The Beginning of the end.

Paul smiled at the attractive young woman and said. "It's aight. I already ate, and now I'm carb-loading." As he finished his sentence he raised the half empty glass of dark beer and said. "Rochele, darling, another please."

Then looked to Tracy behind the bar and waved his finger between he and Rachel as if to signal that he wanted her drink and food on his tab. To which she rolled her eyes then nodded.

After all that was done he pointed to the empty table in front of the dart boards on the other side of the pool tables and said. "Looks like a good place." Then started walking, and on the way past the tables he dropped a twenty and said. "Looks like you boys beat me tonight." And finally sat at the empty table in the corner of the bar.

His motion wasn't lost on Rachel, "I saw that, putting my food on your tab." she said with a smile. "Thank you."

She took her coat off and put it on the back of her chair, was about to take a seat. "I'll be back, I've got to visit the ladies room." Rachel said, then walked away from the table.

In the bathroom, Rachel took her hair out of her braid and brushed it out. Her cellphone rang and she answered it.

"Hello Mom, I was just about to call you. I stopped somewhere to get something to eat and will be back on the road in a few."

"Actually that is why I called, you better find a place to bunk up in, we've been hit by a snowstorm and it wouldn't be safe for you to go driving up here." her mom said.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Rachel said. "Thank you, I thought I would have beaten the storm."

"You remember the lake affect? Well it just hit." Her mother answered.

"Okay, I'll get a place to weather out the storm. Tell Dad hello for me, I love you both."

Rachel hung up, used the facility, checked her appearance once more then headed back to the table she stopped momentarily to glance out the door to see the condition out there. The snow was coming down even harder. She lightly bit her lip, she had better see about getting a room here in town. She checked her phone and used the web surfing application on it to find a room. She called the number and asked if there were any rooms available. She was told there were none to be had. She was going to have to sleep in her car in the parking lot of someplace. Shrugging, Rachel headed back to the table and sat down.

"Sorry it took so long in my getting back." she offered an apology.

Paul smiled and polished off the last of the beer in his meaty hand, and said. "No worries, and you're welcome."

Before he could say anything else the waitress brought his beer, and her drink, then set them on the table and walked off to give them their space.

Paul looked over to his friends, which were jeering at him. Then looked back to Rachel and said. "For we get too deep in conversation I gotta say. This ain't gonna go any further than drinks, a meal, and maybe some pool."

He held up his left hand on which he still wore the silver wedding band on his finger and said. "Im kinda taken."

One of his friends spoke up in the distance and said. "Comeon Paul. Ya ain't been married in years."

Rachel looked over to where Paul's friends were, then back to him.

With a slight drawl she said, "I don't mind a meal,a couple of drinks and shooting some pool, wasn't thinking of anything else as I'm just passing through."

She had all ready noticed the ring, and hadn't thought of doing anything further than enjoying the company of someone, even though he was a stranger.Most times eating by herself didn't bother her, but she was known to strike up a conversation with someone she found interesting.

"Just friendly conversation with someone, before I head down the road. Or eat by myself makes no difference to me. I like meeting people and exchange pleasantries." she squeezed the lemon into her drink then dropped the lemon into the glass, sipped of it through the straw.

"I take it you're good at shooting pool?" Rachel asked.

Paul took a drink of his beer and shrugged then said. "I win some, I loose some."

Somewhat embarrsed at his assumption, the redhead's ears turned a slightly brighter shade of red, and his nose glowed slightly with the same color. Instead of dwelling on it he asked. "Passing through. I figured from uer accent that ya wern't from round here. Where ya headed?"

"Sorry, if I gave you the wrong impression." Rachel her cheeks coloring slightly. Changing the subject she answered his question.

"I'm heading for Milwaukee, my parents live there." Rachel responded."And that's where I'm from originally."

She looked up as the waitress brought over the sandwich she had ordered and she could feel her mouth watering.

"Oh that smells wonderful." she breathed out."Thank you."

Picking it up she took a bite of it and closed her eyes as she enjoyed the flavor. Then she opened them and looked over at Paul her eyes crinkling up in a smile as she ate.

