“Honestly, I don’t understand why you chose South Dakota. We could go to New York. See a Broadway show, or even Disney World would be better. What’s there?” complained Tina when her husband, Adam, insisted they would go there.
“South Dakota is amazing, honey. My parents used to take me there all the time when I was a kid. There are hotels near a forest, guided tours of caves and lots of other things,” Adam said with a smile, as he remained focused on the road.
“What’s so great about caves? We’re not going to stay inside one, are we?” he asked, almost on the verge of panic.
“No, no. I know you wouldn’t like that. But we’re going to see Mount Rushmore and other wonderful things. It’s going to be amazing. You’ll see,” he continued, more cheerful than she had ever seen him. She sighed and decided to enjoy this vacation as much as possible.
Her tour of Mount Rushmore wasn’t bad. She had more fun than expected and bought a couple of excellent souvenirs for her parents at a gift store.
“See, I knew you’d like it,” Adam said when they arrived at the hotel.
“You’re right. It was amazing. Plus, the view from this hotel is spectacular. Did you stay here with your parents when you were little?” asked Tina, looking out the window.
“No. This hotel is newer. I think it used to be an RV site, but my parents and I didn’t stay there. We just drove through and explored those woods. It was fun. I love caves,” he said. He seemed distracted.
“It’s okay, honey. I’ll take a bath,” Tina said and left.
A few hours later, she lay in bed and within minutes was sound asleep. Suddenly, an unexpected sound woke her up. She opened one eye and saw her husband at the foot of the bed, fully dressed.
He seemed to be acting stealthily, and Tina felt a shiver down her back. But she pretended to stay asleep as he turned toward her. She heard the bedroom door close and got out of bed.
“Where is he going? What’s going on?” she wondered as she imagined a thousand scenarios.
She had to follow him. Then she looked around and grabbed a T-shirt, sweater and pants to avoid freezing outside.
She clearly saw him walk out the front door of the hotel and walk into the woods.
“Is he crazy?” she wondered.
Tina walked many steps behind him, trying not to alert him to her presence. She could tell he was headed somewhere very specific, and Tina needed to know where.
After walking for almost 20 minutes, she saw Adam approaching a cave. She stopped and prepared herself for what to do next. This was the scariest moment of her life. Who goes into a cave at night? What was her husband doing?
She entered slowly, trying to be discreet, and walked until she heard voices echoing off the walls.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” a female voice said.
“I can’t believe it either. I took a risk to come,” Adam replied. “Emily, I… it’s been 15 years, but it seems like yesterday.”
“Oh, Adam,” breathed the voice, and their conversation ended.
Tina’s heart broke as the unmistakable sounds of kissing and passion echoed through the area. Still, she had to see it with her own eyes.
There was a spot of light. One of them had dropped his phone, illuminating the area. But the scene in front of her was very clear. They were kissing, and things were getting even more intense.
Tina couldn’t watch anymore. She practically ran back to the hotel. When she got to her room, she grabbed her purse and everything she could find, including her car keys.
She ran out of there, not caring about anything, and jumped into the car. It was Adam’s car, but she didn’t care.
“He was cheating on me with a woman in a cave in South Dakota! The hell with him!” she said to herself.
Quickly, she realized she didn’t know the area well, so she stopped at another hotel and got a room. The day had been exhausting, and exhaustion allowed her to fall asleep and stop feeling so much pain.
The next day, she went to a local restaurant for breakfast. She sat down at the counter.
“What can I get you?” a waitress asked. “We have coffee, orange juice, soda,” she offered.
“Do you have anything stronger?”, Tina wanted to know.
“Not at this hour,” the woman said, pointing to the clock in the place.
“Okay, some coffee then. Very strong, please,” Tina requested and rubbed her forehead.
“Bad night?” said a male voice next to her, and Tina turned to a round, friendly face smiling slightly at her.
She usually didn’t talk to strangers, even if they seemed friendly. But he was right. The night before had been the worst of her life.
“You could say that,” she replied, expressionless.
“I bet it wasn’t any worse than mine,” he commented.
Her eyebrows rose.
“Oh, really, how much will you bet?”.
“Gee, are you that confident? Let me think,” the man paused for a second. “Whoever has the worst story buys breakfast.”
“Deal,” Tina said as the waitress brought her coffee and sipped the bitter, very hot liquid.
“I’ll get started then,” the man said. “I’m Jerry, by the way. Last night was my fifth anniversary with my girlfriend. We had the best time. It was everything it could be. But she woke me up at 4 a.m. today and told me she was going with the ‘boy in the cave.'”
Tina almost spit out her coffee. “What?”
“That’s what I said. But she said she’d waited for the boy in the cave for 15 years and started packing,” Jerry continued, his eyes reflecting his feelings about that memory.
“She said it was now or never, and she couldn’t lose him again. They were going away together. I thought she was having a mental breakdown.”
“Oh, my God,” Tina whispered. “What happened next?”
“I followed her, and there was a man waiting for her in the hotel lobby. He looked…well, his smart shirt was all wrinkled, so I knew something had happened. I just stood there, watching as they walked away,” Jerry said in shock, as if reliving the scene.
“Wow,” Tina muttered.
Jerry shook his head, dispelling his memory, and smiled at Tina.
“So, is your story worse, or did I win the bet?”.
“I don’t know if it’s worse or better… It’s practically the same!” said Tina, and Jerry frowned. A few minutes later, they were both laughing at the absurdity.
They each paid for their breakfast and parted ways, but not before exchanging phone numbers. Tina went home and filed for divorce. She didn’t know much more about the passionate cave lovers and, frankly, didn’t care anymore.
Through text messages, she deepened her friendship with Jerry, who lived five hours away. Soon after, Tina applied for a job in his town and moved nearby.
A few months later, they began dating and vowed to never, ever, ever vacation near the caves.
