Back on the train to Chicago
Jeff comes out of his not so sound sleep when the
Porter nudges him awake, “Sir, we’ll be in Chicago in
15 minutes.”
“Thank you.” Jeff looks down at his hand and sees
Ginger’s much smaller hand in his. Her head is resting
on his shoulder. It wasn’t a dream after all. She
really was his wife. “Mrs. Metcalf . . . Mrs.
Metcalf . . . Ginger . . . honey, wake up. We’re
almost to Chicago.” Jeff can’t resist the urge to
kiss his new bride awake. Ginger finally comes out of
her dream state. “Oh, Jeff. I thought I was dreaming
when I heard you call me Mrs. Metcalf. You don’t know
how long I’ve waited to hear that.” She kisses her
new husband. They both pull away when they realize
they are in the middle of a train car. Between kisses
Jeff tells his new wife, what he’s been thinking all
night, “Ginger, I was afraid I’d never be able to call
you Mrs. Metcalf. I love you.”
“I was afraid I’d never be Mrs. Metcalf, either. I
love you too, Jeff. I’m so glad Arthur’s car broke
down. I don’t even want to think about what might
have happened if it hadn’t.” Ginger realized that the
words “I love you” came very easily to her now that
they were married. She had always been afraid to put
her feelings into words but now they just seemed to
come naturally.
“Ginger, about Arthur’s car. You really should thank
Coach for that.” Jeff thought it was time that Ginger
knew how much Coach had helped them.
“Thank Coach? What do you mean?” Maybe she was still
half asleep, Jeff wasn’t making any sense to her right
now.
“Well . . . Coach sabotaged Arthur’s car. He must
have seen something between us during my tryout. He
took the rotor from Arthur’s car so that I would have
to drive you to the television station and ‘remedy my
error’ - Coach’s words - before it was too late.”
“Oh . . . I will definitely be thanking Coach the next
time I see him.” Ginger couldn’t keep the laughter out
of her voice. She thought she’d better apologize for
some of the things she said to Coach when she asked
him to give Jeff another chance. The man really did
have a heart - a very big heart.
The train finally pulled into the station at Chicago.
Jeff and Ginger bolted out of their seats so that they
could get to the conductor on their connecting train
and get the first available roomette or berth. They
got Jeff’s luggage and started towards the ticket
agent when Ginger stopped short.
“Ginger, what’s wrong? We have to hurry if we want to
get a roomette.” Jeff tries to hurry her along.
“Oh no, I just realized something. I don’t have any
luggage. I don’t have any clothes to wear, no
make-up, no shampoo, no toothbrush, NOTHING!! I was
in such a hurry to get Father Dreher to the train
station that I didn’t even think about packing for the
next six days.” Ginger is in a state of panic.
“It will be OK. We’ll worry about that when we get to
Wichita. You aren’t going to need any clothes once we
get on this train and get a roomette.” Jeff informs
his wife with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
“Jeff, you are evil. Let’s hurry.” Ginger says with
a laugh in her voice and a matching gleam in her eyes.
Just as they are about to reach the conductor, they
hear “Mr. and Mrs. Metcalf, I presume?”
They both turn in surprise. Who could that be?
“Hank!!” Jeff runs to his brother and picks him up in
a huge brotherly bear hug.
“Hey, Slugger, what’s new?” Hank still hasn’t gotten
used to this grown man being his little brother Jeff.
“Hank, what are you doing here?” Jeff can’t believe
that he is actually seeing his big brother. He hadn’t
seen Hank since he left River Run after their mom and
Al had gotten married. He had talked to him on the
phone and written letters back and forth but Hank
hadn’t been home in over a year.
