Chapter 15
After dinner Sam sat back down with his computer continuing the search for the people he and Dean had helped over the years. Of the 30 or so names he had started with, four were know to be dead. In addition to the two he found earlier in the day, he discovered Deacon Kaylor had been killed in a prison riot and Amanda Wood, who had survived a plane crash, had died being hit by a car crossing the street.
As he had suspected, several people were still in the towns were the Winchesters had helped them. Evan Hudson and his wife were still in Greenwood, Mississippi; Michael Sorenson, or least his mother, still owned and operated a motel in Fitchburg, Wisconsin; and Cassie Robinson was now the Editor of the paper in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Sam felt like he was finally making progress.
Missouri and Amelia had come into the kitchen about 10pm. Missouri said she usually turned in pretty early and she assumed they would be staying with her. Sam and Amelia had looked at each other; neither had thought that far ahead. Missouri told them she had a spare bedroom. A silence hung in the air between the three of them. Sam finally answered the unasked question. "Amelia, you take the bed; I'm going to stay up searching for the people on my list. I'll crash, er..lay down, on the sofa when I get tired." Missouri saw the little smile that crossed both of their mouths and sensed they had a shared secret that was none of her business.
"Sam, I can't let you do that." Amelia responded. "You couldn't fit onto that sofa if we cut you in half. I'll take the sofa." She crossed her arms over her chest and planted her feet, letting Sam there was going to be no further discussion.
"Okay, that's settled." Missouri said as she turned to head to her room. "Second door on the right, when you're ready." She called as she disappeared into her room.
They stood staring at each other until Amelia pivoted and headed for the parlor. Sam watched her fluff a pillow and lay down on the sofa, which turned out to be too short for even her. She pretended like she was comfortable and closed her eyes. He may not know a lot about women, or goddesses, but he knew better than to point out the obvious to either one. He heard her make a harumph sound as he turned back to the kitchen table and his laptop.
Sam sat there trying to decide who to look for next. He decided it was time to start the hardest part of their search, finding a nursing mother among the women on the list. There were about a dozen women still on the list who were 'of child-bearing age'. Sam had only seen or talked to one, Melanie Golden, in years. How does one go about finding out if a woman has recently had a baby? He remembered Jess had been invited to a baby shower once, but both the invite and the birth announcement had been on paper. He hoped that custom had changed and started looking for electronic announcements.
Two hours later, after not finding a single electronic shower or birth announcement, it occurred to him the women had probably married and he had no idea what their last names might be now. That actually gave him the idea to look for wedding notices. He found Charlie, who had been a teenager seven years ago in Toledo and who had married her college sweetheart last year. And his friend Rebecca from St. Louis had also married in the last few years. He was reluctant to try the next two names, but he also found Sarah Blake and Lori Sorenson had also married since he had known them. Sam had known there was no possibility of his being part of either of their lives, and he was glad they had found happiness but…. He thought he had given up on the what ifs of his life years ago.
It was close to 2 in the morning and he was having a hard time focusing his eyes any more. He stood and stretched, seeing Amelia curled up and looking miserable on the sofa. 'This is ridiculous' he thought to himself. He went and gently picked her up and carried her to Missouri's guest room. He was used to sleeping in miserable places and at least Missouri's floor was clean and had nice, thick rug. As he laid Amelia down on the bed she woke and grabbed his hand as it slipped out from under her. "Stay. There's plenty of room for both of us." He was starting to shush her when she added with a sleepy smile, "I'll keep my clothes on."
He slipped his hand out of hers, threw the light blanket from the foot of the bed over her and closed the door on his way out. He had spent his whole life salting doors and windows before going to bed. He rummaged through his bag and found the salt. He headed for the back of the house, figuring he'd work his way to the front and the parlor with its thick rug. When he got to the back door he found it was already salted, so was every window he checked. He didn't remember seeing either Missouri or Amelia laying down the salt, but he had been pretty wrapped up in his searching.
He stood at the parlor door looking at the rug. He turned out the last of the lights and walked back down the hallway. He quietly opened the guest room door and lay down on the opposite side on the bed from Amelia. His weight made the bed dip and she turned and curled up around him. He was absolutely positive this wasn't going to end well, but good god he missed the feeling of woman sleeping next to him. Amelia heard his thoughts as she drifted back to sleep, and agreed with him whole heartedly.