Her mouth empty and wiping off her chin, and lips, "This is the best I've eaten made by someone else besides me." she took another sip of her drink.

"Anyway, I was born in Milwaukee, lived there most of my life." Rachel added before taking another bite.

"I see." Said Paul.

As he watched her eat her food he smiled. It had been a while since he had actually sat down with a woman other than the owner of the bar, or his daughter. It felt good.

After a few moments he spoke again. "You planning on heading out after ya eat? Or are ya stopping for the night?"

Rachel had all ready demolished a good amount of her sandwich, waited until her mouth was empty contemplating the man in front of her.

"I had thought of stopping here for the night, but I'm going to have to get to the next town and find a place to stay, or try to get home before the storm gets worse. Mom told me that it wouldn't be a good idea to go through the storm but, I don't have any choice in the matter. The motel here is full and probably the next town is too"
She pulled out her cellphone to check on the status of the other motel in the next town she frowned slightly.

"Looks like they're full, too. Ah well, with Battle Axe being a tank and the way she's loaded up. I don't think the wind is going to bug her as we head for home." She put away her phone then went back to eating her sandwich.

An expression of worried crossed her face, as she stopped to stir the melting ice and piece of lemon in her glass before drinking some more.

Paul sighed and asked. "What ya driving?"

"I've got a 1970 Buick Wildcat, four door hard top." Rachel replied. "She can get through quite a bit of bad weather and has done so." She watched Paul for a few moments then stated, "I'll be all right, I've driven through this type of weather before."

She was on the last section of her sandwich, and took another bite of it.

Paul, skeptical, sighed again and said. "I wouldn't feel right letting ya drive in this without offering a warm bed for the night."

His friends by the pool table chuckled to themselves as they listened to his and Rachel's conversation.

Rachel cast a glance over towards where Paul's friends were at as she finished the last bite. Then her eyes traveled over to the window, thinking rather hard, calculating her chances of getting home in relative safety. She didn't know Paul at all but there was something about him that she trusted.She didn't want to give him much trouble.

"If you've got a couch or floor space on your living room floor,I can use, I'll take you up on your offer." Rachel replied, "I can pay you for the use of it." turning her attention back to Paul.

Paul laughed and said. "Just clean up after yourself. That'll be payment enough."

Rachel grinned in response to Paul's laugh.

"I pick up after myself,I can also cook you breakfast, I've been told I fix a mean stack of pancakes and hash browns. How about that, I'll fix you breakfast and do some household chores before I head on home tomorrow. Deal?" looking Paul once again in his intense blue eyes, and holding out her hand towards him, to seal the offer.

"Deal."

Paul took her much smaller hand in his massive one and shook it gently. After letting it go he again picked up his beer and tipped it back.

The wind outside picked up, and through the darkened window it the snow blew past at a blistering rate.

Paul looked to the window, then back to Rachel and said. "Starting to get bad out there. Ya want ta play a game of pool real quick, or just leave now?"

"Lets get going now, if you don't mind." Rachel answered.

Draining the last part of her drink then fished whats left of the lemon with her straw and popped that into her mouth. Some thought that weird but she liked the lemon, rind and all. As she chewed, she quickly got her coat on, buttoned up tight and put on the rest of her gear.

"Okay, I'm ready to go." Rachel said looking at Paul."Show me the way and I'll follow." then pulled up her scarf to protect her nose and mouth from the bitter cold.

Paul nodded as he put his coat on and zipped it up. Then picked his cap up off the table and put it back on his head. "See ya later Tracy." Then stepped out the door, and said. "That's my truck, just stay close behind, its almost a straight shot to my land."

Rachel braced herself against the wind when she and Paul stepped outside of the bar. His truck was unmistakeable. She got in her car turned the key and the engine started right up. She waited until Paul was in his vehicle then followed him out of the parking lot. She couldn't believe she was doing this but, she shrugged her shoulders with how the weather was she would have been stuck and may have gotten into a wreck.

