Free Samson and Sunset by Dorothy Annie Schritt

go change clothes and leave for a
week in Colorado. We wanted to drive as far as the Colorado state
line that night, but we made it forty miles up the road, to
Plymouth, Nebraska. Ended up getting a room at the Heritage Motel.
I was surprised to see our room had two queen beds. I guess we were
just lucky to get a room at all that time of night.
      Before the wedding, Shay’s mother had
gone shopping with me in Lincoln at a nice department store. Maggie
was a class act. She insisted I buy a black nightgown for my
honeymoon, a peignoir set. But I had different plans and
chose a beautiful white, pure silk, spaghetti-strap, floor-length
slip with a slit up the right thigh. The floor-length duster was a
matching silk lace. Oh, it was beautiful, but Maggie was
disappointed. She thought Shay deserved the best, which in her
opinion was the sexy black set. Well, I thought I knew Shay a
little better than his mother at this point—at least in the romance
department—so I went with the white. My hair at this point was
snow-white, platinum—my skin golden brown from the sun. The white
just popped.
      Before leaving on our honeymoon trip,
I had packed three candleholders, along with nine tall tapered
white candles. Each holder held three candles. We set the candles
up now and lit them. I sat one on the vanity that would be directly
behind me when I came out of the bathroom in my gown.
      I bathed, put on fresh lotions and my
new perfume Shay loved, then my white silk gown. The sleeves of the
robe tapered out wide like a triangle, falling fluidly. Shay had
called the motel office and requested soft music piped into the
room.
      I was ready to make my appearance, so
I stepped out of the bathroom. All the lights were out except the
candles. The song “Love is a Many Splendored Thing” was playing and
I raised both of my arms very slowly to about six inches above my
head with the absolute grace of a ballet dancer so my whole
silhouette was showing. I remember so clearly, Shay was sitting on
the bed with just gray silk pajama bottoms on—something I’m sure
Maggie had bought him, but he looked so sexy. I don’t think I will
ever forget Shay’s face in that moment. He looked completely
startled. As I started to walk towards him he stood up. I had
never, ever heard Shay stammer for words, but now he said:
      “I-I-I thought you were an angel. I
don’t mean you just looked like one, for a minute I thought I was
hallucinating, Callie. I looked up and I thought I saw an angel
standing in the room. You took my breath away. You’re still taking
my breath away!”
      “Well, Shay, I think this is where you
hold me in your arms and we dance to this sweet music,” I said
softly.
      Thinking back on that night, I realize
that when I was standing in front of the candles in the dark,
raising my arms slowly, the candle glow just may have given the
illusion of an angel for a second, especially since Shay was so
tired. I think maybe for a second he did think he saw an angel.
      He gently put his arms around me in
his usual way, one arm on my back, the other cradling my neck,
holding me ever so gently.
      “Would black have been sexier?” I
asked him with my head against his chest.
      He stopped dancing for a minute and
pulled his head back to look into my face.
      “Princess, you look like a real angel.
I would never have wanted to see you in black. That’s for common
lovemaking. I am so blown away by your beauty. You’re just like a
fragile china doll. I’m afraid to touch you because I’m afraid
you’ll break. How does one make love to an angel?”
      “Well, are we going to make
love?”
      “No, not just yet, I want to look at
you.”
      “Well, here, Shay, let me take the
robe off.”
      After I took off the robe, Shay just
gently held me. We weren’t even moving to the music anymore.
Eventually we made it to the bed, where Shay said, “Leave the gown
on for awhile, I want to hold you in that beautiful