12 comments/ 15551 views/ 12 favorites Trapped - Back Into Love By: GatorRick I could have posted this in the Loving Wives category but since there was NO INFIDELITY it really does belongs here. Besides those commentators on that genre are absolutely brutal and at my advanced age my psyche couldn't handle it. (lol) As usual my story has a happy ending. ***** It is said that one picture is worth a thousand words. Well I have four photographs and all four thousands words they spoke to me were so completely wrong and untrue that they almost ended my marriage. ****************** The argument started with something so inconsequential I can't even remember what it was now. Things were said, hurtful things, and the war of words escalated out of control. Finally Terri, my wife of ten years stalked off into the bedroom, slammed the door and locked it. I spent the night on the guest room bed. I couldn't fall asleep and began thinking about what had brought the two of us to such an impasse. Up until two or three months ago our life together was great. Yeah, we had arguments, but what married couple doesn't, and they were always resolved before going to bed. But this was different. I couldn't do anything without Terri criticizing everything I did. Nothing was satisfactory to her, no matter how hard I tried. I thought that perhaps some of the problem were of my own making. I'm an electrical engineer with my own contracting company. Just about seven weeks ago I was presented with an opportunity that, if I could successfully pull off, would triple the annual profits my company. I wound up spending sixteen hours a day, six days a week working on a presentation for this project to the prospective client. Too many late nights and missed evening meals didn't help our relationship. However, the day after tomorrow was Terri's birthday and I resolved to make it a memorable one. The next morning I was up early before Terri awoke and left for the office. I left a note by the coffee maker saying, 'I'm sorry. I love you'. By mid-afternoon I had reached a break through on the project and everything came together. All the problems were solved and the project would be successfully completed ahead of the scheduled presentation. I sat back and began to plan for Terri's birthday. I made a reservation at Pierre's, the most exclusive French restaurant in town, for the next evening. Then I ordered two dozen red roses to be delivered to her office the following afternoon with a card that read 'To my beloved wife on her birthday. Dinner at Pierre's tonight at seven. I love you, Rick'. Going over to the Hallmark Store I found the perfect birthday card and, after filling it out, I inserted the two tickets I had purchased for 'The Phantom of the Opera', Terri's all time favorite show. After fine tuning the presentation of the project to the prospective client for the end of the week I headed home just after eight in the evening. The house was dark and empty. Finding a note from Terri, stuck on the refrigerator, simply saying 'I went to my mom's house. I'll be home late'. Sometime after ten, and Terri still wasn't home, I fell into bed exhausted and crashed. I had no idea when she finally returned. Waking up at my normal time of 5 am I showered, shaved and headed off to work. I stopped at a twenty-four hour doughnut shop for a cup of coffee and an apple fritter before continuing on in to the office. I had scheduled an early morning meeting with my critical staff members working on the project with me. By eleven-thirty we had resolved all of the possible issues that might arise during the presentation on Friday. Since we wrapped up the meeting early I decided to go over to Terri's office and take her out to lunch. Arriving at the financial planning and insurance company office, Terri worked at, I walked inside. "Hello, Peg," I greeted the receptionist. "I thought I would pop by and take Terri to lunch on her birthday." "Hi, Rick," she responded. "You just missed her. She left about ten minutes ago for a luncheon meeting at 12:15 with a client at the Hyatt." "Oh, darn it. Okay, I'll see her at home this evening. If she calls in please don't mention to her that I was here, it might ruin the surprises I have planned." "Not a problem, Rick. Mums the word." "Thanks, Peg," I said as I left. Since the Hyatt was right on my way back to my office I thought I would stop by and wish her a quick Happy Birthday. Arriving just a few minutes after 12:15 I parked my truck and walked into the restaurant. I quickly spotted her sitting at a table, with her back toward me and facing an older man that I assumed was the client. Just as I was walking over to greet her he reached across the table with both hands and Terri immediately grabbed them. They leaned forward to each other and he said something that I couldn't hear. As they sat there for several moments, holding each other's hands, I had time to retrieve my cell phone camera and take some photos. When their waiter appeared with lunch they dropped hands as they were served. I didn't like what I saw so I decided to stick around for awhile and see what else might develop. I took a seat at the bar where I could see them but they couldn't see me. Thirty minutes later they were finished eating and Terri handed her credit card to the waiter when he presented the bill. She put her copy of the credit