<><><><>
Dinner that night was another buffet with live music. By the time they got back to the hotel, everyone was exhausted. Alex and Lynn took another walk around the plaza. Their kisses seemed to be sweeter each time, and they both found it more difficult to say good-night.
Saturday morning, she finished her Coca tea and the rest of a sweet roll,
then went with the group back to the lobby, where their luggage was being carried out to the bus for their trip to the Sacred Valley of the Inca this afternoon.
“Does the Sacred Valley look like Cusco?” she asked Alex.
“It’s just as beautiful as Cusco, but in a different way. The Valley is more spread out, and since it’s at a lower altitude, more plants grow there. And there’s plenty of sunshine. I have a feeling you will love it as much as you love Cusco.”
“I know I will.”
When Sharon got up from the table, she leaned down and whispered, “He doesn’t know what to think this morning about your mood. He needs to know. I’ll tell him.”
Before Lynn could object, Sharon motioned to Alex and pulled him off to the side after leaving the restaurant.
She told him about the post from Lynn’s father. “She’s upset this morning—but not with you. I wanted you to know. She’s going to need support from everyone today. Especially from you.”
“Thank you.
I hope she will get good news today.”
Sharon squeezed his arm. “Thanks.”
They stopped several times on the way, traveling through gorgeous countryside that reminded Lynn a little of Virginia. That afternoon, they checked into the Casa Andina Sacred Valley, and it was everything Alex had said it would be. The rooms were in several rows behind the main building, on the side of the mountain, one tier above the other, with winding walkways and staircases leading to each group of rooms. Between the rows, flowers, trees, and some plants that Lynn had never seen before had been arranged artistically in curving beds. Most delightful and surprising were the hummingbirds that buzzed and hovered all through the gardens, sampling flowers of every imaginable color. Some of the hummers were enormous, compared to hummingbirds in the US. And several of them were royal blue and appeared to be iridescent!
“It’s like a fairy tale,”
Dorothy said softly. “Tony will want to do a dozen paintings from the photos I’ll take here.”
Barb already had her camera out, trying to capture one of the hummingbirds, but they were too quick for the shutter and always zipped away before she could take the picture.
Vicki pulled out her camera. “Let me try. I’ll share.” She waited for the bird to come back, then pressed the button. The camera took at least half a dozen photos, so rapidly they couldn’t count the times the camera clicked. “One of them will be good, I promise. And I’ll be taking a lot more!”
By the time
they reached their rooms on the top level, Lynn was struggling to breathe. Sheila stopped to catch her breath, too. “Did anyone count how many steps we’ve climbed since the lobby?”
BJ leaned against one of the railings.
“Had to be at least a thousand. Okay, maybe a hundred. And fifty.”
The bellboys who were carrying their luggage to their rooms
jogged up the steps as though there were only a dozen.
Lynn shook her head.
“How can they do that?”
Alex offered her his arm to help her up the last group of steps.
“They live here. Cusco is even higher. The Valley ranges from 7,000 to 10,000 feet in altitude.”
Lynn shook her head.
“Only 10,000?”
“Don’t worry, though.
Machu Picchu sits at about 8,000 feet.”
Lynn heard several groans to go with her own.
When they finally reached their rooms, they turned and gazed across the roof of the main building of the hotel and beyond. It seemed like a computer graphic image from a movie. How could such a beautiful place be real?
Once they were inside
their rooms, no one came out for a good while. Each room had a balcony on the back. That was the first place Lynn went. She saw houses off to the right and children playing outside. When the children saw her outside, they came running, laughing and calling, “
Turistas! Dulces! Dinero! Por favor
!”
Sharon followed her outside.
“Don’t do it. If you give them anything, we’ll never get any sleep!”
Lynn knew she was right.
Their faces, though, were so sweet and happy. They laughed and played as though they didn’t have a care in the world. She envied them.
Chapter 13
Dinner in the hotel restaurant proved to be as delicious as all the Peruvian food they’d enjoyed on this trip.
Lynn had encouraged Alex to spend time with the other ladies, and he’d agreed that was a good idea. Once again, he ordered
ceviche
. She guessed he’d never get tired of it, even if he ate a plate full every day.
Walking down all those steps had been easy.
