a good cook.”

Trying to be funny with a big smile on my face I said, “I have often thought about trying to get Rosie to marry me just to have her cook for me and feed me. But, she always tells me that she can make a lot more money cooking her special for her customers here in the diner rather than cooking for me only.

I’d always tell her anytime you want to give up the diner and cook for me let me know, Rosie.” I finished up my little joke with a broad grin on my face and a hearty chuckle waiting for Tina to express a little response to my feeble attempt at humor.

Tina responded, “If you believe that her special is pretty good, I’ll have the special with you if that is what you are going to have.” With that, I waived Rosie over to the booth and asked her, “Rosie, this young lady and I both want to have the special tonight. And Rosie, put this all on my check will ya, please?”

Rosie replied, “Great, Vince, it’s going to be just a little while because, as you can see, we are a little busy tonight. We are shorthanded tonight unless you would like to wait tables for me tonight.” Rosie liked to jab me like that from time to time like she does with all of her other regular customers she regarded as her good friends.

I told Rosie, “Ok, Rosie, in the meantime bring me a cup of coffee and refill Tina’s cup of coffee, too, please.” Tina just looked at me with a really grateful look on her face for the coffee and the supper I had just offered to buy for her and ordered for her.

Rosie gave me a sly, knowing smile and a wink and hurried off behind the counter to get our coffee. Turning back to Tina I asked her, “Are you waiting here out of the cold for someone like your husband, your boyfriend or maybe even your parents to join you, Tina?”

Tina replied, “No I am not married and my boyfriend dumped me this morning.”

“Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that but, what about your parents?”

“My parents live in a little town about 400 miles south of here that you may not have ever heard of before. As you can see they can’t come up here and get me, at least not tonight anyway.”

“What little town is that, Tina?” knowing that it would have to be somewhere south of Albuquerque in New Mexico.

“They live in Socorro, New Mexico.”

I immediately said, “That is where New Mexico Tech is located isn’t it?”

“Yes it is, Vince. How did you know that? Most people have never heard of Socorro or New Mexico Tech.”

I responded, “Every engineering student as CSM, Colorado School of Mines, knows of New Mexico Tech and several other engineering schools like CSM and Missouri School of Mines, or now named MUST, Missouri University of Science and Technology.”

Then Tina asked me, “Did you go to CSM, Vince?”

“Yeah, I did.” as I showed her the CSM class ring I was wearing on my right hand. “I’m a Mechanical Engineer with an advanced degree. And I work for an engineering consulting company a couple of blocks down the street from here. I had to work a little late tonight to finish up a project proposal for one of our clients.

The proposal had to be ready for presentation Monday afternoon. Otherwise I would have had to have gone into my office tomorrow to finish up the work. And I really don’t like to work on Saturday if I can help it. It’s always nice to sleep late on the weekends.

When I have to work late I generally stop in here for supper rather than drive home to an empty house after dark. That way I don’t have to fix my own supper. If your boyfriend dumped you so far from your home where do you plan to stay tonight and do you plan to return home to your parents’, Tina?”

Just before she could answer my question, Rosie brought us our coffee and our meals. As she started to eat, I could see she ate like she had not eaten anything all day. She said, “I really don’t know, I don’t have a place to stay tonight. I don’t even have the money to stay in a motel.

I only ordered this cup of coffee because I didn’t think that I had the money to pay for my meal. I know that this diner will be closing soon and I really don’t have anywhere to go to stay the night.”

I told her, “Tina, it’s way too cold for you to sleep outside out on the street and I would not allow that to happen anyway. I won’t let you sleep out on the street tonight. Besides your light wind breaker is way too light to keep you warm in this weather. You couldn’t survive if you were to be out in that cold wind and the snow flurries tonight. You would freeze in these conditions.

Even my heavy winter jacket wasn’t quite enough to keep me warm in that cold wind out there on my walk up here tonight from my office.” We could hear the wind continuing to blow briskly outside while we weren’t talking. “I had kind of thought I should have gotten in my car and driven up here rather than walk the two blocks especially because it’s uphill and the wind was in my face. The wind nearly froze my face on the way up here.”

After she had finished everything on her plate I asked her, “Are you still hungry, Tina?”

