The Fourth Sunrise (8 page)

Chapter Eight

July 1968 – Delta, Colorado - Library, 2:30 a.m.

“
I stood out front as Christine unlocked two different locks to get the library open. In the night, with the streetlight shining off her skin on the corner, she couldn’t have looked more beautiful.

“
Eventually, she got the doors opened and we stumbled inside. Christine went to the back and turned on a light that just lit up a part of the library. The library seemed very spooky and very romantic.

“‘
Have you ever danced in a library before?’ Christine asked.

“‘
I have never danced, period,’ I said, smiling. ‘I’m not much of a dancer.’

“‘
I’m not looking for Fred Astaire,’ she joked. ‘Just don’t step on my feet.’

“
I smiled. I could probably handle that. I asked, ‘What kind of dancing would we be doing? I’m not much of sock-hop guy.’

“
Christine walked over and there was a record player in the corner of the room. She took out a record. It was Frank Sinatra. She put the record on. Then Frank went to work. It was one of his slower songs. It was beautiful.

“
She turned around and stared at me across the room. I couldn’t believe where I was. I was in some town I had never heard of before this day. I was in the town’s library at 3:00 in the morning getting ready to dance with the prettiest girl I had ever laid eyes on.

“
Christine slowly walked over to me. It wasn’t scary at all. It was better. She was unsure what I might think and I could see it in her eyes. That vulnerability was the most intoxicating trait I had ever felt. I fell in love with her at that very moment. I knew she was special, but at that instant, I knew I had completely fallen for this woman.

“
That was when my inhibitions left. I met her halfway and took a hold of her hands and brought her close to my body. She wrapped her arms around my waist and I covered her shoulders with my burly arms. It was more embracing than dancing, but I didn’t care. I was loving every minute of it.

“
I took her hand into my hands and maneuvered my body and hips and we began to slow dance in that very library on that magical night.

“
At first, it was tender and intimate. Then I caught a look in her eyes where a bit of passion surfaced.”

Present Day – Delta, Colorado - Coffee Shop, 12:25 a.m.

“You didn’t have sex on the first night you met her did you?” Sharee pleaded.

“
Of course not. She was a lady, but I was also a gentleman. Back in those days, we didn’t act out every urge like young folks do today. It was actually more intoxicating to wait and feel the little nuances of a woman. I was definitely doing that. Every smell, every touch, every breath was accounted for.”

July, 1968 – Delta, Colorado - Library, 2:45 a.m.

“One hour became two; two hours became three hours. We danced and touched, and stared into each other’s eyes.

“
I wanted to kiss her many times. The energy I felt while we danced was something out of a fairytale. Having our bodies experience one another in a slow, methodical, ritualistic swoon of intimacy, I held her tight. I smelled her hair and kissed her forehead. I never felt more alive or more scared of anything in my life.

“
We went through five entire albums, just dancing and touching, but still we hadn’t kissed.

“
As we danced, we shared everything about ourselves. We would whisper our life stories as if they were secrets in each other’s ears. We opened up in ways I didn’t realize humans could with one another emotionally. We left everything out there while we held each other, moving to the music.

“
This was all new to me. I didn’t understand the protocol. I didn’t know what the gentlemanly thing was to do. I had no idea. I was in a library that was a bit on the scary side, and top it off, I was there with a beautiful woman who was obviously not a fast girl.

“
I was again taken aback by the concept that at times, I was both spectator and participant.

“
Finally, I saw that the clock on the wall displayed 5:30 a.m. I was going to be in so much trouble. It wasn’t going to be funny. My coaches are going to kill me. I might get docked a week’s pay for something this unscrupulous. Someone by now had to have noticed that I was gone. The reality was, I knew whatever consequence I’d receive would be worth spending more time with Christine.

“
Christine looked up at me and I looked down. ‘This night was perfect.’

“‘
This whole thing is overwhelming,’ I said.

“
Christine took my hand and we walked over to the record player, and together, we stopped the last album from playing by turning off the record player.

“‘
Thank you,’ I said.

“
We stood there in front of the east window and stared into each other’s eyes. The sun was coming up. I could see it coming up over the mountain range. This time, there was no music playing. We both stared at the sunrise.

“‘
It’s so beautiful,’ Christine said.

“‘
It is.’ I turned and faced Christine. I leaned my head down and as if she had been waiting all night, our lips gravitated to each other in a deep passionate kiss. The second our lips touched, tears began to drip from my eyes. I had never felt this way before. I was a mess. I tried to fight back my emotion and be a man. We kissed and kissed for a good twenty minutes. Up to that point, it was the most exhilarating twenty minutes of my life. My heart felt like it was outside my body. I had never felt this way.

“
Finally, we stopped and just stared into each other’s eyes. We just looked at one another, completely unsure what to do next.

“‘
Where do you go after this?’ Christine said to me.

“
My team is trying to trying to get back to Albuquerque. I’m pretty sure we will be leaving first thing in the morning. Today, I mean.’

“‘
Are your coaches going to be mad at you staying out all night?’