Now, they were faced with climbing them again. The sun had gone behind the mountain, so dusk had sent most of the hummingbirds off to roost for the night. Once again, without the sun, the temperature fell sharply. She could hear Alex laughing in the midst of their group. She loved the way he laughed, free and happy, without a care in the world, like the children on the mountain. Surely, though, he had daily problems, just like the rest of them.
That thought led to one that wasn’t as carefree as his laughter.
What did she really know about him after only a week? He’d never told her anything about his parents, whether he had siblings, nieces and nephews, close friends. She knew he’d had to have had several girlfriends in the past. Had he ever gotten close to marrying one of them? Or, was he divorced? She had to admit that she knew almost nothing about his personal life here in Peru. How did he come to be a guide? Had he gone to school to learn all he knew about his country? Was there such a thing as a degree or license to be a tour guide?
How could she even consider staying in Peru with Alex when she knew virtually nothing about him?
Yet, she felt she’d known him forever in some ways. It was like meeting someone she instantly liked, for no apparent reason. She liked Alex. She liked the way he smiled, and the way his whole face smiled. That said a lot about him, didn’t it? His hair was shiny and full, and he was physically healthy, without being overly muscular, which meant he didn’t lift weights or spend hours trying to impress women with his body. One of his tours was the Inca Trail, which took four days and involved hours and hours of hiking on rough ground. Obviously, he also got plenty of exercise climbing thousands upon thousands of steps!
During the week they’d been here, Lynn felt stronger than she’d felt in ages, thanks to all the walking and climbing they’d done.
When they’d first arrived, climbing steps at sea level in Lima had winded her by the end of the day. Now, they were climbing a lot more steps every day, at altitude, and most of them were uneven, tall stone steps that would’ve exhausted her at home.
Virginia
had been home for more than a decade after she graduated from high school. During that time, she’d visited her parents in California, then in Santa Fe, twice a year. Virginia had truly become home. So how could she consider leaving home and moving to a different country?
She remembered something her father had told her when they’d moved to Santa Fe
. She’d questioned the move…
“But you’ve been in northern California all your married life! Why are you suddenly moving to New Mexico? The climate there is completely different—dry and arid compared to where you live now. In California, you’re surrounded by forests!”
“There’s a wonderful forest near Santa Fe.
If we miss the trees, we can escape the desert, be back in the forest on the mountain, and be home again the same day.”
“It’s just hard for me to think about you and Mom leaving your home.”
“Home is where Mom and I are. It doesn’t matter where, as long as we’re together…”
<><><><>
A knock at the door. Sharon answered. “Alex! We had an incredible time today! Come in!”
“Thank you.”
He stepped into the room glancing around, looking for Lynn, then removed his hat. Lynn sat on her bed, leaning back against several pillows, reading the guide book on Machu Picchu.
Sharon motioned him to a chair next to a round table near the doors to the balcony.
“I’m constantly amazed that you remember so much about the places we’ve toured. You must have studied for years to learn it all!”
“I learned it in college
. I studied three years, then got my license in Tourism.”
One question answered.
He glanced at Lynn. “I came to see…if you might…” He gave Sharon an embarrassed smile and twirled his hat in his hands, obviously nervous.
“Of course she’d like to take a walk!
I was just about to get ready for bed. I’m reading a book by a man who toured Machu Picchu. I want to be ready when we get there! I’m going to have a thousand questions!”
Lynn gave Sharon a grateful smile.
“I’m sure he’ll be able to answer them all. I’ll get my coat. I’ll bet it’s getting colder by the minute out there.”
“You won’t need it long.”
The hint of a blush colored his cheeks.
Lynn put her coat on then preceded him to the door.
“I have my key.”
“Take your time!”
Sharon closed the door after they’d gone out on the walkway.
Lights glittered below in the main building of the hotel and beyond, in the area across the highway.
“It’s so beautiful here. So peaceful, now that the children behind the hotel have gone inside.”
“They can be really noisy when they see
turistas
on the balconies. The next time you stay here, you should request a room on one of the lower levels.”
“The next time?”
“Well, if you come back to the Sacred Valley on another tour…” He offered her his arm so they could walk.
“If I come back, you’ll be my guide, won’t you?”
“Yes, always.”
She leaned against him.
“Where are we going?”
“To my room.”
“Alex…” She stopped and waited for him to explain.
“I think we need to talk about what has happened, what
is still happening between us. I don’t want to do that with other people around. I sense that you have many questions about me.”
“
I do. All right, let’s go to your room. I know you have questions, too.”