card slip and the receipt for the lunch in her purse, no doubt for her expense account. During the entire time I observed them I couldn't tell if there was any discussion of business. Before getting up from the table he looked at his cell phone, said something to Terri, and they rose from the table. As they got up I turned my back so Terri wouldn't see me. Looking in the mirror, behind the bar, I saw them head out, not toward the parking lot, but toward the elevators in the lobby. I followed discreetly behind them. He had his arm around her shoulder and she placed her left arm around his waist, carrying her briefcase in her right. I took several more photos and then switched my phone from photo to video mode. Watching them enter the elevator together I allowed the phone camera video to continue recording as the doors closed behind them. There was a clock above the elevator and I video recorded the time they entered the elevator as well. I sat in the lobby for over thirty minutes continuously recording the closed elevator doors with the clock ticking away immediately above. Finally, when my phone signaled the battery was dying I left the Hyatt. Instead of going back to the office I went home. I needed to get away to think things out. I decided to go up to my cabin in the mountains that I had inherited from my folks. Arriving home I tossed the birthday card on the kitchen table as I made my way to our bedroom. Grabbing a duffle bag from the hall closet I proceeded to pack it with several pairs of levis, all my flannel long sleeved shirts, underwear and heavy socks. In the bathroom I filled a travel kit with my necessary personal hygiene items. Then I changed from my business attire into jeans and a warm shirt. Putting on my hunting boots, that I had taken from the closet, I made my way back to the garage. After grabbing my heavy hunting jacket I threw it and the duffle bag into the truck bed. Going back into my home office I opened my gun safe and retrieved my Winchester Model 94 lever action 30/30 along with my Sig Sauer 9mm automatic pistol both in their protective cases. I made sure to take all of the ammunition I had for both weapons as well. I put them into the truck bed, alongside the duffle bag. Then I locked the hard cover over everything as well as locking the tailgate. Going back inside, once more, I went to my computer and transferred the photographs and video from my phone. Then I printed the photographs and downloaded the video onto a DVD. I took and placed all of it on the kitchen table along side the birthday card with a short note. 'I saw everything that happened at the Hyatt this afternoon. Now I know why you have been so miserable and nasty toward me for the past three months. Why didn't you tell me that you were unhappy with our marriage? I love you with all my heart. That will never change, but don't try contact me. I really do not want to talk with you. I just couldn't bear hearing your voice, Rick' As an after thought I put my wedding ring on top of the note and photos. Before I left I placed my cell phone alongside everything on the table. On the four hour drive north I thought about everything that I had witnessed. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought that Terri could do that to me. ******************* Rick's Thoughts While On His Trip North Reflecting back over the years I remembered the first time I saw Terri. I was sixteen years old when a new family moved into the house next door. After the movers left the family arrived. A mom, a dad and a young girl in a wheelchair went inside. My mother, always the friendly neighbor, had baked a plate of brownies and cookies to take over to greet them. When she returned I asked about our new neighbors. She told me their names were George and Marjorie Abbot and their daughter's name was Terri. Terri had evidently suffered from a serious illness that necessitated some heavy duty medications. The drugs caused her hair to fall out in clumps, left her face and body swollen and weaken her so much that she needed a wheelchair. The good news, mom told me, was she was expected to make a full recovery and was already on the mend. A couple of weeks later I saw her walking up and down the block with her mom. She still looked kind of frail, but her hair had started to grow back a little and the puffiness from the meds was beginning to abate. I had spoken to her on several occasions but she was reluctant to engage in any conversations. Mom said it was most likely because she felt so self-conscious about the way she looked. In mid-October I saw her out walking by herself without her mom. I offered to walk with her but she told me she would rather walk alone. I was in the park, which was a few blocks from my house, one afternoon when I heard someone yell. "GO AWAY!! PLEASE, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!" Coming up from behind some bushes I saw Ralph Thompson, Bradley Miller and another kid I knew from school ringed around Terri making some really hateful comments about the way she looked. She was already in tears when I walked up on them. "Hey guys!" I shouted. "Why do want to act like assholes? Leave the girl alone and beat it." Ralph looked at me and knew my reputation at school. I didn't put up with shit from anyone and he knew it. He walked up to me saying, "well there's three of us and