Chapter 4

Chapter 4 (Monday, February 9th, 1pm)

Luke didn’t think he was that far behind AJ, but she seemed to have disappeared in the parking lot. All around, he saw cars pulling in and out of parking spots, but he couldn’t make out any of the drivers – the sun glaring off the windshields was too bright. He brought his sunglasses off his head and put them on his nose. Well, that took care of the glare. But he still saw no sign of AJ.

Well, he’d just have to hope that she showed up for dinner. She just had to. He knew he wouldn’t get any sleep if she didn’t. Heck, he may not get any sleep even if she did. He had a feeling it was going to be mighty hard to keep this mystery woman from creeping unbidden into his thoughts, day or night.

She was gone, for now. Luke walked up to his rented Toyota and reached into his pocket for the keys, but he came up empty. Damn – he left them in the pocket of his Levi’s. Upstairs. With a sigh of disappointment, he turned and jogged back to the hotel, taking the stairs up to the third floor in hopes of working out some of his frustrations.

Once in his room, Luke decided instead of just driving about aimlessly like he’d intended to do, he’d go for a short hike. The jog up the stairs made him want to do something physical, and a hike was the perfect thing. He changed into a comfortable pair of hiking shorts, pulled on his socks and his all-terrain shoes he used for hiking, and he pulled on the t-shirt he had on earlier. No sense getting a clean shirt all sweaty, he thought – might as well dirty up an already-dirty shirt. He pulled his hydrapack from his luggage, and walked into the bathroom, where he found the ice bucket.

It took a few short minutes to walk down to the ice machine to fill up the ice bucket, which he quickly emptied into the water bladder of his hydrapack when he returned to his room. He got the bottle of water from his laptop bag, the bottle he bought at the airport but in the flurry of phone calls earlier, he’d forgotten to drink. He emptied the water bottle into the bladder as well, assembled the mouth piece and zipped the pocket shut. He searched his laptop bag once more, and found two granola bars, so he stuck them in the smaller outside pocket of the bag. At the last second, he saw his digital camera laying in his luggage, grabbed it and stuck in the bag, then tossed the hydrapack over his shoulder.

Hikers, hydrapack, sunglasses, room key card, wallet, and… car keys. Luke bent down and retrieved his Levi’s from the floor, where he’d left them earlier. He shook his head. He could hear his mother’s voice, telling him to pick up after himself. Okay, Mom. He reached into his pocket and got the car keys out, then folded his jeans and laid them on top of his luggage. There. Happy, Mom? He felt marginally better for having picked up after himself.

He mentally ran through his list of necessary items once again, and checked off everything. He tossed the keys up in the air, catching them. He had the feeling there was still something he was missing. He spied his cell phone plugged into the wall near the bed. That’s it – my cell phone. A few quick strides to the bed and he picked up his phone. The display read ‘fully charged.’ Perfect. Now he was ready to go.

He returned to his rental car, double-checked the map to make sure he was headed the right way, and pulled out of the parking lot. The clock on the dashboard said it was 1:15. He should be at Kokee State Park in about 45 minutes. The same drive back, plus a half hour to shower, dress, and drive to Brennecke’s to be there at seven… He did calculations in his head… That left him with about three and a half hours for hiking. That was a good amount of time – he could do the Nualolo Trail in that amount of time, so long as he didn’t stop too often.

Luke vividly remembered the first time he came to Kauai. It was for assignment, but he’d had ample time to explore the island on his own time. A guidebook – in fact, The Ultimate Guide to Kauai – had led him to Kokee State Park. The Nualolo Trail went downhill for just over 3.75 miles, losing almost 1800 feet in elevation. He was speechless at the end of the trail. The view from the Nualolo Vista was indescribable. It was on the peak of a ridge between valleys at the south end of the famed Na Pali Coast. A myriad rainbow of colors spread before him – the red dirt of the path, the turquoise of the ocean, the aqua blue of the sky, the many greens of the trees, splashes of white where he could see numerous inland waterfalls, and the spots of color where the tropical flowers grew.

It was literally otherworldly. And even though he made his living writing words on the page, he was unable to accurately capture the beauty that he saw there. He was anxious to go there again. Would it be as he remembered? He hoped so.

He needed to see it again, to try to describe it again. He’d brought his camera this time. Maybe capturing the beauty forever in print would help him to find the words he searched for. Since that first time in Kauai, he’d been back twice more, both on assignment. He wouldn’t have been able to afford it otherwise. And both trips back, he’d forgotten to take his camera on this hike. He’d hiked the Nualolo Trail within 36 hours of arriving every time he’d come to Kauai. He wasn’t about to mess with tradition.

Luke pulled into the parking lot near the trailhead of the Nualolo Trail, which was actually the main parking for the Kokee State Park. He looked around – there weren’t too many other cars in the parking lot. Good. That meant there he wouldn’t run across too many other hikers on the trail. That was one of the things he enjoyed most about hiking. It got him away from the crowds, away from people, and gave him some time to be alone with his thoughts. Or, on a day like today, to get away from his thoughts. Or more correctly, to get away from his thoughts of her.

