Crimson Echo (18 page)

“Tristan?
Earth to Tristan.” He smiled, waving his hand in front of my face.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t see you sitting there.” I blinked, letting my eyes refocus. He was bathed in sunlight, looking like a creature sent straight from heaven. I could only see the outline of his hair and strong shoulders until my eyes finally adjusted on his face. “Were you saying something?”

“I was asking if you wanted the glass wiped down again or if you wanted to switch tables, it looked like those watermarks were bothering you.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” I reassured him. “What are we eating?”

“I wasn’t sure what you would like, so I got a little bit of everything.” His smile was hopeful.

            Only moments later, two waiters delivered a feast to our table. There was more food on our table than either one of us could eat. When they finished sitting down plates and bowls Kane slipped them a bill and thanked them graciously as I stared at the set up
in front of me.

          
The spread consisted of Greek Frittatas, Belgium waffles, a plate of French toast, an array of poppy seed bagels with a side of cream cheese, cinnamon apple oatmeal, honeyed ham, frozen yoghurt, pork apple sausage, honey-cured bacon, a large bowl of assorted fruit and a gallon of orange juice. The whole entire breakfast menu was delivered to our table, and Kane acted like this was a normal, everyday occurrence.

            We shared the Frittata and picked through the rest of the set up while making small
talk about the weather, my friends and family, our favorite music, his life and anything else we could think of in that moment. He seemed to be opening up to me more and more as the minutes passed.

            By the end of breakfast Kane
was completely at ease and more relaxed then I had ever seen him be. This mysterious raven-haired boy that sat in front of me was finally letting his guard down and what I found behind the wall he built to keep people out was beautiful.

“Are you enjoying your breakfast?” He asked. His brilliant blue eyes watched me, waiting patiently for an answer.

“It’s all so delicious.” I fed him a grape— something I had seen done in a movie once, but it didn’t seem as sexy when I did it.

“I’m glad you like it. I wanted this day to be perfect for you.” He fought back a smile. Then he caught my wrist and brought it to his warm lips. My heart rate increased and I could feel the pulse pounding where he kissed. “Do I make you nervous?”

“Kind of.” I sighed, trying to get a hold of myself.

“Why? Do I frighten you?” He flipped my palm over and examined it.

“Not as much as I frighten myself when I’m around you.” I whispered back.

“Now why would you say something like that?”

“Because I can’t trust myself around you.
You make me say and do things I wouldn’t normally do, it’s like I’m under your spell or something.”

He laughed like he had remembered an inside joke and then looked away.
“It is a nice little bistro, isn’t it?” He changed the subject. “I like that it’s in an unpretentious setting and the food is good too.”

“
I think it may be the best kept secret in all of Oregon. How did you ever find this place?” 

“I spend a lot of time here in Portland. You’d be surprised what you could find around here if you just take the time to look.” He continued to glance away.

“I suppose you’re right.” I agreed, hoping to regain his attention.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Kane’s eyes creased at the corners as he got up from the table. “I have to take care of something.”

            Kane made his way back into the bistro and I watched as the two older men stared at me through the window. Kane caught them off guard as he pulled them to the counter. They swayed back and forth
trying to regain their balance while Kane held them by the collars of their shirts. He was the same height as they were, but he seemed to tower over them as he spoke. I couldn’t hear a word he said, but I knew they weren’t exchanging pleasantries.

“I’m sorry about that,” Kane sighed, throwing a wad of cash down on the table. “Someone had to do something about those miscreants.”

“What do you mean? What were they doing?” I asked, flustered by the anger in his eyes.

“They were ogling you. They stared at you like you are a piece of meat! Didn’t you notice?”
He fumed.

I shook my head, but secretly I was flattered. It wasn’t everyday that the male species noticed me.

“Come on, let’s get out of here. I still have one surprise left for you today.” He smiled triumphantly.

            On the drive to the next location he kept the speedometer at a reasonable pace. I was still in the dark about where we were going, but I really didn’t care as long as I was spending the day with Kane.  The vents in the car were spewing out cold air like a giant sized industrial fan— I attributed it to the fact that he seemed to run on a warmer
frequency than most people do. I shivered once and wrapped my arms around myself to combat the chills. It only took him seconds to notice and then he turned the dial on the dashboard to a lower setting.

“Sorry,” he smiled. “I sometimes forget you’re not as hot-blooded as I am.”

“Why is it that you’re so warm anyway? I’ve often wondered about it.” I asked coolly.

“It’s just a part of who I am, I guess.” He admitted candidly. “I never really noticed it until I met you. Or maybe you’
re just colder than the average person, did you ever think about that?”

“No, no. You’re the one who is freakishly warm.” I teased, fanning him with my hands. His lips curved the slightest degree and hinted at a smile as he looked over at me.

“So I’m a freak now? I always thought I was devilishly charming.” He smiled bigger this time.

“Oh, you are.” I smiled wickedly, sarcasm filling my tone. “I bet you could charm the paint off of a wall if you wanted to.”

“I can and have.” He raised his eyebrow and smirked.

“Can you watch where you’re going, please? You’re making me nervous.”

“Does this make you nervous?” He closed his eyes and let go of the steering wheel. The car slowly drifted toward the center median and I quickly started to panic.

“Yes it does! Stop it!” I slapped his arm until his eyes opened again. By the way he was laughing he obviously thought it was hilarious.

“Sorry.” He opened his eyes and regained control of the wheel.

“How much longer?”

“Not much farther, we’re almost there.” He laughed at my impatience.