only one of you. Right guys?" "Right guys?" He repeated. When he heard no answer from behind him he turned around to discover that Bradley and the other kid had taken off. "Looks like it's just you and me now Ralphie boy so let's get it on." Discretion being the better part of valor he turned and ran. I walked over to Terri and, extending my hand, I helped her up from the bench she was sitting on. "Come on I'll walk you home." The entire way back to her house she refused let go of my hand. When we got there I helped her up the steps onto the porch and the front door opened. Her mother must have been watching from the front window. She saw the tears on Terri's face and glanced at me with a questioning look. Terri gave me a quick kiss on my cheek and said loud enough for her mother to hear. "Thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there." With that she released my hand and stepped inside. Mrs. Abbot asked if I would like to come in for a moment or two but I had to decline, saying, "I'd love to but it is close to suppertime and mom won't be happy if I'm late. Please tell Terri I'll see her in school tomorrow morning." As I left to go home I saw Terri's face at the front window watching me. Her mother stood beside her with an arm around her shoulder. After supper was over I went to my room to do some reading for my history test the next day. I heard the doorbell ring and then some muted voices coming from the living room. My dad called up to me. "Rick, come downstairs for a minute, please." When I got to the living room I saw Mr. and Mrs. Abbot sitting on the sofa across from my mom and dad. As I entered the room Mr. Abbot stood up and extended his hand to me. "Thank you very much for what you did for my daughter this afternoon. It means a lot to me and my wife as well as Terri. She told us everything that happened in the park. All I can say is thank you, again." He then turned to my parents and said. "You can be very proud of your son. He did something extraordinary that most kids his age wouldn't have thought to do." I accepted his thanks and withdrew back to my room to continue my homework. Twenty minutes later mom and dad appeared in my room. "We're so proud of you, son. You stood up and did what was right." Dad told me. "Really, pop, it was no big deal." I replied. "No, Rick you're wrong. To Mr. Abbot it was a very big deal. You protected his daughter from some bullies and that means a whole lot to him." The next morning it was cold and overcast as I walked to school. I was about halfway there when it began to rain. Just then a car pulled up along side me, a window in the back seat was rolled down and Terri stuck her head out asking me to get in. On the way there she told me why she hated to go to school. Her classmates called her names. They thought she was ugly, especially her hair which was starting to grow out. I looked at her and said. "You have the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen." When we pulled up in front of the school I got out first and then helped Terri from the car. Sticking my head back into the car I thanked Mrs. Abbot for the ride to school. The big smile on her face and the look she gave me said that she had heard what I told her daughter. A lot of kids, including many of my friends, saw me escort Terri into the building. The look on my face told them they better not mess around with her anymore. From that point on we were inseparable. Over the rest of the school year Terri blossomed. Her hair fully grew back, in the most delightful shade of brown, falling about her shoulders. All traces of the puffiness caused by the meds disappeared. We became boyfriend and girlfriend all the way through high school and college. Terri was constantly 'hit on' by guys and her reply always was the same, "no thank you. I've already got a boyfriend and I'm not in the least bit interested in changing." After graduating from the university, she with a degree in Business and me in Electrical Engineering, we got married. We tried to have kids, and believe me we tried, it appeared in wouldn't be in the cards for us. It seems the illness she had as a young girl, while not making it impossible, made it highly improbable she would ever conceive. I knew it really bothered her but I kept reassuring her over and over that I loved her. ****************** It was already dark when I arrived in the little town at the foot of the mountain where my cabin was located. I stopped at the local market and loaded up on food and supplies. A cold front was predicted to arrive sometime the next day with high winds and blizzard conditions and I wanted to be prepared. I took the paved road as far up the mountain as it went before it turned into an unpaved rock and gravel path that lead to my cabin. It was slow going in the darkness. Calling it a cabin did not really do justice to it. When my great-great grandfather built it, over a hundred years ago, it was just a cabin constructed from the native field stone. The walls were over two feet thick which kept it cool in summer and warm in the winter. Over the succeeding generations it had been enlarged and renovated several times over. My contribution to the changes the cabin went through over the years was to install arrays photovoltaic cells on the south facing roof. These cells converted sunlight into electrical energy, which could