She peered through the windshield while the wipers were on full, moving the snow that collected on the glass. She didn't bother to turn on the heater as she felt she needed all the power the engine could muster to get to Paul's home. The sound of the wind howled and she could feel it hit the car. She was very thankful she had this particular car as it kept moving forward the weight of her belongings making certain she didn't have to adjust the steering much if any.

Paul could have driven much faster through the weather, but wanted to let Rachel keep up with him. So he kept it slow and steady. Luckily the plow trucks had been going ever since the first flakes fell, so the rural highway wasn't that bad. But once they came to the turnoff to the gravel road that went past his land he thought she might end up having some problems. The snow on his road was already well over a foot deep. No problem for his big truck, but it might prove difficult for her car.

The Wildcat kept on moving forward following after the big truck ahead. She followed in the tracks the truck made, willing Battle Axe from getting stuck. She was thankful she had the foresight to make certain to have the proper tires to deal with weather like this.

"C'mon Battle Axe, keep moving, don't want you to get stuck." she said to her car. "Don't let me down now." She could feel the gravel crunching beneath the tires "Slow and steady that's what ya gotta do." she said in encouragement to herself.All she could do was keep following the tail lights of Paul's truck. A couple of times she thought she was going to get stuck but applying the right amount of pressure on the gas she managed to continue. She'll stop when he stopped.

Finally Paul pulled into his gravel lot and parked the truck closer to the house than normal.

At the sound of the big truck pulling up the three borders came tearing out of the barn, and Sam darted out of the doggy door from the house.

Paul killed the engine, and greeted each pup, then waited for Rachel to pull up and park.

Rachel breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived at Paul's house, she pulled up alongside his truck, turned off the engine. Rachel leaned her head on her hands breathing a silent prayer for making it this far. She got out after a few moments closing the car door. Then stretched, loosening the kinks that had developed being tense from the concentrating on getting here.

She carefully went over to Paul seeing the dogs that came out to greet him. It was never prudent to walk up quickly when there were dogs that didn't know you.

"Nice dogs you've got there." Rachel commented, her words muffled slightly by the scarf around her mouth.

Paul stood after scratching each one behind the ears and smiled at her. "They're good boys. Now comeon in outta the cold."

As he started to walk to the house he whistled a few times. Sam darted back into the house, but the three borders just ran up to the long porch and laid down, basically on top of eachother, off to the side of the door.

Paul chuckled to himself and said back to Rachel, "These ones don't like sleeping inside unless they have to." as he opened the front door and stepped into the foyer. Then kicked off his slip on leather work boots next to his daughter's various pairs of shoes and boots, and hung his coat on the hook.

Rachel knocked the snow off her boots before stepping inside the foyer, closed the door behind her and knelt down to take off her boots. It didn't take long, she divested herself of her coat and hung it on an available hook. Putting the boots neatly underneath where her coat was hanging. She noted the extra shoes and figured that he had a child, judging by the size, the child could be probably in his or her teens.She noticed a pair of running shoes that were present.

"I take it you've got a kid?" Rachel asked, stepping forward away from the door in her stocking feet. She took a glance about the house, taking in the essence of the place which reflected the type of person Paul was.

"Nice place you've got here, alot better than the apartment I lived in, back in Las Vegas."

"Vegas? Long drive in that old boat of yours. And yeah, her name is Ann. And thanks, granddad built it, oh bout a hundred years ago." Explained Paul as he stepped into the kitchen, where he found his daughter still staring down at her books.

Ann heard the voices as they came into the house. When her dad stepped into the kitchen she looked up and saw the very attractive woman with him, and started grinning ear to ear. Then jumped up and ran over to hug her dad.

"Daddy!" She said in a gleeful voice. "Its about time." Obviously not talking about the hour of his return, and instead about him actually bringing a woman home.

Paul scowled under his beard and said. "It ain't like that girl. She just needed a place to stay for the night. Her name is Rachel, she is just passing through and got caught in the storm."

Ann grinned at him and stood on her tippie toes to give him a bigger hug, then dropped down to her normal height and said. "Yeah sure dad."

The pretty young redhead turned to Rachel and said. "Im Ann." And held out her hand.