Mayne Attraction: In The Spotlight (32 page)

Our first flight carried us to Minneapolis
for a brief stopover to refuel and switch out a few passengers. It
was only for twenty minutes but I had no desire to leave the plane,
so I declined Gray’s offer to join him while he stretched his legs
and picked up a USA Today. My desire was to see my very well
concealed love interest. He was supposed to be on our flight but I
had not yet identified him, even though I had been carefully
searching for him. I began to wonder if perhaps he’d
reconsidered.

So it was with a mixture of relief and
pleasure that I finally saw his gorgeous face seconds after Gray
deplaned. He did not speak to me. He just caught my eye and nodded
to the back of the plane as he stopped at my row, as if allowing me
to exit. I jumped right up and walked purposefully past the first
class lavatories for the more distant facilities in coach, at the
very rear of the plane. No one was looking when I stepped inside
the unoccupied airplane bathroom, and I thought he’d follow me in,
since that obviously seemed to be the plan. But he did not. He
turned and stood, as though waiting for me to waste my precious
stolen moment with him taking a pee!

Whatever.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him inside with
me, pushing past him in the cramped space to lock the door.

“What are you doing?” he demanded in a
whispered version of yelling.

What was his plan supposed to have been?
Meeting up in the cockpit?

I felt embarrassed for a split second, but I
was so happy to see he hadn’t abandoned me that I completely forgot
the rules and acted on instinct. I stretched onto my tiptoes to
kiss him. Since I was still miles wide of the mark, I had to use my
hands to tow his glorious, yet hilariously confused face the rest
of the way down to my lips. It was brief, but very, very sweet.

I thought he might ‘yell’ at me some more,
but instead he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled up and
away to rest his chin safely on top of my head. I hugged him
tighter, since that was the only option left at this point. Then,
in one of those moments where afterwards I remind myself why it’s a
good thing I don’t speak very often, I sighed, taking in the
pleasure of the moment, and said, “I think the Mile High Club must
be over-rated. Being together like that while camping would still
have to be more comfortable, don’t you think?”

I was alluding to our ‘deal’ when he talked
me out of going on his camping trip with Ray.

Wrong answer.

He was visibly shaken and pushed back, in
the non-existent space available to do that. I was immediately
apologetic and repentant.

“I’m sorry. That was a bad joke.”

He let me reel him back in to a hug. I tried
to make atonement by correcting myself with, “On our wedding night,
in some romantic and beautiful setting. That will be the most
comfortable…and proper.”

I moved my chin in an affirmative nod,
trying to underscore my absolute conviction in those words, while
also trying to catch his eyes to see if he was buying it. He still
looked shocked to me, but he nodded back in return. He was truly
honorable. I hated myself for teasing him. He deserved better than
that.

“Ash? Promise me that you won’t let me scare
you off with one of my bad jokes, okay?”

If I did, I’d definitely deserve it.

He nodded speechlessly again.

I paused to collect my thoughts. Then I
said, “I want to tell you something. I didn’t mention this before
because I thought you’d probably try to talk me out of it…”

There was absolutely no doubt he would have
done just that.

“But, I just want you to know that I’m not
going on this trip to make you jealous, or to see what life would
be like with Gray, or because I couldn’t wait for you to take me
yourself…”

His face was ambivalent.

“It’s because I think I’ll be able to figure
out the reason for the surveillance while I’m with Gray. But don’t
worry, I’ll be very careful not to get you fired—” he interrupted
me with a real yell, fueled with angry energy.

“Ellery Mayne! You will do no such thing!
You do not have to put yourself though this, not like this—”

I suppose I should have felt hurt at his
tone with me, but instead I was jazzed. I’d never heard him speak
my whole name before. It was silly, but it stirred up that happy
but sick twist in my stomach that I usually felt just before seeing
him.

Somehow, my mind stayed focused, despite his
tone and my abstraction, and I knew exactly what to say to cut the
power as I interrupted him right back.