She quickly replied with a kind of sheepish look on her face, “Yes I am, Vince.”

I waved Rosie over and asked her, “Would you bring Tina another helping of your special and another cup of coffee for the both of us, por favor, Señora?” Rosie brought Tina the second plate of her special and I don’t think I have ever seen one girl put down so much food. It sure made me happy that I could help her out on this cold fall evening and fill her empty tummy with a warm meal.

I suspected that she had not had anything to eat for the last two days or if she had had anything to eat it wasn’t very much anyway. It gave me a great feeling to be able to help a person out who was hungry. And she could very well have ended up out on the street in this cold weather without any warm food in her hungry tummy with only a light wind breaker to keep her warm.

As she continued eating and I was drinking my coffee I told her, “I have never done anything like this before, Tina. But, I can’t allow you to be turned out to wander and walk the streets tonight especially a young girl alone. It’s not safe for you and also because you would freeze.”

“I have a spare bedroom in my house and if you are not afraid to accept my offer, you are welcome to stay there at least for tonight with me. But first, I would like to know that you are not a minor that would get me thrown in jail or fined for contributing to the delinquency of a minor or worse.”

She looked me straight in the eyes and asked, “Would you like to see my driver’s license, Vince?”

Without waiting for my response, she dug into her purse and pulled out her driver’s license and handed it to me. I looked at it and it had her picture on it which pretty much matched the way she presently looked. It showed her address as Socorro and I asked her, “Tell me what your home street address is and what your birthday is, Tina?”

She recited her street address in Socorro and the ZIP code without any hesitation. She then told me exactly what her birthdate was which agreed with the date shown on her driver’s license. That began to calm my fears and that she was not who she said she was. Her driver’s license showed that she was not quite 20 years old.

I handed her driver’s license back to her and said, “You’ve convinced me, Tina. I believe you are who you say you are.”

Then she asked me “Will you show me your driver’s license, too, Vince?” She had as much right to question me as I did to question her. I reached into my back pocket, pulled out my wallet and showed her my driver’s license. She looked at it for a few moments at the picture, with my name on the license.

Then she looked back at me and said, “OK, Vince. I think you’re on the level.” I even handed her my old expired student ID card from CSM which had my name on it along with my picture.

She looked at it and told me, “Your driver’s license was enough to convince me, Vince, especially since Rosie apparently knows you pretty well, too. I don’t think she would josh with someone she didn’t know well like she joshed with you this evening when you came into the diner.”

We got up out of the booth, put on our coats and stepped over to the cash register to pay Rosie for our meals. While paying for our meals, I looked up over Rosie’s shoulder and saw a “Help Wanted” sign. I made a mental note of that for future reference. Then I turned to Tina and asked her, “Are you ready to go out for a short two block walk in the cold wind and snow flurries out there, Tina?

“At least the wind will be at our backs and it is down slope.” I could tell by the look on her face what her answer was before she said a word. After paying my check I waived good night to Rosie and we left the diner for my office building where my car was parked.

However, Tina said, “If it is only two blocks, I think that I can make it Ok, especially since I have had a couple cups of hot coffee and a good hot meal to help keep me warm, Vince.”

We left Rosie’s diner and walked as fast as we could to my car still in the parking lot of our office building and we both quickly got into my car. It was cold inside the car but, at least we were out of that biting cold wind.

My car had been parked there since early that morning and it was still pretty cold none-the-less. It was cold soaked from sitting out in the cold weather and wind all day. I quickly started the engine, it always warms up very quickly, and I turned the heater temperature up on high setting and the fan on high later for the both of us.

Tina’s teeth were chattering and she was shivering from the cold. I told her, “Tina, hang on this thing will warm up very quickly for us.” When the heater began to blow warm air I turned the fan speed up to high and pulled out of the parking lot and slowly headed the four miles to my home just on the outskirts of town.

We had just begun to get warm by the time we got to my house and Tina was no longer shivering. I pulled up in the driveway, parked the car beside the house and said, “Vince’s house all out.” I heard Tina giggle a little bit at my feeble attempt at levity. At least she was not without humor in her situation anyway.

When we got into the house, there was an expression of relief on her face since it was warm and cozy inside. I told her, “Tina, when I come into the house from the cold like tonight and I am chilled, I like to have a double shot of brandy.