be stored in large capacity batteries and provide electricity to the cabin. Even with the four wheel drive in my truck the last few hundred yards was slow going. Unloading my gear and supplies I set about putting things away. Double checking the electrical system I found everything in good working order. There was enough energy in the storage batteries to last several days even through the impending storm. While doing all this it kept my mind from thinking about Terri and our marriage. It gets dark around four in the afternoon in mid-December and it was cold even before the plunging temperatures the coming storm would produce. Sitting in front of the fire that I had started in the stone fireplace I fell asleep wondering what was happening at home. ******************** Terri's Discovery and Reaction After my meeting with John Chapman and his wife Emily in their suite at the Hyatt I was feeling pretty good. I had secured a contract to provide financial planning services for Mr. Conrad and his wife. There was also a promise for them to upgrade their life insurance plans in the very near future. Now I had one more appointment to keep before returning to my office. It was after four o'clock when I returned to the office. As soon as I walked in the door Peg said to me, with a grin on her face, "You have a delivery. I put it on your desk." Sitting on my desk was a huge bouquet of red roses. The attached card read 'To my beloved wife on her birthday. Dinner at Pierre's tonight at seven. I love you, Rick'. Collapsing into my desk chair I said to myself. "How could he do this for me? God, I hate myself for what I've put him through. I've been so mean and nasty over the past several months and now he goes and does this for me." Then and there I resolved to change back to the way I have always felt about him. I've loved Rick ever since that day in the park so many years ago when he stood up for me. Grabbing my briefcase I gathered up the bouquet, along with my purse and headed home. As I went out the door Peg said to me, "someone loves you very much." "I know, I know, believe me, I know," was my reply. Arriving home I saw that Rick's truck was not in its spot in the garage. Good I had time to get ready. Dropping my purse on the table leading from the garage I took the roses into the kitchen to fill the vase with water from the sink. Turning from the sink I saw everything Rick had left for me to find. After reading the note and looking at the four photographs I played the DVD on the small television we had in the kitchen. "NO, NO, NO!!" I yelled to an empty room. "It's NOT what he thinks. He has to know the truth. He HAS to believe me." I sat down to wait for him to come home. It was almost seven and he still hadn't arrived. I called the restaurant thinking that maybe he was there waiting for me. They told me that he had cancelled the reservation hours ago. Of course, why would I even think such a thing as I opened my hand. I had been clutching his wedding ring in it ever since I picked it up from the table. Oh my God! I've got to find him. I called his office in hope that he might be there. All I got was the recorded message informing me the office was closed and would be opened during normal business hours of eight until five, Monday through Friday. Next I called Dave, his right-hand man, at his home. He didn't know where Rick was. All he could tell me was that Rick had called and left a message instructing him to make the big presentation they had worked on for the past few months that coming Friday. Frantic with worry I went up stairs to our bedroom. Falling onto our bed I began crying my eyes out. I must have fallen asleep still in my clothes. The next thing I knew it was three in the morning. Getting up from bed, I took off my business suit, that I had worn the previous day, and placed it with the clothes that would have to go to the dry cleaners. Trapped - Back Into Love Going into the closet for something to wear I looked at Rick's side. What I saw, or rather, didn't see told me where he may have gone. ****************** Back At The Cabin It was finally light enough outside for me to do the things I had to accomplish in preparation for the storm that was now predicted to hit later in the morning. First thing I did was to pull my truck around to the side of the cabin where, hopefully, it would escape the brunt of the storm winds. Next I made a quick inspection of the arrays of photovoltaic cells on the roof to make sure that they were properly fastened to withstand the high winds that were predicted to accompany the storm. Satisfied that all was in order, I replaced the ladder, I had used to climb up onto the roof, back into the storeroom. After doing that I rolled out my log splitter from the shed and began splitting logs from the wood pile. I wanted plenty of firewood inside the cabin to feed the fireplace over the next few days. Ninety minutes later I was finished. I put the splitter back into the shed being sure to re-fasten the padlock on the door. Then I began carrying the split firewood inside. The storm winds had just started as I carried the last of the wood inside. While outside making one final check to be sure there was nothing lying about that could be blown around and cause any damage to the cabin or my truck I heard the sound of a car trying to make its way up my driveway. It