“Ash! I’m ready to start my life with you.
The sooner I figure this out the better…for me.”

Putting it like that pulled the plug on his
argument. His eyes turned from winter to spring in an
instant…warming me…again.

For the millionth time, I tried to reassure
him of his hold on me.

“Now, don’t forget. This isn’t any more fun
for me than it is for you. In fact, to help me through it, I’m
imagining a time when I’ll be on a trip like this…with my
husband.”

And then I gently patted my most treasured
organic possession of all time and for all time: his heart, leaving
mine behind in his custody as I slipped out and returned to my seat
in first class.

Chapter 28
–
Banff

The plan was to couch the actual survey work
in between fun things. Gray’s father, Dan Gregory, would be joining
us in a day or two, so we would be on our own to do some tourism
until then.

It felt so grown up to be travelling
internationally without a parental authority fussing over me. Of
course I had Gray holding my hand (literally) the entire way and a
squad of protectors at my back, so the sense of freedom and
maturity was mostly imaginary. I wondered what it would be like for
all of us if I were to disappear.

We flew into Calgary, collected our
rent-a-Jeep, and drove west to Banff, a trip of about two hours,
one hundred and ten minutes of which I slept through, because
invariably, extended time in the car puts me out like a
narcotic.

Our first destination was The Fairmont Banff
Springs, the very finest hotel in the city. It looked like an old
world castle nestled at the edge of a stately pine forest with a
lofty snow capped mountain as a backdrop. I was intimidated and
immediately felt self-conscious about my choice of clothes. I
probably wouldn’t have gone quite so casual if I’d known what to
expect here. Seeing the people come and go in the lobby was like
watching a parade of beautiful and rich tourists, where each one
was more lovely and wealthy than the next. Gray melded seamlessly
with this scene, of course, but I felt like I stood out in
erroneous contrast.

He must have anticipated something like that
from me because after arranging for the Bell service to transport
our luggage to our rooms, he guided me back out to the car and down
the street to the shopping district and into a specialty clothing
store. I recognized the ‘Roots’ logo from the winter Olympics a few
years back.

Oh good. Champion clothes—very
appropriate.

“We have an expense account to use, and part
of that is for proper apparel while we conduct the survey. This is
something we need to take care of, so let’s get it out of the way
now, and then we’ll be able to focus on having fun.”

He’d caught my mood and was smoothly trying
to corral my insecurities, which were always on the verge of a
stampede in his presence.

The store’s manager, Sherri, reacted to him
in exactly the manner you would expect any female might to an
unbelievably handsome customer with a bottomless wallet,
enthusiastically providing her services as my personal shopper. I
did not hear what the bottom line was on the apparel allowance. I
figured it was probably imaginary anyway.

There was no telling what he said I needed
(maybe one of everything) but she brought out more clothes than I
had in my closet at home for me to try on. Because the store’s
focus was on the rugged and rustic side of fashion, I felt
confident that I’d be the most expensively dressed hiker ever to
hit the trail. Now I had a new reason to be embarrassed. I just
couldn’t seem to win the battle of the self-abused self-esteem. But
the upside was that I would look good trying.

Though I had been very skeptical when she
handed it in to me, one of the outfits I tried on was, I had to
admit, adorable, once it was on. I said as much to myself, and to
my chagrin, Gray had been standing closer than I thought and must
have overheard me. I figured that out when the sales lady very
firmly insisted that I come out and let her see how it fit. They
were both smiling encouragingly at me as I stepped out to be
reviewed. I just couldn’t imagine being less comfortable. Even a
chat with a psychologist about my feelings seemed preferable to
this.

“Well, that looks very nice. Why don’t you
just wear that out of the store? Can we get some scissors for the
tags?” Gray inquired.

Through foot-dragging and passive aggressive
attempts at uncooperativeness, I was able to limit the actual
number of runway walks to about four or five outfits, but we came
away with six heavy bags full of clothes. He probably told her to
just pick out what she thought would look good on me, in fact I was
certain that’s what he had done, because the clothes I actually
tried on could have fit in one bag.

