Chapter 8: Love at a Track Meet

Winter slowly moved towards spring as my body and soul just as slowly evolved into something new. It was nothing like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly or the ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. I'd always run: in high school, through the Army years and later after we moved back to Colorado. But now I was running harder and longer than I'd even done in high school.

I would frequently do a road loop of ten miles and now I had it down around six minute pace, an hour for the ten miles. I ran with David a couple of times at Plachy Hall on the campus on the indoor track. I did a half-mile right at two minutes, about four seconds slower than my high school time. I'd never been really overweight, but since moving to Alamosa I'd dropped down to a hundred and fifty five, which really slimmed me down at my five ten height.

My soul—I guess what I considered to be whom and what I am—was also changing. I was going through life at a slower, calmer pace. I used to be known for having a somewhat short fuse. Now I accepted life as I found it. This wasn't a sudden or complete transformation. It took me a while not to be irritated whenever I happened to think of Jenny and I still thought evil thoughts when someone cut me off on the highway.

Writing as a stringer for the Rocky Mountain News didn't really work out so I was down to being an author as my livelihood. I was worried at first but with two new contracts I became quickly optimistic. I'd finished my Civil War history book and sold it for a nice advance and a contract for two more. I'd also packaged several of my romance short stories and sold that with a contract for a sequel and strong interest in my writing a romance novel.

Dana was around more and more through this period. We would take turns fixing each other dinner, usually on Friday nights. About twice a month we went out for dinner and dancing, which we both enjoyed a lot. She still was very demonstrative—maybe holding hands while we were walking or a quick kiss goodnight. I knew she liked me but she had this deep reserve I couldn't penetrate.

We ran together as often as we could; it helped at first having someone kick me out into the cold but as my body and mind adapted I grew to look forward to the long runs in the snow. At first she would run me into the ground but as I got in shape I could run with her at any distance and at any pace.

David was doing well in school. He was getting high grades in all his classes and had finished third in the conference cross-country championship and was also named all conference. He was a good-looking boy, actually a nice pleasant young man. He was popular across the various groups he was involved with and always seemed to have a cute sweet young thing on his arm. It was nice not to have to worry about him.

He did go up and see Jenny about once a month but he had learned that I didn't want to hear about her. From the things he did say I guess they weren't very close but he did keep up the contact with her.

Dana continued to have problems with the baseball coach, Rich Collins. A couple of times when I'd left the table while we were dancing he came by and tried to get her to dance with him. She always gave him a point blank refusal but that didn't stop him from trying. I asked her if he ever bothered her at the school.

"Yeah, he does things like walking into my office and sitting down even if I am on the phone. He keeps trying to talk to me and get me to go to dinner with him. He also "accidently" touches me sometimes and acts like it was an accident."

"You should report him—that's clearly sexual harassment."

"No, I don't want to do that. He's well known and has a lot of contacts. He's been here for a long time and I've just started."

One night after having been out dancing we stopped back at my place to have a glass of wine. One turned into two and we wound up sitting on the sofa with her on my lap. I gently kissed her and after a few minutes it turned passionate as we both started using our tongues. My hands started roaming, eliciting a small moan from her. That continued for a bit ... and then she froze, and after a brief hesitation just stood up and walked out.

Dana didn't say a word, yea or nay, about what had happened and seemed to avoid me for a couple of days. Well, two could play that game. I made sure to run other parts of the county for the next week and read in my bedroom with the house lights out. If she didn't want me I wasn't going to beg her for a kiss or two.

About three weeks after this happened I was at the hotel for dinner and wandered into the ballroom to see what band was playing. It turned out to be one I liked a lot so I stood there for a minute trying to get my bearings in the dark.

A woman walked up and asked, "Jack, are you here alone?"

I looked at her and luckily remembered her name, Pam Bowers. She was the mother of one David's friends on the cross-country team. "Hi, Pam. Yeah, I had dinner and I was just seeing how the band was tonight."

"Come on, why don't you join us?" She waved over at a table with a couple other women sitting there.

I had no reason not to go with her. She was attractive and maybe a bit thick around the middle and thighs. She introduced me and asked if I wanted what they were having. They were drinking Stella Artois—one of my favorites so I nodded yes. She flagged down the waitress and the beer showed up almost immediately. After a couple of sips I put my polite hat on.

"Pam, would you like to dance?" The band had just started playing "Small Town Saturday Night" which was perfect for the Texas Two Step. I whirled her around the floor—we were both pretty good dancers and created some notice. The band didn't play it as well as Hank Ketchum but they weren't bad. As I brought her back to the table one of the other women stood up so I graciously asked her—sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do—and I whirled her and then the other woman around in some Western swing.

After that I was ready to finish my beer. Pam's friends left and after I finished my beer she asked, "I gotta leave now. Could you do this waltz with me?"

I just took her hand and as the song moved along she stepped in close, half-whispering, "Do you come here often? Maybe I'll see you again."

The last was said somewhat wistfully. I knew she was a widow—maybe there weren't too many nice guys in Alamosa. Her son had gone to the local high school.

I was ready to leave too so I offered to escort her out to her car. As we neared the door I saw Dana and her dad standing there. She had a strained look on her face—she had obviously seen us dancing. I figured I didn't owe her any explanation so I nodded and walked out to the parking lot with Pam.

A couple of weeks later I decided I wanted some of the great trout at the restaurant in the same hotel as the San Luis Bar. I didn't mind eating alone; I enjoyed watching people. As I walked out I saw a local cop I'd met a couple of times so I nodded to him. When I got to the truck I heard a ruckus a couple of rows farther back. I heard a woman scream so I ran over.

It was Rich Collins and he was somewhat violently trying to kiss Dana. He had her blouse torn half off and she was fighting hard. I yelled at him to give her a chance to break away. He turned and swung at me with a big roundhouse swing just as I heard a car drive up behind me. I leaned away and gave him a shove in the back as he passed. He fell heavily and I heard what sounded like his arm give a loud snap.

The cop that I had seen in the restaurant was standing there and said, "I saw everything." He turned to Dana and asked, "Are you okay, Dana? Do you want to press charges?"

I assumed he must know her. She looked at me for a moment ... I could see that she was thinking about what I'd told her about sexual harassment.

"You're damn right I do. I've put up with his bullshit long enough."

"Okay." He turned to me, "I need to call in an ambulance and to take Dana's statement. No need for you to stand around; you can stop by the station anytime tomorrow and fill out a form. I'll leave it at the desk and they can get it witnessed.

I looked at Dana again and I could see tears in her eyes. She seemed a bit in shock. I thought she was going to ask me to stay but she nodded and turned back to the cop.

The next morning I was working on the outline for a romance novel when I heard a knock on the door. It was Dana. I let her in and poured her a cup of coffee and refilled mine. We sat down at the table and I looked at her with a question in my eyes. She looked embarrassed but determined.

"Thanks for your help last night. I guess Tim would have stopped him any way, but I didn't know that and I was so relieved to see you. I'm going to see that, at the least, he either quits or gets fired." She paused for a bit and looked away. "Are you going with that woman?"