If you would like to have one with me, you are most welcome to have one, also. I always get a warm feeling when I have a double shot of good brandy on a cold night like tonight. And I think that it’ll do the same thing for you, too.”

She eagerly responded, “Oh, yeah, Vince, I think that would be wonderful.” I went into the kitchen and poured a double shot of brandy into a glass for each of us. She had followed me into the kitchen and I turned and handed her one of the glasses of the brandy.

I watched the expression on her face as she sipped her brandy and she told me, “I have only rarely drunk strong liquor like this, Vince.” That was clearly reflected in her reaction to the brandy when she sipped it and it was evident it burned as it went down as it does most people who have only drank it the first time.

We went into the living room and I sat down in a chair across from her and asked, “How did you get the 400 miles up here from Socorro to Pueblo, Tina?” From the expression on her face I didn’t think that she heard my question clearly. So, I moved over to the couch and sat down beside her and I asked her again, “How did you get here from Socorro, Tina?”

“That’s a long story, Vince. I was working at a movie theater in Socorro and I met a cute boy who wanted us to drive up to Denver to see the town. When I told my parents what I was going to do, they said that since I was over 18, I could do whatever I wanted to do.

But, they were very adamant that I should not go with him because they didn’t trust him. I stupidly told them that I was still going to go with him and they said that if I went with him for me not to come back home. After we got here to Pueblo he said that he was tired and he was going to get a motel room for the night and get some sleep.

He got us a motel room with two double beds and he was to sleep in one bed and I was to sleep in the other one. After I had gone to sleep I felt him get into bed with me. When I woke up he wanted to make love with me. I told him, no, that I was not going to let him do that to me. He got back in his bed and we both went back to sleep or so I thought.

When I woke up the next morning, it was well after sunup; he had gotten up and left. But, before he left he took the $200 out of my purse and then he left. All I had left was two five dollar bills I had hidden deep in the back of my wallet. I stayed in the motel room until check out time.

I guess my parents were right not to trust him. It appears that they had good reason not to trust him. Then I walked around the streets until about dark and that’s when I found Rosie’s Diner and you know the rest from there.” She continued, “I knew that I could not stay there all night but, I did not know where else to go and that is when you showed up Vince.”

I could see the tears begin to form in the corners of her eyes. Then I asked her, “Do you want to call and talk to your parents? If so you can use my phone, Tina.”

She told me, “No, I am afraid to do that because I think that they will tell me not to come home and I couldn’t bear to hear that from them again, Vince.”

Then I asked her, “Is there anyone else you would like to call? Do you have any other friends or relatives here or close that you can call?”

Tina quickly replied, “No, I don’t know of anyone else around here that would want to help me besides you, Vince. Can I stay here with you for a while or at least for tonight?”

“Tina, I said that you can stay here in my spare bedroom tonight and after tonight we need to talk about this a little more. What about your clothes? Did you bring any clothes with you when you came up here? Surely, you didn’t leave home without packing some clothes or at least a change of clothes?”

She replied, “Yes, I brought some clothes with me in an overnight bag but, they were in the trunk of my boyfriend’s car wherever that is now. All I have is a change of sox and underwear in this makeup case.”

“Do you want to get a job here and stay here in Pueblo until you can decide what you want to do next?”

“That sounds like my only option at this point if you will let me stay here with you, Vince.”

With that information I decided that she needed to stay here with me. I went on to tell her, “OK, now, let me tell you what my ground rules are. I’ll respect you and I’ll never attack you or abuse you in any way including sexual attack.

I’ll feed you, shelter you and protect you as much as I can and I expect you to protect my home and belongings like you would your own or your parents’ home. And that means for as long as you stay here with me. I’ll never lie to you or try to cheat you and I expect the same from you.

Also, I won’t ever steal from you and if you steal from me or do drugs including weed I’ll kick you out the door for you to take care of yourself. I don’t do illegal drugs of any kind and I will not have them in my house.

In addition, you can come and go from this house as you need to but, you are not allowed to bring anyone else into my house without my knowledge and permission. Do you think that is a fair proposition and do you think that you can live with those conditions, Tina?”