“‘
If they find out? Probably.’ I paused. ‘But I don’t care. It was definitely worth it.’”

Chapter Nine

Present Day – Delta, Colorado - Coffee Shop, 12:40 a.m.

Sharee looked up at me and tears were in her eyes.

I said, “That pause turned into a long stare. That stare turned into a longing that I never expected. I remember thinking at that very moment that this was going a long, exhausting ride.”

“
How could you have possibly known that at that moment in time?” Sharee asked.

“
I knew because at that point in my life I had never felt so many intense feelings for a woman, so fast. You see, things are different these days with easy travel by buses, planes, and trains. Back in 1968, it was easier to hitch a ride somewhere than to travel traditionally.”

“
But people did it. You were a big-time baseball player at the time?”

“
Big-time baseball player?” I laughed. “Playing ‘Triple A’ baseball is definitely tough to do. But unless you make the show, it is all pretty much for nothing.

“
Where I was coming from was I understood that I was about to leave my heart in Delta, Colorado. That was when I started the close-up. That was when my entire body froze up. I wanted to run. But I couldn’t run. What was chasing me had already caught me. She was standing right in front of me. I knew at that moment that I would be ready to do anything for her. All she had to do was ask.”

“
Why did she have to ask?”

“
I was eighteen. I didn’t know then what I know now. I know now all it would have taken was asking me to stay and I probably would have risked the world. At least, I would like to think after all these years that is what I would have done. The truth is, I probably still would have left, thinking destiny would bring us back together.”

“
So, what actually did happen?” Sharee asked.

July, 1968 – Delta, Colorado - Highway, 6:00 a.m.

“I gathered myself, and decided it was time to leave. I made my way to the library door, but I didn’t expect this next part to go so fast.

“
While Christine turned off lights and got ready to lock up, I opened the front door of the library. Just at that moment, a blue pickup truck pulled up with an older couple in it. The guy looked at me and asked, ‘Have you seen my daughter?’ I was thinking,
your daughter is probably as old as my mother
.

“‘
What’s her name?’ I asked.

“‘
Christine?’

“
Oh, my God, he was Christine’s dad! I remember thinking that he was pretty damn old. I turned around and Christine walked out of the library behind me.

“‘
Christine!’ her mother yelled from inside the truck.

“‘
Hi, Mother, I’m okay. I promise. I’m okay,’ Christine said, making her way to the pickup truck.

“
She walked behind the truck and motioned to me. I scurried over to her. I looked at her, shocked that she was leaving so fast. Apparently, we were not even going to get in a proper goodbye. I looked down on her beautiful, long dark hair and gazed into her beautiful eyes. ‘I don’t know how to reach you.’

“‘
You know where I live; the town is small enough.’

“‘
Can you write down your address?’ I asked.

“‘
She certainly will not!” her dad snarled at me. ‘You keep my daughter out all night and you expect her to become a pen pal?’

‘“
Look sir,’ I said. “I need your address. Your daughter is very important to me. I know it’s hard to understand it right now. It’s even hard for me to wrap my brain around it, but I love your daughter.’

‘“
Now I’ve heard everything!’ Christine’s father yelled out to me. ‘This boy has clearly lost his mind. Christine, get in the truck or I’m going to call the cops on this whippersnapper.’

“
Christine looked up at me, stood on tiptoe, and kissed me on my forehead. I could tell she wanted to say more, but chose not to do so in front of her parents. ‘I’m sorry I have to go. You know the town I live in.’ With that, we parted for the first time. She went into the back seat of the truck. Her father took off and I was left there standing in the street, about a mile away from my motel.

“
I knew the coaches counted heads at 7:00 in the morning. So, if I ran as fast as I could, I could get back in time.”

Chapter Ten

Present Day – Delta, Colorado - Coffee Shop, 12:45 a.m.

“
Did you get back in time?” Sharee asked.

“
Yeah, I did.”

“
They never knew you were gone all night?” Sharee continued pressing.

“
Not one coach knew. I don’t think Douglas even knew for sure if I went.”

“
You never told him about her?”

“
I mean that night. I didn’t think Douglas thought I had it in me to go.”

“
Was that not in your personality before that?” Sharee asked.

“
I was a pretty basic guy. I’m still am. The truth of the matter is, the only time in my life I feel like I ever truly lived was when I have been with Christine.”

“
That’s beautiful.” Sharee stared at me as if she was trying to see right through me. Her eyes were expressive and she had a giant smile on her face. “This story is amazing. I would love to hear more.”

It was becoming real to me that the present-day Christine wasn’t showing up. It was a bitter pill to swallow. I sure hoped she was okay. Sharee, however, was making it bearable, waiting a little longer for Christine. I enjoyed reliving these experiences with Sharee, so I continued, “That first night memory kept me warm on many a night. I guess that was when I first realized that optimism and pessimism could exist in the same thought.”

“What do you mean?”

“
It means that as much as I wanted her and I  hoped this it was ‘meant to be,’ the laws of nature were telling me otherwise.”

“
Laws of nature?” she asked with an odd smile.