           The Skies were getting grayer the farther away from town we traveled. It wasn’t long before we were completely engulfed by a thick fog and a light smattering of rain coated the windshield. Kane flipped on the wipers and headlights in one fluid motion. I was pretty sure this wasn’t something he had planned on. It made for an eerie scene and only made my anticipation grow stronger, but, nevertheless I was with Kane.

            The Range Rover pulled onto a deserted, old
, dirt road and slowed to make its way around the trees. We veered off the path a little ways and stopped before we hit a field. The windshield wipers made a swooshing noise and it made me uneasy as the mist continued to fall all around us. Kane shut the engine off and the wiper blades made a final screech across the window. He leaned into the backseat and returned with a purple tweed raincoat.

“Here, put this on.” He instructed. “I can’t have you catching a cold or anything.”

I stared at the coat for a second wondering when he had time to pick it up.

“It’s my sister’
s. She said it was out of season.” He informed me. “Go ahead, put it on.”

“She’s getting rid of it just because it’s out of season?” I wondered aloud.

“That’s right. I saved it from a pile that was on its way to Goodwill. Put it on so we can go.” He grew impatient.

           
I obliged and slipped the jacket around my shoulders. The furry hood tickled my nose and caused me to sneeze in the process. Kane found it entertaining— though he found most things I did entertaining.

           We walked for a lengthy distance, only stopping after we made our way through a clearing. There in plain sight was a russet colored water tower. It looked like it had been here for many years. And then as if the light bulb finally went off in my head, I realized this was what we came all this way for. I wasn’t sure why it had to be this one, there surely had to be a couple in Echo
that we could visit. And then another thought hit me: He wanted me to climb this tower, but I hoped for his sake I was wrong.

“Kane, what are we doing here?
We’re not going up there are we?” I tried to keep my tone even. He wasn’t aware of my fear of heights. If I told him now would it disappoint him?

“It’ll be fun, come on.” He pulled me by the hand and wrapped his arms around me. His cheek brushed against mine. “I’ll be with you the entire time.”
When he spoke so close like this, I swore it was like baby’s breath came rolling off of his tongue. It left me dizzy and gasping for more. He had to know that he had this effect on me. I was positive he used it to his advantage.

“I’m not so sure about this,” I breathed. “You have met me, right?”

“I have met you, that’s why I know you can do this.” He laughed, resting his lips against my shoulder.

“I can’t, I’m sorry.” My knees trembled.

“I’m going to share a secret with you: this is where I come to clear my head. It’s the only place that I can go that feels like it’s all mine and I want to give it to you. When things feel like they’re getting to be too much I escape up here and just meditate for hours. Just try it, if you don’t like it you never have to come back here.” He planted tiny kisses along the length of my neck.

“You’ll be there with me?”

“I’ll be there with you every step of the way. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.” He held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

“You were a boy scout?” I asked, unsure whether he was serious or not.

“No.” He hung his head.

“The salute doesn’t really mean anything if you were never a boy scout.” I informed him.

“Then you’ll just have to take my word for it.”

           Kane’s ice blue eyes sparkled in the fading light of the sun as he stared at me intently. I was hypnotized by his gaze and couldn’t look away.
I noticed his top lip was a little too full and his jaw set in a square as the space between his eyebrows creased. He smiled and it highlighted a smattering of tiny freckles on his right cheek. I couldn’t resist when he looked at me this way.

“Are you ready?” He asked, taking my hand.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I clung to the nearest beam. The skin stretched out over my knuckles and my other hand grew clammy in Kane’s.

He smiled wryly as he eyed the death grip I had on the base of the water tower. “I
t will be fun, you’ll see.” He pulled me closer to the old, rickety ladder.

            I climbed the
rungs first and Kane followed closely behind, never letting me get too far ahead of him. I kept my eyes averted away from the ground at all costs. I knew if I looked down even once it would not be good for either one of us.

          
Kane reassured me every few seconds as we continued to climb higher and higher and the constant beating of butterflies in my stomach only got worse. The closer we got to the top of the water tower, the colder the air got. Kane explained to me the effects of air pressure at different altitudes, but I know he only did that to keep me distracted.

            As I stepped up the last rung of the ladder and onto the wooden platform I gasped. Taking in the view slowly, I was amazed at the beauty and grandness of it all. Firstly, I noticed the sprawling green terrain nearly one hundred feet below us— everything looked so tiny.
Looking closer at the landscape, I could see slight movements through the trees as animals scurried around. It gave me a sense of empowerment, I felt like I was literally on top of the world.

          
Far off in the distance, large gray birds circled the sky searching for their prey. The sun seemed closer and almost tangible at this height. I grasped the railing and leaned over the edge of the tower to get a better look at how high we were and breakfast tried to force its way back up. Fighting against the threat of purging, I pushed myself back against the tower and tried to control my breathing as I clenched my eyes tightly together.

“You okay?” Kane asked. His warm hand swept across my forehead. “You’re not going to puke on me, are you?”

“I’m fine, just give me a minute. It’ll pass.” I squinted through the slits in my barely opened eyes.

“Take my hand.” Kane murmured.

            I placed my hand in his and he guided me toward the ledge of the old, brown tower. The fog rolled in and the sun completely disappeared behind a mountain of clouds. It didn’t bother Kane. The wind picked up rapidly and swayed the many sycamore trees that thickly coated the belly of the forest. Kane stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist as we looked out over the wooded area. I clung tighter to his forearms and leaned back against his chest as I began to enjoy the view.