“Yeah I do, Vince, that’s fair and I have no problem with us both living up to those rules. It kind of sounds like what my parent’s rules were at home. I don’t now, nor have I ever done any illegal drugs just so you know that.”

“Tina, I saw a sign in Rosie’s Diner tonight as I was paying for our supper. It said that she’s looking for help. Would you want to work there for the time being until you can find something that pays better and has better working conditions?”

“Yeah, I’d like to do that. I have worked in a restaurant and waited and tended tables in the past when I was in high school. So it would not be a problem for me to work for Rosie in her diner.”

“That’s great, Tina. We can go down to see Rosie in the morning and talk to her about you working for her but, we really need to get some sleep tonight since it is really getting late. I have had a long day and I’m really getting tired. I suspect that you are, too.”

“Do you want another shot of brandy before you go to bed?”

“No, I am really tired from all of the walking I did today around town in this cold and I’ll not have any problem going to sleep tonight.” She stepped over to me, hugged me and laid her head on my chest. Tina thanked me for helping her as the tears rolled down her pretty face soaking my shirt.

“You are safe and warm tonight, Tina, so relax and sleep well.” I went to my bedroom and got one of my old football jerseys out of the drawer for her to wear to bed. I handed it to her and said, “Here you go, Mr. Quarterback.” I thought that she would look really cute with Joe Theismann’s name drooping across her shoulders and the Washington Redskins logo plastered in the middle of her chest.

With that I showed her the bathroom and then to the bedroom where she was to sleep. I told her, “There is a lock on the inside of the door knob and you can lock the door to make you feel safer if you like, Tina.”

“Thank you but, I don’t think that I’ll need to do that, Vince.” Then I left her alone and went back to the kitchen and poured myself another double shot of brandy and then I went to bed myself. As I normally did on Saturday morning, I slept late until about 8 o’clock.

When I got up Tina was already up and around. She was in the kitchen looking for a frying pan to fry some bacon and eggs for us for breakfast. She already had coffee perking in the coffee pot.

When I walked into the kitchen she gave me a very cheerful, “Good morning, Vince. I hope that you slept well.”

“Yeah, I did, Tina, and I hope you slept well, too.” She cooked breakfast for both of us and she talked almost nonstop all the time she was cooking breakfast. She kept looking out the kitchen window at the snow that had fallen in the surrounding area and on the foothills overnight.

The wind had finally laid down over night and it was a beautiful but, cold sunny morning. She marveled saying how beautiful it looked in the bright morning sunlight. She said, “We don’t get snow like this too often in Socorro and it’s really beautiful to see it out there on the hills shining and sparkling in the morning sunlight.”

It was really refreshing to be able to get up to see and have such a pretty girl in my home and in my kitchen. She was like a bright ray of morning sunshine that had come into my life. After breakfast she asked, “Vince, can I take a shower this morning, please?”

I told her, “Sure, Tina.” and I showed her where I kept the towels and wash cloths and laid out one of my shower robes and one of my shirts for her to put on. I told her, “Even though you don’t have a full change of clothes at least you can wear one of my clean shirts. And maybe before we stop by to see Rosie this morning we need to get you some more clothes to wear that will fit you properly, Tina.”

After we both showered we went into town to see if we could get her some new clothes. We stopped by a women’s store in town and she bought two pairs of slacks, two blouses and two changes of underwear all of which I put on my credit card.

Tina seemed to be very happy to have some clothes to wear other than what she had on her back when I first found her at Rosie’s diner. She knew she needed clothes that fit her properly and looked presentable. She said, “Thank you, for buying all of these clothes for me, Vince. You need to keep track of what you spend on me so that I can start paying you back when I get a job.”

From the women’s store I took Tina back to my house where she could change into the new clothes that she had just bought. She put on her make up and combed her hair and she really looked like a vision of beauty. Tina had put on a dab of perfume from her make up kit and the fragrance she was wearing was just wonderful and very alluring.

She still only had just a light jacket and it was not a heavy winter coat that would keep her warm in this weather. So I took one of my pull over sweaters out of the drawers and gave it to her to put on. When she put it on it was a little bit big and a little long in the sleeves. But, when she rolled the sleeves up one cuff turn it fit her arm length Ok.