Luke grabbed his hydrapack from the back seat, then stepped out towards the trail. He stopped at the guest station, checked for trail warnings, took a brief glance at the map, then signed in the guest book. Like he figured, not too many other people. There were just three other names above his – a couple named Pelegrino from New York, and what looked like Am…Aman? It was hard to make out the writing. Annan? Anson? Yeah, it looked like Anson Jennson. Poor guy, to be stuck with a rhyming name like that. Oh well. Just three others on the trail today. He’d have his solitude.

He glanced out over the parking lot one last time before heading down the trail. Hmm – whoever rented that Jeep could have a lot of fun driving down the different trailheads down along the canyon. He should have rented a Jeep. Everytime he came to Kauai, he’d made that observation. And he’d decide that he should rent one, but always managed to put it off ‘till next time.’ Only when ‘next time’ came, he’d rented another car again. Oh well. Maybe next time.

He was focused. With each step, it seemed he was more energized. Of course, that energy he thought he felt could just be because the whole trail in was all downhill. The 1800 foot elevation difference from the trailhead to the Nualolo Vista at the end was a lot downhill.

But just when he thought he had gotten her off his mind, he’d swear he saw something in the shadows along the trail. Every time, the same thing – AJ’s long braid, hanging down her back, her gray White Sox baseball cap on her head, walking away from him, just the way she did at the pool. Maybe he was dehydrated or something. Or maybe it was just the jet lag catching up on him. Either was a plausible explanation for why he kept thinking he was seeing AJ’s back disappearing down the trail. He passed the 3 mile marker before he knew he’d hiked in as far as he had. This mile marker was at the junction with the Anaki Hunter’s Route. After one last fairly steep descent through what they called “slots” he’d be at the Nualolo Cliff Trail junction, which connected to the Awaawapuhi Trail. He’d done that entire loop on his second visit. What he’d neglected to account for was having to walk back down the road to his car at the end of the 9.5 mile loop hike, because the trailheads were 1.5 miles apart along the Canyon Drive. So it ended up being an 11 mile hike, and he’d run out of water at the end. Good thing that 1.5 miles was downhill, on even terrain. He wouldn’t have made it back to his car if it wasn’t.

He paused at the sign which indicated the route to follow for the Nualolo Vista, and which fork to follow for the Nualolo Cliff Trail. He knew that from this point out to the vista and back was only ¾ mile, and it was a fairly level walk. His favorite part of this whole hike was this next ‘walk.’ Because in order to get out to the Nualolo Vista, you had to walk along a narrow path that saddled the ridge out to the craggy point. The path at best was just a foot wide, made of crumbly red dirt when dry, but very slippery when it got wet. The sides fell from the peak of this ridge, straight down into the valleys below.

It was absolutely breathtaking. Walking along the peak of the ridge reminded him of the aerial views in movies, where characters are crossing mountains, or desert sand dunes, or in one movie, what looked like the Great Wall of China, built along the mountain ridges. It was that kind of ‘walk,’ and he loved the inherent danger of it all.

He stepped off the ridge walk back onto a wider, safer path as he reached the craggy plateau that overlooked the Pacific Ocean as far as the eye could see. It was absolutely amazing. The view was the same, yet different each time. He leaned against the railing that the State Park system had placed there – far enough away from the edge of the cliff to be safe, yet close enough to make you feel as though you’re standing at the edge of the world.

Luke stood there, just absorbing the view from all angles as he took several long drinks of water through the mouthpiece of his hydrapack. The ice had kept the water fairly cold, for which he was thankful. Water is water, but he hated drinking warm water unless he absolutely had to.

He knew there was a great spot in the shade of some trees to stop a short while to rest, so he figured he’d go sit down and maybe have his granola bar. He wasn’t really hungry, but he knew it was important to stay nourished and keep his blood sugar steady when doing anything physically demanding. Yet when he turned in the direction of the trees, he thought he was hallucinating again. There, on the sunny side of the tree sat someone with a gray White Sox cap and a long, chestnut brown braid.

Annie, meanwhile, thought she was suffering from heat stroke. What other explanation was there? Ever since she left Stone at the pool, every guy she saw with wavy brown hair looked just like Stone. The guy at the quick mart where she’d stopped for two cold bottles of water. The ranger at the station back at the trailhead looked like Stone. And now this guy on the trail who was headed right towards her looked just like Stone. Okay, now she was dreaming too. He isn’t headed towards me, she told herself. He’s just returning to the trail, is all.

Annie bent her head and busied herself with her shoelaces, hoping that guy would just continue down the path. The crazy scary part of the path where the world drops out from under your feet if you don’t stay on the path that looked only inches wide. Why couldn’t she get Stone off her mind? This whole hike out, that was all she could think of. She was a sane and reasonable adult, so why was she suddenly infatuated with this guy?

