Journal of a Lifetime (Journals of Love) (16 page)

“Did Steve tell you about why I came?” she asked.

“Oh yeah. Steve and I share everything.” He ran his hand along her arm. “Didn’t he tell you that?”

She pulled her arm away, but not before her stomach churned in revulsion. “Knock it off.”

“Why? Don’t you like it?” He smirked. “I wonder if our grandfathers shared your grandmother as well, but kept that secret between the three of them. Wouldn’t that be scandalous?” He growled.

How could he possibly have known? She hadn’t even told Steve about that.

Her reaction surprised her, but she couldn’t help herself. “Enough”, she said as she slapped him in the face.

Suddenly Martha and Joyce were standing between her and Don.

“Don. You need to leave her alone right now!” Martha commanded. She might have been only five feet tall, but as a mother of five boys, her tone of voice was enough to get even the rowdiest cowboy in line.

Don glared at the woman, rubbing his cheek. He scowled at Lindsey one last time, then stomped away and climbed back into the bus.

Lindsey felt herself shaking. “Thank you, ladies. I don’t know what he would have done if you hadn’t been here. Did you see that look in his eyes? I really thought he was going to hurt me.”

“It’s all over now, Lindsey. We’ll stay near you for the rest of the trip and make sure he doesn’t get a chance to retaliate,” Joyce reassured her.

“There’s something wrong with him,” Lindsey said. “Even if it’s jealousy, Don’s thoughts go beyond creepy. Plus, it’s as if he’s reading my mind.”

Martha sighed and shook her head. “He’s a great manipulator. I’ve seen his type before. When he doesn’t get what he wants, he makes everyone else miserable.”

Lindsey held back the tears brimming in her eyes. “I don’t need this right now.”
How did he know about Nana?
she wondered.
Even if his grandfather told him the story, he’d have no reason to think I was related to Adele.

Lindsey had months of practice shoving down the uncomfortable feelings. She was not going to allow Don to ruin the rest of this trip for her. She vowed to tell Steve everything that night, and they would confront Don together. She took a deep breath of the fresh, clean air and walked to the bus. Martha and Joyce remained at her side.

Lindsey checked Nana’s journal to help calm herself down, and found herself laughing again at all of the references to the animals. Nana had written that she saw a grizzly, and was on the lookout for coyote, elk, deer, and moose. She also noted that there were one hundred visible glaciers between Lake Louise and Jasper.

Their last stop before lunch was the Weeping Wall. It was a beautiful rock wall standing at 6,675 feet and most famous for its ice climbing. The mountain had numerous small waterfalls that froze in winter. Her Nana had placed exclamation points after each elevation she wrote. Lindsey thought that was funny and wondered if Nana had an undiscovered fear of heights, or if she were just impressed by the wonders of nature as Lindsey was.

The wall was flowing today as the ice was slowly melting, and weeping was the best word to describe it. Lindsey was saddened by the thought of the earth crying. She wondered what it would take to make it this sad.

George’s voice boomed over the microphone. “Tangle Creek Falls flows over 500,000,000 feet of limestone steps. Tangle Creek is easy to get to, but we won’t be making a stop today. We’ll slow down long enough to take a few photos. We have a lot of ground to cover and one mountain here is seventeen miles long.

“We are passing by Burgess Shale,” he continued. “Unfortunately we don’t have time to stop on this trip, but if you ever return, this would be a good place to visit. Contained here are 515-million year-old remains of more than one-hundred twenty marine animals. Scientists have been able to learn about the eating habits of these animals from some of the remnants left in the fossils.

“Access to this site is extremely protected and only allowed by guided tour. The hike itself is strenuous, so be prepared to work hard when you visit. But again, the reward is worth it.”

George remained quiet as they continued their trip. Lindsey added to her own journal many of the sights she was seeing, making sure to include the animals, and she put a small star next to Burgess Shale as a reminder that she would like to return there one day.

They drove into downtown Jasper where the group was allowed an hour to shop. Lindsey found a beautiful antique ring in a small store, a sterling silver band with waves engraved into it, similar to the ones on her cross necklace. She purchased it and made a safe place for it in her coat pocket.

After lunch together in Jasper, the group headed back to the resort. It was an early day for them, as tomorrow they would all be heading out to the airports and back to their homes.

Lindsey took her seat in the back of the bus and tried to calm herself with deep breathing exercises. She was still a little worked up over Don, and since Steve wasn’t there to comfort her, she had a hard time letting it go.

With the steady sound of the motor and the peaceful view outside her window, she was successful at calming herself and she fell asleep.

D
ON NOTICED LINDSEY
sleeping in the back, and put a call in his cell phone to the front desk at the hotel.

“Hey Joann. It’s Don,” he whispered. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that Steve has quite an interest in our guest, Lindsey. Do you want to get rid of her as much as I do?”

“What did you have in mind?” Joann’s voice came back over the speaker. With Lindsey out of the picture, she hoped Steve’s attention would return to her.

“Pack up her room, check her out and meet me with her bags in the back lot. After I drop off the passengers, I’ll get her things and get her out of here.”

The return trip took just over two hours and when Lindsey woke, her fear and anger resurfaced when she realized it was only her and Don on the bus. He was still driving, but she was the only passenger.

“Where is everyone?” she hollered up to Don.

“At the resort,” he calmly replied.

“Where are we going?” She tried to stand up, but he was driving too fast so she stumbled back into the seat. “What are you doing?” she questioned in exasperation. “Do you really think this is a good idea?”

