Through The Grapevine: A BWWM Romance by Sherie Keys Read Free Book Online

back up to face the old woman and he nodded seriously. "Yes ma'am, that's right. We're married."
     
    She eyed them suspiciously for a few long moments, and then looked down her nose at them. "What're you doing out this late on the road?"
     
    Shannon answered again. "Oh, well my sister and her husband are baptizing my nephew the day after tomorrow and we were traveling to go be a part of that. We got stuck in the snowstorm, though; it's so bad outside. We just need a place to stay for the night so we can rest up and get back on the road in the morning. This looked like such a nice safe place that we thought we'd like to stop here."
     
    "We only have one room left and it ain't that big," she warned them.
     
    Shannon shrugged. "That's alright, we'll be okay with whatever you have available. We aren't choosey."
     
    The old woman grunted and considered them for a moment, and then nodded and sighed. "Alright. Sign in here. Pay it in cash."
     
    They completed their transaction with her and she handed them the key with a look of suspicion on her face.
     
    "What time is check out, ma'am?" Colby asked.
     
    "You need to be out by ten. We offer coffee here in the lobby, for a dollar a cup, or you can get coffee and donuts at the gas station next door,” she said, still looking down her nose at them.
     
    "Thank you so much, ma'am. You have a good night. Keep warm!" Shannon said with a wide smile and then practically pulled Colby out into the freezing night air. They grabbed their bags in silence and didn't speak until the door of their room was shut. They turned to see that there was one bed in the room and it was only a single sized bed.
     
    Colby looked at it in surprise. "Why did you tell her we were married? And what was all that about your sister and a baptism?"
     
    Shannon shrugged her shoulders. "We're in the middle of nowhere in Utah, Colby, this is an extremely conservative state. Did you hear the first thing she said to us? 'This ain't that kind of establishment'. That's what she said. She thought I was a hooker and you were bringing me here for... the night.
     
    She probably thought that because I'm black, but no matter why she thought it, I had to change her mind. She would never have believed that we are just friends who need a place to sleep for the night. When she believed we were married, that made everything alright in her mind. Well... not everything, I think, but that's beside the point.
     
    I added the part about the baptism because she was suspicious about why were out so late and it's obvious that she only wants good people here, so I told her that so she would think we are good people."
     
    He cocked his head at her. "We are good people."
     
    Shannon just shook her head at him. "We are a mixed race couple showing up in the middle of the night looking for a room. That was enough to make her worried about what kind of people we are. Don't sweat it. We are nice people and now she believes that, and I'm glad she believes it, because now we have a place to stay."
     
    Colby looked at the bed. "That's not a very big bed." .
     
    Shannon looked down at the bed and shook her head. "Well, we'll just have to share it and make it work. I promise not to steal the covers from you."
     
    There was a tiny bathroom on the other side of the tiny room, and after taking a peek in it, Colby looked at Shannon and said, "You can use the restroom first if you want to."
     
    She agreed and spent just a few minutes in the close confines of the room, dressing herself in her pajamas and brushing her teeth, then she relinquished it to him and she walked around the room looking for a heater. There wasn't one, and it was freezing cold. Giving up, she headed for the bed and crawled beneath the covers, exhausted from their long day.
     
    A few minutes later, Colby came out of the bathroom and stood next to the bed, looking down at her.
     
    "Are you sure about this?" he asked with uncertainty.
     
    She looked up at him in all