~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~"I can't believe you cashed it in," Fran said as she helped me into the car."What choice did I have?" I said as I gri...ted my teeth and sat down."You could…" Fran smiled as she got in."You know the answer," I said, looking back at her. "Just take me home, I will be fine in a few hours."Liz had cheated on her husband with one of her clients. She had told her husband that she was at my house. The problem was, she never told me. So when her husband asked about the. The bed was a double if anything. I knew we were going to be a little crowded, but I really didn't mind. The girls didn't either. We moved our stuff into the room, all except the gold, which I had in my backpack.We took the horses and mules to a livery stable and arranged to board them there for a few days. The livery man agreed to keep our saddles and camping gear and only charged us a dollar for making sure they were secure.We found a general store and bought a large needle and some heavy. She ran towards me and hugged me tightly and said,” I love you. I love you Sid”. She couldn’t speak more and started crying. I was freeze. I didn’t moved a bit. She was crying and murmuring I love u constantly. I got into consciousness and said hey look at me. She was crying. I broke the hug. She was crying with her eyes closed and repeating the sentence.I grabbed her head and said,” Niki, open your eyes and look at my, look at me niki”. She opened her eyes. She was still crying tears were. "It was either take our wet clothes off, or die of hypothermia." "That wasn't awkward." I say sarcastically. "C'mon it was practical." she said, sounding a little more serious. "Besides I'm your mother, you should never feel weird around me. I gave birth to you and that bonds us for life." "You're right mom," I say with a slight feeling of guilt. "Hopefully this time I put the tent up fast enough." She looks into my eyes and smiles at me. I smile back. I feel a strange flutter in my stomach. We.