She knew why, of course. The man had a body chiseled from marble like MichaelAngelo’s David. His body made Annie’s fingers itch. She wanted to learn every part of his body with her hands, and when she was done, she wanted to start all over and do it again. In short, he had a body made for sin. And she was feeling less angelic by the second.

It suddenly got very dark, and Annie’s lustful thoughts came to a sharp end. She looked up, only to see… she couldn’t see. She held her hand up to try to block the sun, and she squinted from beneath the bill of her cap. What she was able to make out made her heart skip a beat. Silhouetted against the bright sun, all she could see was broad shoulders, the sun shining like a halo behind wavy locks of hair… no, it couldn’t really be him.

“Every time I see you, you’ve got ‘that’ look on your face.” It WAS him. With that deep baritone voice, it could only be him. He held his hand out to her. “What are you doing here? C’mon. Up. We’re moving. If you’re taking a rest, you should try sitting on the shady side of the tree, not the sunny side.”

Annie took his hand and she let him hoist her to her feet. “What are you doing here?” she asked. She had to know if he’d followed her from the Sheraton.

Stone just smiled as he led AJ around into the shade and motioned for her to sit down.

He pulled the two granola bars from his bag and handed her one. He unwrapped his, took a bite, chewed a moment and swallowed. “I always hike the Nualolo Trail out to the Vista. Everytime I come out to Kauai, I try to make it one of the first things I do on the island.” He took another bite, motioned for her to unwrap and eat her granola bar. “I could ask you the same thing. As a matter of fact, I already did. So, what are you doing here?”

“I read about this trail in my guide book. It said the view at the end of the trail was incredible, and rewarding. 3.4 miles didn’t sound so bad when I was reading it, so I took the trail. Halfway through the hike, I pulled the copy I made of that article out and read it again. It said 3.4 miles, all right. 3.4 out to the Cliff Trail junction, then a third of a mile out to the Vista. And as I reread the article, it said we hiked out the same way we came in. For a total of 7.5 miles. Not exactly the short hike I thought it was going to be. Not that I mind, though I don’t relish the thought of hiking back UP that climb we took down!” She took a bite of her granola bar, and with half a mouthful said, “I didn’t think I’d make it back for dinner at seven.”

Luke wasn’t quite sure she said what he thought he heard. She was worried about missing dinner, with me? So she didn’t plan on standing him up at Brennecke’s. Just knowing that made his heart beat a little faster.

“I must have read the same guide book you did.” Luke finished his granola bar and packed the wrapper in his bag; he’d throw it out once he got back to the hotel. “I hiked this trail the first time six years ago. But I have to tell you. It’s more thrilling a view now than it was back then.”

AJ looked at him. “Why? What makes the view better today than it was then?”

“Because you’re here today.” he stated simply. She looked at Stone, searched his face. His eyes were sparkling, and they reflected the blue of the sky. He wore that silly, crooked grin she’d come to expect from him. It could have been a line. It probably was a line. But she didn’t want to believe it was a line, not from him.

Annie looked away, out to the distant horizon. That was just what she would have liked a boyfriend to say. That is, if she had a romantic boyfriend who spouted such sweet words. But that was just a fantasy, a dream guy. No real guy said things like that. But there was the crux of the matter – Stone was a real guy, and he’d just said those words. To her.

Luke saw the faraway look in AJ’s eyes. Dropping his voice to a mere whisper, he leaned in to her ear and said just two words. “Tell me.”

Annie let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Her eyes still gazing out at the valley in the distance, she said wistfully, “I wish I had a man like that, who would say sweet things like that to me.” A split second too late, she realized she hadn’t just thought those words, but that she’d just said them out loud. In front of Stone. Of all the… Annie bit back the shock of what she’d just admitted and blushed, crimson spots staining her cheeks.

“So. You wish you had a man like me, or you wish the man you have was more like me?” Luke asked. ‘Or do you just wish you had me?’ he asked silently He took a deep breath. He’d find out here and now if she had anyone back home waiting for her to return. Why any guy would let this woman go to Kauai alone was beyond him. If she were his, he may never leave her side. He nervously exhaled and filled his lungs again. Please, God, don’t let there be anyone back home waiting for AJ, he silently prayed.

The corners of her mouth turned up mischievously. She slowly turned her head towards him, and whispered conspirationally in his ear. “No, to both questions. But I’m always looking.”

Luke’s heart soared. Why that should thrill him so much, he didn’t exactly know. He could pretty much guess what the answer to his silent question might be, and he was fairly certain it wouldn’t be a ‘no.’ The goofy grin on his face just got bigger.

He only knew that this gorgeous creature next to him had just issued him another challenge. Two in one day! He truly hoped that smile she gave him meant she was very interested. If she’d meant to convey something else, that message was completely lost on him. The only thing he read in her expression was loud and clear: “Come and get me.”