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It didn’t take long to register at the front desk and get us a room. I shoved the key card in my pocket and returned to the truck.

Tammy was standing outside smoking and the dogs were exploring the parking lot.

I opened the back doors of the trailer and Outlaw nickered and viciously kicked the sides letting me know how unhappy he was.

“A few more hours, boy, and your worries will be over.”

I fed him his oats and made sure he had lots of water. I left him with hay to munch on and locked him up for the night. I couldn’t muck out the trailer until I was parked in a different environment. The Holiday Inn wouldn’t appreciate a pile of horse dung in the back corner of their lot.

Our room on the second floor was nothing out of the ordinary—just a hotel room—but to Tammy it was amazing. She explored every detail and couldn’t believe they gave us free shampoo and conditioner and bars of soap.

Looking at the world through her eyes taught me not to take so much for granted.

She washed her face and brushed her hair and was ready to go for dinner before I was. “Where are we going to eat, Travis?”

“Should be some place along this strip we can walk to. I don’t want to move Outlaw until after I feed him in the morning. Let him settle down for the night.”

“Sure, that makes sense. I don’t want him to be upset either. I don’t want him trying to stand on his hind legs inside the trailer. He might tip it over or something.”

“Yeah, or something.”

Ruby Tuesday. Cheyenne. Wyoming.

We left the dogs in the room with their bowls of kibble and walked down the road to a Ruby Tuesday. They had a good salad bar for Tammy who seemed to love salad, and for me, they had Miller.

I ordered a beer for myself and a Coke for Tammy while she studied the menu. “What do you want to eat, Travis?”

“Umm… I think I’ll have a steak sandwich and fries. That’s usually good almost everywhere.”

The server came back with our drinks and I ordered what I wanted. Tammy decided on fried chicken.

“Does the salad bar come with her dinner?” I asked.

“No, the salad bar is extra.”

“Give her the salad bar too. She likes salad.”

Tammy’s eyes were wide as the server walked away with our order. “I ain’t never been to a salad bar, Travis. I don’t know how to do it.”

“You pick up a plate and pick out what you want and pile it on your plate. That’s it. Come on. You’re doing it.”

I stood beside Tammy and waited while she studied all the offerings at the salad bar. She piled on all kinds of stuff and looked pretty happy as we walked back to the table.

“Never knew there were so many kinds of salad,” she whispered. “Who knew that?”

I laughed and waved our server over for another beer.

“By tomorrow night, we’ll be in Texas and it won’t be cold like this.”

“Will I still have to wear my coat?”

“A jacket, but not a heavy coat. We’ll stop tomorrow. I want to get you some different clothes and a jacket.”

“What kind of clothes?”

“Clothes that will fit in with our new life.”

“You’re gonna tell me all about that tomorrow, right? You said when we get to the Texas line you would tell me about our new life.”