was having a lot of difficulty. I could hear the engine revving and the sounds of the tires screeching on the frozen rock of the driveway as it approached the cabin. "DAMN!!" I exclaimed. It was Terri. How in the Hell had she found me? She stopped the car and got out. "Rick, we have to talk." She said as I approached her. "No we don't!" I answered her. "There's nothing to say. I know what I saw. Just leave me alone, please! Turn your car around and leave now." Just as I said that we heard a crashing sound. A large tree had finally succumbed to the ravages of past winters and had toppled over from the rising wind gusts of the approaching storm. It effectively blocked the way back down from the cabin. Terri looked at me and, fully knowing it was impossible, said. "Looks like I'm trapped here unless you can clear that tree away in this weather." Sighing, I grudgingly replied. "Okay. You can stay, but only, until I can remove that tree. Pull your car around and park it by my truck and come inside. I turned to walk back inside the cabin not seeing the sly smile of relief on her face. ****************** Terri's Drive To The Cabin As soon as I looked in the closet and saw that all of Rick's levis and heavy woolen and flannel shirts were gone I knew just where he went. Then when I saw his heavy hunting jacket missing from the hall closet that just confirmed my belief. Throwing a few things into a carry-on bag I rushed back downstairs. I grabbed the four photographs, the DVD, as well as the un-opened card and his note and put them in my briefcase. I slipped his wedding ring onto a chain I wore around my neck and left the house. The drive north to the cabin took a little longer than the four hours it would normally take. An oncoming winter storm slowed my progress somewhat. That and one stop for gas and another to pee added an additional forty minutes to the drive. The drive gave me plenty of time to think about my life with Rick. My mind first wandered back to the time when I began recovering from my illness. Mom would walk with me up and down the block in front of the house to help me strengthen my legs. On more than one occasion Rick would try to initiate a conversation with me. I felt so self conscious about the way I looked I couldn't reply. He never gave up. Every time he saw me he would say something nice to me. Soon I was able to go out for a walk by myself. One day I decided to go down to the small park a few blocks from my house. I was sitting on a bench when I saw three boys I knew from school. They were bullies, always picking on kids weaker and smaller than themselves. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. They came up to me and started saying really mean and hurtful things to me. Trying not to cry I yelled at them. "GO AWAY!! PLEASE, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!" They just laughed and continued with their insults. Suddenly there was another voice saying. "Hey guys! Why do want to act like assholes? Leave the girl alone and beat it." I looked up and saw it was my neighbor, Rick. Words were exchanged between the four of them and the next thing I knew they disappeared. Then Rick came over to me, and extending his hand, he said. "Come on I'll walk you home." The entire way back to my house I wouldn't let go of his hand. I felt safe and protected with him. My mom met us at the front door. She saw the tears on my face and glanced at Rick. I gave him a quick kiss on his cheek and said loud enough for mom to hear. "Thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there." Mom stayed at the door for a moment, said something to Rick and then came back inside. She asked me what had happened and I told her. When daddy came home later that evening she told him what I had described to her. After supper mom and dad went next door for a short while. When they returned daddy simply said to me. "That's quite a remarkable young man." The next morning, as mom was driving me to school, it started to rain. I saw Rick walking to school and told her to stop. Rolling down the window I stuck my head out and asked him to get into the car. On the way there I told him why I hated to go to school. My classmates kept calling me names. They thought I was ugly, especially my hair which was just starting to grow out. He looked at me and said. "You have the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen." I was so shocked at what he said I couldn't think of a thing to say for the rest of the way to school. When we arrived he got out and extended his hand to help me out of the car. Then he stuck his head back inside and thanked my mother for driving him to school. Without releasing my hand he walked me inside. There were a lot of kids in the hallway and I saw some strange looks and heard some snickering remarks. It didn't phase Rick in the least. One guy, Charlie Williams, walked up and said to Rick. "What are you doing with that 'thing'?" I felt Rick stiffen as he turned and replied. "Charlie, this 'thing' has a name, her name is Terri. You and I have been friends ever since grade school and if you want to remain my buddy you'll show her the respect she deserves." We hadn't taken two steps past him when I heard the boy say, "please, just a minute." He stepped in front of us and said in a loud voice that everyone around could hear including Mary Anne Baker. Mary