“Do I think this is a good idea? Do I think it’s a good idea for you to take Steve away from me?” His voice got louder with each question. “Do I think it’s a good idea for you to put his job and mine in jeopardy by beginning a relationship with him? Do I think it’s a good idea for another generation of your family to destroy mine? No. No. No! None of this is a good idea, and if it weren’t for you, none of this would be happening!” He pounded his fist on the steering wheel.

Lindsey thought he was losing his mind. How could he be so threatened by her? She didn’t understand his devotion to Steve. She thought he would be happy for him.

“Do you know how many plans Steve and I have?” His voice was echoing back toward her through the empty bus. “We’ve been saving to take over the business. We’ve talked about renovating old houses and turning them for a profit. Your presence is going to mess everything up.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Just like your grandmother’s did,” he muttered to himself.

She realized that trying to reason with him would be out of the question. She prayed for God to intervene, and to keep her alive. She clutched the cross at her neck. She kept quiet in an effort to not upset Don any further. Even though it was dark, she could tell they were headed into the city. That didn’t worry her as much as the scenarios she created in her mind of him taking her to the back woods somewhere.

Don pulled the bus into the airport. Before he took her to the terminal though, he parked and reached for the nine millimeter gun that he kept underneath his seat. Having a weapon was part of the tour guides’ safety. The men had heard many stories of guides getting robbed, and the company wasn’t taking any more chances.

Lindsey watched him coming down the aisle with the gun pointed at her. Her heart pounded in her ears, but she tried to keep her voice steady. “Is that really necessary?”

He sat down next to her. “That depends. Are you going to cooperate and do as I ask of you?”

Lindsey stared him in the eyes.
Who does he think he is trying to threaten me?

“Look. This is what’s going to happen. You’re going to take your bags, board the plane for Detroit and never look back.” He paused. “I think Steve forgot to mention to you that he and my sister have a history.” He watched the look of apprehension cross her face.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Oh it’s the truth. He finds a young, single woman on most of our tours and acts like they’re the only one he’s ever found. It makes me sick, and that’s saying a lot considering my lifestyle.”

Lindsey swallowed the tears that were forcing their way to the surface.

“Did you think you were the only one, sweetheart?” He placed his hand on her knee. “I warned you not to get too close. My sister is planning their wedding as we speak. They’ve been together for five years and she’s been extremely patient with him. Didn’t you ever wonder why he didn’t try anything more than a simple kiss or holding your hand?”

Lindsey had thought Steve was being a gentleman, but now her doubts were surfacing.

“I can see that thought did cross your mind. Julie told him that if she ever caught him with a woman again, she would make him pay. She’s not one to mess with and he knows it. Julie’s a tough woman with a lot of contacts in the city and beyond. His life would’ve been reduced to nothing if he cheated on her.”

Lindsey’s head was spinning. Surely it couldn’t be true. Steve was a good man, and Don was simply trying to get rid of her.

But some of what Don said made sense to her. Steve hadn’t tried anything physical and he had only taken her out away from the tour once, and that night was unplanned.

Could Don be telling me the truth?

He could see he was getting to her. He changed his demeanor, and held the gun more relaxed in his grip. “I warned you Lindsey. At the very beginning I tried to appeal to your good manners and upbringing by telling you Steve could get fired, but you didn’t listen. I did my best to come between the two of you so it wouldn’t progress any further for you to get hurt, but you thought I was being a pest.”

“Yes, I did,” she whispered.

He continued to badger her. “Steve and I have plans, as brothers-in-law, and my sister is deeply in love with him. So, I’m begging you . . . ” His voice softened ever so slightly, and she found herself believing the sincerity in it. “ . . . just leave and don’t look back. Don’t try to contact him and when he calls, because you know he will, just remember Julie is here with him. He’ll want to keep up the façade of a long distance relationship because that way he doesn’t have to be honest with you.”

“Couldn’t I just ask him about this?”

“You know he’d just lie to you, as he has all along. Then where would you be? Your heart would still be broken and your pride would be bruised too.”

Lindsey finally gave in. She didn’t know for sure if he was telling the truth, but what he said made sense to her. Steve hadn’t crossed a line that he couldn’t retreat from. He told her he wanted to visit her, but that could’ve been a lie too.

She fiddled with the new silver ring she bought and pushed it off her finger and onto the seat. Her intent had been to give it to Steve, but now she didn’t know what to believe.

She did know that she had to get away from Don.

She nodded her head. “Ok . . . I’ll go,” she agreed, if only to get off the bus.

“I purchased a ticket for you and it’s waiting at the counter. The flight leaves in forty minutes, so you’d better hurry.”

Lindsey grabbed her bags and left the bus without a look back. Her journey was officially over.

She fiddled with the calling card in her purse John had given her on the first day of her trip, and walked over to the row of payphones inside the airport. She dialed Steve’s number, but the phone went straight to his voice mail. She shook her head and caught herself from crying.
I really just want to go home.

Once the flight was on its way, Lindsey looked out into the darkening sky and felt her hands form into fists. The tears wouldn’t fall from her eyes. She knew her ability to trust was slim, but now she never wanted to trust anyone again.

She closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. She placed her hands over her eyes and shook her head at what an idiot she’d been to think a man like Steve was available. She had so wanted to believe in him, in true love, that she didn’t use the caution she normally would have.

The only consolation she could find in the whole situation was in knowing that she had
lived
. For the first time in months she had felt alive. She hadn’t felt the impending doom and danger that she normally carried over her like a black cloud. Steve had awakened her heart and soul, and she hoped that in the future she would be able to take that away from this experience.

She looked out the window and banged her fists onto her legs.
“Shoot!”
she whispered fiercely. Her right hand reached for the cross.
How could he fool me like that?