with me?”
“Absolutely,” she agreed without hesitation.
“Thank you. Be ready at nine, dress warmly in layers, and wear good boots. Bring an extra set of clothes in case you get wet. I’ll bring all the other supplies. You’re not claustrophobic, are you?”
“Claustrophobic? What are you planning?”
He flashed a grin. “Spelunking.”
Hope gawked at him. She distinctly remembered Maggie saying not long ago that Lucca seemed to have developed an aversion to being indoors. “Caving? You want to go caving?”
“I do. I figure since chances are I’m going to be in a cold, dark place anyway, I might as well find one that’s interesting. Zach told me about a cave not far from here that is easy and safe to explore. It’s on private property —Cam Murphy’s mountain.”
“Umm … I don’t climb ropes, Lucca.”
“You won’t have to. The most difficult thing we’ll encounter is one little stint of belly crawling. I’m actually an experienced caver, Hope. It was a hobby of mine back before …” He shrugged, then added, “I know what I’m doing. You’ll be safe with me.”
“Okaaay,” she said slowly. “Sure you wouldn’t rather do a hike? I think the sun is supposed to shine tomorrow.”
“Nope, I think I’d better do the cave. Is nine okay?”
“Nine is fine.”
He leaned down and kissed her quickly. “See you tomorrow.”
Hope shut the door and leaned against it, thinking. Anniversaries were big, bad, heart-wrenching things. They returned every year, and everyone reacted to them in their own way. How would Lucca handle tomorrow? Would he be a lion with a thorn in his paw? A grizzly bear waiting to roar? As his friend, how could she best help him get through the day? Should she attempt to distract him? She had intended to seek him out the next day at lunchtime and offer a horror movie marathon beginning after school. Caving was an option that wouldn’t have occurred to her in a million years.
She’d have preferred the movie marathon. The thing about caves … you could expect bats. Bats terrified her. Too many horror flicks, she guessed.
She pushed away from the door and walked to her bedroom, where Roxy lay curled up on the bedside chair she’d adopted as her own. Hope sighed and spoke to her dog. “Well, I’m going to look on the bright side. Maybe this is just what I need. I do too much sitting this time of year, and I haven’t been getting enough exercise. A day of caving might be just what I need to kick-start my energy level.”
She called Principal Geary to arrange her day off and then phoned Christy Hartford to ask if Roxy could spend the day at her place. With preparations made, she called it an early night, went to bed, and dreamed she was a character in another old sci-fi horror film—
“If he’s wearing a monster mask, I swear I’m not going into a cave with him.”
When he answered the door, she took one look at him and forgot about her nightmare. Judging by his drawn face, his troubled eyes, and the lines of fatigue in his brow, he was dealing with one of his own. Then he gave her a relieved smile. “Hello, beautiful. Ready to go?”
“Well, that depends. Are you feeling okay?” She reached out and touched his arm. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
He covered her hand with his for a moment, silently accepting her unspoken comfort. “I didn’t sleep well last night. Not a big surprise, considering what today is, but the weird dreams I had didn’t help. Our talk about old horror movies stirred up my imagination. I had dreams about
“You’re kidding me.”
“You know the movie?”
“I dreamed about it last night, too.”
“Really? Why, Ms. Montgomery, I think we’re a match made in heaven. So, before we go, let’s make sure your gear fits okay.” He picked up a bright yellow hard hat with an attached headlamp from a table and set it on her head. “Comfortable?”
“It’s fine.”
“Good.” He handed her a backpack, asking, “Can you manage this?”
She tested its weight. Not bad at all. “Sure.”
“Great.” He picked up a backpack twice the size of hers. “Let’s hit the road, then, shall we?”
Once they were in his truck and on their way, she peeked into the pack. A flashlight. A map of the cave. Energy bars. Glow sticks. A small first-aid kit. A large, folded black plastic garbage bag and smaller plastic bags. A roll of toilet paper. Oh, man. She hadn’t even thought along those lines.
“There are water bottles in the back. Let’s not forget to get them.”
Her thoughts still on the toilet paper, she asked, “How long do you expect this exploration to take?”
“I don’t have a timetable. Do you? Is there something you need to get back for?”
“No.” She’d once managed to last a nine-hour plane trip without using the lavatory. She could avoid needing the toilet paper. “I’m all yours.”
He shot her a grin. “I like the sound of that.”
Hope settled back in her seat, a self-satisfied little smile on her face.
Twenty minutes later Lucca pulled his truck off the road and parked. “It’s a ten-minute hike from here.”
“Lead the way, Magellan.”
She studied Lucca as he donned his pack and checked his map and his compass. He looked better already, she decided. He has purpose, something to do to occupy his body and mind on this most difficult of days. She understood how much that helped, and she was glad she’d decided to spend today with him.
They headed out. The ten-minute walk took them almost twenty, but Hope dawdled. It was a gorgeous day for a hike, the air crisp and clean, perfumed with pine and alive with birdsong. Patches of snow clung to shady spots and she spied animal tracks … deer? No, bigger than deer. Elk, most likely.
Which brought up a concern. “Um, Lucca? You know … we do have bears in Colorado. And mountain lions. They like to live in caves. I’ll bet they don’t like unexpected guests.”
“Don’t worry. I have this covered. I told you I’m experienced. Besides, Zach was out here just yesterday and he said everything checked out fine.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, good.” She went for an enthusiastic smile … but missed, judging by the amusement on his face.
“Don’t worry, honey. You’ll love this. I promise. Even though I haven’t been there myself, my brother gave me a detailed description of what’s inside. You don’t need to be afraid. The worst thing that could happen is that when we get there, I fail my little personal test and can’t make myself go inside. In that case, we’ll find something else to do.” He grabbed up her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “Trust me.”
Trust him. Well, she’d already done that once, hadn’t she? She’d gotten naked with him. There’s a level of trust. “Okay.”
“Good, because we’re here.” He pointed toward a rock wall and a somewhat oval-shaped hole about waist high off the ground, some six feet wide and four feet high.
Warily, Hope eyed the opening. “You’re going in first, right?”
“Of course. Now, strap on your hard hat and knee pads, and get your flashlight. You can lean forward and look inside before you step in. You might feel more comfortable then.”
“Okay,” Hope repeated. She could do this. All she needed to do was to remember that B-movie horror monsters never lived in Colorado. “What about you? Are you okay?”
“So far, so good.”
He stepped through the opening, and she saw his flashlight flash around the walls. “No moles, humanoid or otherwise. There are bats down deep, but we’re not going that far. It’s safe for you to come in.”
“Bats. Of course. Better than bears, I guess.” Hope stepped up to the hole and studied the interior as he’d