Anne was better than CNN and the National Enquirer when it came to spreading news and gossip. "Terri, I apologize. That was a cruel and hateful thing to say about you. I'm sorry. I've got a big mouth and sometimes say things without thinking. May I walk with you and Rick to your first period class." It was as if Moses had parted the Red Sea as kids moved away allowing us to walk down the hallway. There were no more snickering remarks. Later that morning Darlene Thompson, the head cheerleader and as I found out later Charlie's girlfriend, came up to me asking if we could talk for a moment or two. She wanted to know all about me. I gave her a brief description of my illness and the effects of the medications I had to take to combat it. All she could say was. "Wow! I don't think I would have the fortitude to survive what you have had to go through. I would really like to be friends with you." A day later Ralph Thompson and Bradley Miller came up to me and publicly apologized for what had happened in the park. From that day forward school was entirely different for me. With the three most popular kids in school by my side everyone wanted to be friends with me. By the end of the semester my hair had completely grown out and the ravaging effects of the medications had disappeared. Rick and I became inseparable. We walked to school every morning holding hands and the walk home in the afternoon was no different. The next big event that I recalled as I drove north was the Senior Prom. Rick and I were both eighteen years old, his birthday being in February and mine in May. Seniors got to vote for Prom King and Queen. I voted for Rick, but I secretly hoped Charlie Williams would win. I was positive that his girlfriend, Darlene, would be named Prom Queen and I didn't want Rick to dance with her as King and Queen. Yeah, I admit it I was a little jealous of the thought. On the night of the prom Rick and I, along with Charlie and Darlene, rode together to the hotel ballroom in a limo. Everybody looked great all dressed up in their formal attire. I may have been just a little prejudiced but I thought Rick was the best looking guy at the whole event. We danced, we ate and we danced some more and then it was time to name the King and Queen. The Senior Class Sponsor, Mrs. Sullivan, made the announcement. "The King of this year's Senior Prom is . . Frederick Hauff. Frederick please step forward to be crowned." "Oh, my God," I thought. Rick won. I was so proud and happy for him. Then Mrs. Sullivan continued. "Now for the moment you have all been waiting for. The Queen of the 2001 Senior Prom is . . . Miss Terri Abbot!" "Frederick would you please escort Miss Abbot to the middle of the dance floor and place the crown on your Queen." Tradition had it that the King and Queen were alone on the floor for the first dance. As we danced together he whispered in my ear. "You've always been my Queen. I love you, sweetheart." The rest of the night was a blur. I do remember having to rush to the ladies room to repair my makeup from all the tears I shed after that dance. Rick and I spent the remainder of the evening dancing, laughing and stealing kisses from each other when the chaperones weren't looking. At the time I thought that my experiences in high school could never be topped. Boy, was I ever wrong. Rick and I went away to the same state university. I majored in business administration and Rick in electrical engineering. College is not just an extension of high school. I had to work really hard in order to get the grades I needed to maintain my scholarship. Rick always made time to help me in some of the more difficult math classes I had to take as a requirement for my degree. We spent many a long evening in the college library together. In our junior year Rick leased an apartment. He said the dorms were just too noisy and the lack of privacy made it difficult to study. I spent so much time there that I gradually began moving my clothes into his apartment unit until I practically had nothing left in my dorm room. Rick said it made no sense to pay for a room if I wasn't going to use it. We were living as a man and wife in every sense except for no sex. I promised myself that I would save my virginity as a wedding present for my husband. Believe it or not, Rick supported me in this and never pressed the issue. Don't get me wrong we still found ways to to express our love and satisfy our physical needs. Over the Christmas break Rick asked me to marry him. I accepted and we planned for a June wedding. Both sets of our parents were ecstatic with our engagement. My dad went so far as to ask what took so long. June arrived before I knew it. Graduation followed by our wedding. I was the happiest girl alive. Suddenly I was snapped out of my daydreams when I saw the sign that said 'Mountain View 15 Miles'. In less than thirty minutes I would be at the cabin. I prayed that Rick would give me the chance to explain that what he saw wasn't what happened. Driving up the steep driveway with a great deal difficulty I saw him standing on the steps to the porch. "Rick, we have to talk." I said getting out of the car and approaching him. "No we don't!" He answered. "There's nothing to say. I know what I saw. Just leave me alone, please! Turn your car around and leave now." Just as he said that we heard a crashing sound. A large