You Had Me At Christmas: A Holiday Anthology(85)
Seeing him with Phyllis and Jeremiah only made her like him more. He’d been kind and understanding as he’d talked them through their website and had genuinely seemed interested in their lives. The older couple, too, seemed to see the same warmth and trustworthiness in him that had convinced her to get in the SUV and drive away with him in the first place. He was a solid, hardworking man, which was exactly what she wanted in her life.
Or she was sure he could be, if he stopped his wanderings. She hoped she was smart enough not to expect him to be something he wasn’t—or something he didn’t want to be.
After lunch and good-byes, her phone buzzed as she was climbing into the car. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked her messages. The ones she had been hoping for last night were there, but her heart fell as she read them. Babe’s friend had a room she could rent, and her professor thought he might be able to help her get a job at the gallery. Everything she’d hoped for in Salt Lake City was coming together, just as she was thinking of throwing it all away and becoming as free as Marc.
Only she’d never be free like Marc. She didn’t have the money for it.
“Have you ever thought about staying in Salt Lake?” she asked as they turned onto the main highway.
“What? No.” He shook his head as if to emphasize his point. “I’ve had this idea of a trip planned ever since Curtis and I decided to sell Terry. I’m not giving it up.”
She looked back at her phone, disappointment sinking her heart like the Titanic.
“Looking forward to the falls?” he asked, his voice chipper, insensitive to her hurt. But of course he wouldn’t know. He was still operating under the rules of their original agreement.
“Yeah,” she said, determined to spend the drive from the ice caves to the waterfall reminding herself of her dream and how close she was to it, Marc or no Marc.
Chapter Ten
“Are you sure you know how to get to the falls?” Selina asked, her voice as doubtful as her expression as she gazed out the windows at the sagebrush dotting the side of the road.
“These are the directions I found online. And my GPS is sending me to the same place, so this must be it.” But he really wasn’t very sure of it, either. There wasn’t much out here besides the sagebrush and large houses spaced almost a quarter mile apart.
“Have a little confidence in technology,” he said. “After all, technology failures led me to you, so even if it’s wrong, it’ll be right.” At the memory, he broke into a wide smile. “Besides, we went over that massive canyon about ten minutes ago. The falls have to be around here somewhere.”
They started to descend into the canyon. Then they passed a closed pay station for the parking lot. They were in the right place. The town’s website had said there was only a fee during the summer. They had their pick of parking spaces and there wasn’t anyone else with them as they walked out to the viewing area.
“Huh,” Selina said. “I’ve heard of Shoshone Falls, of course, but I’m not sure what I expected.”
Massive gray stones stepped down from the river before morphing into a cliff that plunged over two hundred feet. Water streamed over the cliffs, not in one big sheet, but in several smaller waterfalls spanning the breadth of the canyon. On the far side of the river was a red-roofed white building that was probably several stories tall but was dwarfed by the magnitude of the cliffs.
The view was pretty, no question about that. But it wasn’t the massive flow of water they had both expected. Less disappointing than not seeing wolves with the Wolf People and a closed submarine museum in the middle of northern Idaho, but still . . . At least Selina was with him.
Marc pulled out his favorite phone. The website for the falls was still up and he skimmed the information again. “Ah. The falls are best viewed in the late spring and early summer when the snow runoff is at its highest. We should come back.”
She made a noncommittal noise. Her face was as unreadable. Still, it wasn’t a no, and this was probably the best opportunity Marc would have to broach his idea.
“I’ve had a great time today,” he said. “And yesterday, with you at the bird sanctuary.” He gathered up all his excitement, then took a deep breath so that he didn’t bowl her over with his enthusiasm. “After Snowdance, I’ve got hotel rooms booked all around the Rocky Mountains, with a week in between each place for driving around and seeing the sights. You should come with me. I’ll bring you back to Salt Lake. Or Denver. Or Tahoe. Or whatever city you want to be in when we’re done. Come have fun with me.”
She blinked, and his heart sank.
“I’ve got plans,” she said.
“Since when?” Being lost felt like a waste of time and the e-mails he was getting back about his project were disheartening, but it was all okay with Selina next to him. The idea of her not being there was suddenly unbearable.
“Since we left the caves. Babe’s friend can rent me a room in Salt Lake. It’s near some bus lines so I can get to work once I find something, and it’s not far from the community college campus. It’s not much, but it’s everything I need right now. And my professor thought me working in the gallery was possible. His friend needs someone on a part-time basis. With a waitressing job, I could make it work. Maybe even to save up a little money. Get my independence back.”