What my mom couldn’t get me to do after
months of failed attempts, Gray had accomplished in about
thirty-five minutes, on his first try. And as embarrassed and
self-conscious as I was, at least I felt more like I looked like I
fit in at our hotel. And the whole episode seemed to please Gray
very much, so I guess it could have been worse.

More discomfort was on the agenda, it
seemed, as we drove right past the hotel. Gray saw my look and
quickly explained.

“There’s a place I want you to see while
it’s still sunny. It’s particularly beautiful in the late
afternoon. The weather is unpredictable around here, so it might be
now or never. We don’t have to stay long…I know you’re tired. Will
you humor me, though?”

How could I say no that that? I just
shrugged and smiled, unconvincingly, I was sure.

We pulled into a mostly deserted, tree-lined
parking area that opened to a fairly wide turn in a riverbed.
‘Mostly deserted’ meant only two or three cars in the lot and a
handful of people—a couple with two small children, and a lady
jogging with her dog. There was a thick layer of medium to large
rocks, some ranging up to boulder size, lining the shore. As we
made our way across the lot and around the paved path, I could hear
the sound of a waterfall, the unmistakable aquatic thundering noise
you can hear with your ears and feel with your feet and in your
chest. Gray scooped up my hand and I just went with it, too tired
to resist or scheme my way out of it, and too interested in
discovering the source of the sound to do any mental wrangling.

“This is Bow Falls. Isn’t it beautiful?” he
asked.

It was exactly that. The water tumbled down
and over large boulders in a straight edge across the entire river,
bowing slightly as it raced toward lower ground. It reminded me of
Niagara Falls, especially the jumbled chaotic look of the big rocks
at the bottom, with misting white froth—just not as tall, and no
annoying site-seeing boats in the way. I could understand now what
he meant about the afternoon sun. As I looked past the falls,
upstream through a valley into the heart of the wilderness, the
long rays of sun and the deep afternoon shadows added an ethereal
quality to the slopes and peaks that stretched out for an eternity
beyond. It evoked Fanghorn Forest, from Lord of the Rings, and I
began to hear melancholy sounding Middle Earth theme music in my
mind.

We sat on the ledge where the concrete of
the path met up with the big rocks of the shoreline. I considered
the idea of hiking in the middle of that trackless wilderness, and
living for a time inside its borders. It was deeply appealing but
at the same time intimidating, frightening even. It was something I
could never do alone and it was one of the reasons I was here with
Gray now.

I was lost in my thoughts when he pulled me
back to reality while at the same time he pulled me up from the
ledge, my hand still captive inside his own. I knew I should resist
it, but maybe because I was tired and worn down my mind played
tricks on me and I imagined how I would feel about this moment with
this man if there were no other. Was there another? If I needed
proof from friends or relatives I couldn’t get it. Was he a figment
of my imagination, tiding me over until this dream had come true?
There was a digital love letter on a jump drive and an amazing
locket he’d given me, but I didn’t have them at the moment. Had I
dreamed them up as well?

I looked around for Ash, trying to set
myself straight. It was completely empty now—no people and no
cars…anywhere.

“You should take a nap when we get back,”
Gray observed, and he laughed softly at me.

I guessed that I must look as tired as I
felt.

“I can carry you back to the car, if you’d
like.”

He said this so seriously that I couldn’t
tell if he was joking or not. That might be a good way to smoke Ash
out of hiding though. Yes, he was real all right. And he was here
now, watching from somewhere close by; my senses were confirming
it.

I made it back to Gray’s car under my own
power and we returned to the hotel. He handed me my key card after
he opened the door for me, stepping inside to drop off the entire
size four short inventory of the Roots apparel store.

“We’ve got dinner reservations at eight, so
that gives you about an hour and a half. Can you be ready by about
five till?” he asked.

I will never be ready for this.