tree had finally succumbed to the ravages of past winters and had toppled over from the rising wind gusts of the approaching storm. It effectively blocked the way back down from the cabin. I looked at him and, fully knowing it was impossible, said. "Unless you can clear that tree away in this weather it looks like I'm trapped here for a while." Sighing, he grudgingly replied. "All right. You can stay, but only, until I can remove that tree. Pull your car around and park it by my truck and come inside." Just as I got inside the full fury of the blizzard struck. In a matter of minutes you couldn't see more than a few feet in front of you through the driving wind blown snow. Sitting across from each other, in front of the fireplace, I began speaking to my unhappy husband. "Rick we need to talk. It's not what you think. I didn't . . ." All of a sudden he shouted at me. "NO!! We don't need to talk. I don't want to hear a damn thing you have to say. You're here only until this storm lets up and for no other reason." With that he got up from the chair he was sitting in, went into his bedroom and slammed the door shut behind him. This went on for almost two days. If it even appeared that I was about to say something to him he would get up and leave the room. By the afternoon of the second day the high winds had quieted down but the snow continued to fall. Somewhere in the early afternoon the lights in the cabin began dimming. Rick went into the small room, just off the kitchen, where all the electrical panels and gauges for the solar photovoltaic system were located. "Something is wrong with the solar roof panels." He told me. "I'll have to go outside and look to see if I can spot what the trouble is." I stepped out onto the porch as Rick went out to survey the problem. "There's a ice dam that is blocking the snow from falling off the roof. It's forcing the snow to back up and cover the photovoltaic panels." He called back to me. "I'll have to get the ladder and break the ice up." He went around the side of the cabin to the shed where the ladders were kept. He returned with an extension ladder and a small hatchet. Extending the ladder to it's full length he climbed up and began chopping away at the ice. Without warning the ice dam broke. The ladder was pushed away from the roof with enough force that it caused Rick to fall heavily to the ground. He laid there stunned from the fall for a few moments and before he could get up the wet snow slid off the roof. I rushed over to him finding him buried under at least two feet of snow. I frantically began to dig him out. Remembering the first aid training I had taken in school I knew I shouldn't move him. It might cause even more damage to his body. I also knew I couldn't leave him lying outside on the ground in the sub-zero temperatures in his soaking wet clothes. He would die from hypothermia in just a matter of a few minutes. There were only two choices. Get him up, move him inside and risk further injury or leave him to certain death in the freezing weather. I chose to move him. I don't know how I managed to get him to his feet, but I did. He put his right arm around my shoulders and I placed my left arm around his waist and we slowly made our way inside. Pulling him in front of the fireplace I stripped him of all his soaked clothing. Everything came off including his boxers and undershirt. Running into the bedrooms I stripped the blankets and heavy quilts from the beds and used them to cover his naked body. After throwing a few more logs onto the fire I stripped down to my panties and bra as well. Removing my bra I slipped under the blankets and wrapped myself around his chilled body. After a few long minutes I felt his body begin to warm and his breathing became deep and regular. I remained with him for the next several hours, only getting up to feed more wood to the fire and then immediately returning back under the blankets to him. We laid together for the remainder of the night sharing our bodily warmth with each other. I fell asleep for several hours and only awaken when I felt him stirring. I quickly got up, dressed and got some dry clothes for him as well. "Now we need to sit down and talk, Rick." I told him. He started to protest when I told him to just sit down and be quiet until I was finished. 
 "If you're still not convinced about what actually happened I'll leave as soon as I can." ****************** My Explanation and Our Love Wins Out Opening my briefcase I withdrew the photographs along with the DVD and placed them on the table in front of him. "What you photographed and videoed, Rick, isn't what really happened." "Terri, it sure looks like you were holding hands with him and it certainly appears you walked out of that restaurant with your arms around each other." "Rick, I know what it looks like. But that's not what happened. My client, John Chapman, is a very religious man. He says Grace before every meal even in public. He asked to hold my hands while he prayed before our meal was served." "Rick, look very carefully at this photograph. What do you see on the table?" "It looks like your little tape recorder," he replied. Opening my briefcase a second time I withdrew my digital tape recorder. "You know I record all my business conservations now to avoid problems like the one I had with Mrs. Johnson three years ago." "Please listen