“Yes,” he said and added a faint nod.
She was quiet for a few moments. “I’ve noticed you on this trip. I’m not blind, John. I am attracted to you. You are charming, intelligent, and handsome, but I am engaged. I’m going to be married next Saturday.”
He wanted to tell her not to, to tell her to give them a chance to get to know each other better, to give herself time to fall in love with him, just as he had already fallen for her.
Instead, he said, “I understand. You love him, and that’s all that matters.”
“It’s not all that matters, John. I’m very fond of you and given a little time, I would probably fall in love with you, but I can’t turn my back on someone I love and I don’t think you’re a person who would want me to.”
John wasn’t so sure. Right then, he’d have given anything to have her forget Scott and love him.
He looked out over the thundering water and heard her say, “Another time, another place. It could have been us, but it ... I’m so sorry, John.”
“Don’t be sorry, Caitlin. It’s your decision to make and either way, no regrets.”
He saw a quick movement up the river. A raft bobbed into view atop a ridge of water. Someone was coming.
“We have company,” John said, pointing with his left hand.
Caitlin followed his direction as the raft crested another ridge.
She turned to him, and his eyes met hers. He knew he was lost. He’d never find anyone like her again. He’d heard it said that there was a special someone for everyone. Well, if that was so then this was his someone.
Her lips moved. “John, kiss me. I want to know what I’m passing up.”
He slowly lowered his mouth to hers and at that moment he knew, the pain in his chest wasn’t from cracked ribs.
His heart was breaking.
CHAPTER 10
Sunrise brought a change in the wind. The fog returned to its home in the sea leaving John staring out over the surf at a few fishing boats that plowed toward the deep blue. Gulls cried above them, encouraging their day’s work, wishing the fishermen plentiful catches so they would receive their share of the bounty.
He turned away from the bright morning. Caitlin still slept. John had thought about sleeping but found his mind too troubled with memories of the canyon, and paths not taken. Twelve years had passed since he’d last seen her. He had thought of her often during those years but had never tried to look for her or to find out what had happened to her. His life went in a different direction after the canyon, and although he occasionally looked in the rearview mirror, he never tried to reverse course.
He went into the bathroom and took the razor and deodorant from his overnighter. When he finished, he found Caitlin still sleeping soundly. He watched her for a moment, then scribbled her a quick note on the motel’s stationery, and left it on the telephone.
John pulled on his hat and trench coat, deactivated the alarm, and tossed it on the bed. He slipped the latch and then eased the door open. Bright sunlight burst into the room. He stepped outside and silently pulled the door closed behind him. A few people were in the parking lot, but they went about their business, and he spent only a moment examining each of them for some sign of danger.
A Waffle House shared the opposite end of the motel’s parking lot. The vehicles of early-risers clustered around it like gnus around a Serengeti water hole.
He had long since postulated a certain clientele for each of the restaurant chains. McDonald’s drew mostly from the rushing non-adventurous, Wendy’s from more sedate easy-goers, Waffle House from the early-risers and the all-nighters. This time of the morning bought the rare meeting of both groups.
He entered the little building with the scurrying cooks and waitresses and savored the smell of sizzling meat and fresh coffee. There were two vacant stools near the cash register. The nearer stool had an excellent view of the motel. John sat down on cleaned and shiny yellow plastic seat and tipped his hat back. A college-aged waitress appeared immediately.
“What’ll it be?” she held out a plastic-coated menu that deserved retirement.
He didn’t offer to take it, and she stuck it in back in her apron.
“Give me a couple of steak biscuits and two large coffees, to go.”
“You got it, Mister. Anything else?”
John shook his head.
She made a quick notation on her pad and turned away.
Single early-risers took up most of the counter; they had a code that each occupied stool must have at least one empty stool on either side of it. Until the stool supply became tight, they’d never think of sitting next to someone else. The booths were another matter; most of them were occupied by the all-nighters. Couples and threesomes, who had run the gamut of bars and parties, were now forcing down a high-protein breakfast before they returned to their coffins until another sundown.
John appraised the early-risers. These were not the health nuts you could see out jogging at sunrise every morning. Not these boys, they were more the type to suck down a kilo of cholesterol and a liter of coffee before launching their boat for a day of killing fish and swilling beer.
Shortly, his order arrived in a white paper bag. He paid the waitress and left her a decent tip. The walk back to the room was relaxing. Although the morning breeze came across the peninsula, it had a pleasant, fresh smell that belied the dense population farther inland.
He slipped the key into the slot and opened the door. He heard the shower running and saw Caitlin’s empty
