Page 40 of Cole's Joy
“I wouldn’t say no to the idea.” He looked at his cup and shook his head. “Hell, this is only a sip.”
“I agree. I’m going to call down and see if we can’t get more coffee sent up.”
“Wait,” Cole said and hurried to the door, he looked out, then flipped the lock so it wouldn’t close and disappeared. When he returned almost five minutes later, he wore a gigantic grin and held up a bag like he was Santa.
“What in the world do you have there?”
“Coffee, cups, creamer, sugar. Not that we use them, but we can always keep them in our suitcases for emergencies. Anyway, I spotted a housekeeping cart when we stepped off the elevator, and I went to find the woman in a room. I explained that I was a rancher and needed my coffee. She gave me this, and I gave her a twenty-dollar tip.”
“Good for you, I was going to ask if you tipped her. We’ll have to make sure to leave another tip when we check out.”
“Agreed. Now, I have a stupid question for you.”
“What’s that?”
“The last hotel I ever stayed in was when we drove from New York to Colorado. What is the policy about housekeeping?”
“If you don’t want them to clean, make the bed, or give you fresh towels, you put the sign on the door. If you want them to do it, then don’t put the sign out and toss the towels on the floor.”
“Yuck, if it’s alright with you, I don’t see a reason to have them come in while we’re here. It’s only for two nights.”
“I agree, hence the mention of a large tip when we check out.” They each made another cup of coffee and Lois unpackedher toiletries and clothes while Cole did the same. When they finished, she looked at him. “What would you like to do now?”
“No offense, but would you mind if we grab something to eat from what you brought, then we could head over to the rodeo grounds?”
“Sure, I think that would be best.” She dug out the food, and they picked what they wanted. After they ate, Cole took Tim down to do his business, and when he returned, Lois was ready to leave. They ended up taking the shuttle over to the grounds, they were that close, and they both feared they wouldn’t find a parking spot when they returned later. It was better to leave the truck there when the shuttle was free and close by.
They waited in line to pay their entrance fee, and while Cole paid, he only frowned at her when she took the receipt and stuck it into the purse she had slung over her shoulder and laid against her hip.
“Might be a good business expense for your taxes.”
“Damn, I never thought of that.” He shook his head and chuckled. “Naomi is forever yelling at me about getting receipts.”
“It might not be, but it’s better to have it than not.”
“I agree.” He placed his hand on the small of her back as they entered, and they stepped off to the side to take in the sheer size of everything. From the outside, it looked like it was all enclosed, but once they entered, the top of the arena was open. Sort of like football fields were, but the bleacher seats were beneath an overhang, or roof, so if there was any rain or snow, the seats would be covered, but the activity in the middle of the area would be prone to whatever the weather was doing.
“Where are our seats?” she asked, and they had to look to find out where they were, but Cole grinned and held them up.
“What are they?”
“I don’t know what the actual word is, but these will allow us into where the horses are out back.”
“Great, let’s go.” She laughed as she looked at her watch and saw they still had over an hour before opening ceremonies. They made their way in the direction they thought they should go, and the only thing they had to tell them after they gave them their tickets was whether they were with a ranch or the general public. Cole said he was, and they were allowed through.
“That was weird.”
“Yeah, they didn’t even check to see which ranch.” He looked at her in concern. “I wonder if there’s a difference between the sizes of the rodeos and their level of security. Remind me to ask Naomi and Clem when we get back.” At her shocked but confused look, he explained, “Naomi started going to professional rodeos at the age of eight. Clem was her handler.”
“Ah, I understand.” They started forward, and Lois felt like her head was on a swivel and was grateful when her granddaughter told her to wear her rubber boots. She wanted to be fashionable, but when Lorissa explained what she would be seeing, she went for practical. She was happy she had them on when she wasn’t paying attention and stepped into a steaming pile of goo.
“Are you okay?” Cole asked in concern and couldn’t withhold his smirk. “No offense, but you’re not wearing those in my truck.”
“That’s okay, these are my rubber boots I wear in the greenhouse. Just find me a hose, and this crap will come right off.”
Cole threw his head back to laugh and brought her in for a hug. “You amaze me, Lois. Thank you for allowing you in my life.” He kissed her right in front of everyone, but it was so quick, that if Lois hadn’t been involved she would have missed it. They broke apart and continued forward, walking hand in hand.
At one point she looked at him and squeezed his hand extra hard, when he looked at her she asked, “Did you bring anybusiness cards?” She smirked when she saw shocked dismay on his face. They stepped to the side, and she dug into the little purse she had slung over her shoulder and dug out something. She handed him half of them and stuck the other half in her shirt pocket. As he took them, she grinned. “It’s not professional, and I did them on my computer, but it is your contact information.”