to it, Rick." Playing the tape you could clearly hear Mr. Chapman ask me if I wouldn't mind holding his hands while he prayed. Throughout the rest of the meal all of the discussions I taped revolved around what he wanted from a financial plan that would ensure he and his wife had enough money for their retirement. I stopped the playback when Rick asked. "What about when you two left the restaurant, with you arms around each other, and went upstairs in the elevator?" Pushing the play button again the recording continued. You could hear Mr. Chapman's cell phone ring and one side of the ensuing conservation. Evidently Mrs. Chapman had returned from her appointment and was now waiting on us in their hotel suite upstairs. As the sounds of us getting up from the table played you could hear an audible groan from John Chapman. It was then he asked if I would mind assisting him back to his room. He explained that he had just completed a knee replacement and neglected to wear the brace he had been provided. "That's when he put his arm across my shoulder and I put my arm around his waist to help stabilize him as he walked," Terri stated. "Do you remember how I got you into the cabin after the accident yesterday?" Her little tape recorder continued recording while I sat there digesting what she just told me and finished listening to her recorder. Nothing was said except Terri asking him how his knee was feeling. John Chapman said it was still hurting him enough not to be able to put any weight on it. I heard the elevator opening and their footsteps as they approached his room. As he fumbled with the key card the door to the suite opened and his wife, Emily, stood there. "I didn't put my knee brace on," he said to her. "Oh my gosh, John whatever am I going to do with you?" His wife replied. "You know how important the doctor told us why you had to wear it all the time." 'I'll take him into the bedroom and help put it back on," she said to me as she reached out to support her husband. "Please have a seat, Mrs. Hauff. We'll only be a minute and then you can explain the details of your financial plan proposal to us. Trapped - Back Into Love "Okay," Rick said to me. "I might have jumped to wrong conclusion. But look at it from my perspective. For the last two and a half to three months I couldn't do a thing without you criticizing me. Nothing I did was satisfactory to you, no matter how hard I tried. You started arguments over the stupidest of things and then go and hide in the bedroom with the door locked." "Then when I saw all this," he said pointing to the photographs and DVD. "I thought you had found someone to replace me." "Oh my God, Rick, you're so wrong about that. I love you with my heart and soul. There is no one in the world that could ever replace you." "But you are right. I was really mean and nasty to you and I knew it. So I went to my doctor just to be sure there wasn't something physically wrong with me that would be causing me to treat you the way I was." Opening my briefcase, for the third time, I took out two sheets of paper. Walking over to him I sat in his lap and handed them to him. Looking at the first one he simply asked me. "What's this?" "It's the results of my blood tests. It shows my hormones were so completely out of kilter that it caused me to act the way I was. Dr. Peters told me that this coupled with my other problem was causing me to act strangely toward you. He gave me a shot and a prescription to correct the imbalance." "What other problem?" Rick asked now with a worried look on his face. "Look at the second sheet." I told him. He did and then asked me. "Is this what I think it is?" "Yes. It's a sonogram. I'm pregnant, Rick, I'm pregnant. You're going to be a daddy." Removing Rick's wedding ring, from the chain around my neck, I put it back on his finger and said to him. "This belongs on your finger sweetheart. Please never take it off again, please sweetheart. Our babies are going to need their daddy." "But I thought you couldn't have . . . wait a minute. Did you just say, BABIES!!" Rick exclaimed. "BABIES!!" "Yes!" I shouted. "We're going to have twins in about six months. I'm three months along and the doctor said they are both doing just fine." He looked at me and said to me. "I'm such a jerk. How can you ever forgive me?" "That's easy to answer, Rick. Because I'm completely and totally in love with you. Always have been and always will be, completely and totally." My arms went around his neck and as I pulled him closer to kiss him he said to me. "You have the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen." I was so shocked at what he said but this time I knew exactly what to do. I closed my eyes as we kissed and I forced my tongue past his lips. As we made our way to the bedroom with our arms wrapped around each other we saw that the snow had stopped falling and Rick whispered in my ear. "I don't think I want to remove that fallen tree anytime soon. I guess you will just have to be trapped here with me for quite a while." "I can't think of a better place to be," I said as I pulled the bedroom door closed behind us and with that I'll leave it to your imagination as to what happened next. I received word from my doctor's office confirming his initial diagnosis. The tests indicated I was pregnant. Rick and I would be parents in just about seven months.