“
A few.” He hurried their pace then reached in his pocket for a key. His room wasn’t that far from Lynn’s. He opened the door and allowed her to go inside first.
The room was similar, but not identical to
hers. He’d put everything into the closet, apparently, since there were no clothes or other personal items in sight. He hung the strap of his hat over the corner of the chair by the balcony door.
“I’m sorry there’s only one chair.”
“We don’t need it.” She pulled the pillows from under the bedspread to lean back against, sat on the edge of the bed, then took off her shoes and pulled her knees up, then turned to face the other side of the bed.
He immediately understood what she wanted him to do
. He took off his shoes, pulled out the other pillows, then sat on the other side of the bed, mirroring her position. “I didn’t know… I wasn’t sure…”
“There’s a lot we don’t know about each other
. Things I’ve wondered about, that I need to know. Tell me about your family and your childhood.”
His face brightened and he sighed, relaxing into the subject with obvious comfort.
“My parents were born in Peru. I have three brothers and two sisters. Three of them still live in Cusco. The other two live in Lima. One is a bookkeeper for a big company. She was always good with numbers. The other owns a clothing store. My father died four years ago. We still miss him every day. My mother lives in the house where we grew up, very near my house in Cusco. I bought the house after I became a guide. Many times I’d get home late, and my mother would always wake up and want to cook something for me. I felt it best that I live on my own, so I wouldn’t be a burden to her.”
While he spoke, Lynn realized that everything she’d assumed about him was true.
He’d been raised in a loving family, with siblings who took care of each other, just as their parents had taken care of them. Education was considered important in their family. His mother had been pleased when he’d chosen to study the history of their country so he could share his love of Peru, and especially of Cusco, with others. She’d protested when he’d moved to his own house, and insisted he come home whenever he had a break between tours.
“How many times have you hiked the Inca Trail?”
“More than 400.”
“How many times have you been to Machu Picchu?”
“Many more than that.”
They talked back and forth for an hour about the tours he loved best, how
he found something new to see on each tour, and how each group of
turistas
brought a different view of his country—and theirs. Lynn also mentioned her relationship with Bill and they talked about why it hadn’t worked between them.
“I needed more in my life!
Bill was content to watch football and fishing instead of actually going to the games or catching fish from a boat!”
Alex told her, “I was in love once.
We were engaged to be married, but it didn’t work out.”
“I’m sorry.”
“She said she wanted to leave Peru and live in the United States. A company had supposedly offered her a job, and she told me she couldn’t turn it down. It was the chance of a lifetime, she said. So, I had to let her go. But, in the end, she didn’t leave Cusco. She married a friend of mine.”
He looked away suddenly, and she saw
distress in his eyes. She reached for him and pulled him toward her. He wasted no time kissing her. Their embrace felt wonderful and became perfect as they moved closer together.
“I know you could never leave
the country you love so much,” she whispered.
“It is my home.
Being a guide is what I was meant to do in this life.”
“So you could never consider living anywhere else.
I understand.”
His answer was a kiss that went on and on, his hands roaming over her arms and back while she caressed his face, his neck, and ran her fingers up through his thick, curly hair.
Lynn felt his tears and her own on her cheeks.
“That’s why we needed to talk,
Querida.
It hurts me to think that you might leave Peru in only a few days and I might never see you, or hold you again. Even when I thought I was going to be married and she left me, it wasn’t anything like this. I’m so afraid I’m going to lose you.”
Lynn wished she could tell him he had nothing to fear, that she’d already decided to stay in Cusco, to find out if they truly were meant to be together.
But with her mother missing, how could she be sure of what lay ahead? She wanted to stay, but that decision lay beyond her reach. “Alex, I need to tell you why I can’t decide right now.”
He kiss
ed the tears on her cheeks, then kissed her lips gently, lightly, with extreme care, as though he were kissing a rare gem.
“My mother has disappeared.”
His eyes widened. “Disappeared? What happened to her?”
“My father has no idea.
She left in her car, and now he’s looking for her. A few weeks ago, she went out to lunch, but then couldn’t find her way home. She ended up in another city! So, if she’s driving, there’s no telling which direction she went, where she’d intended to go, or where she ended up.”
“I’m so sorry.
I never would’ve—”
“It’s all right.
You didn’t know. When my father finds her—and he will find her—I could have some hard decisions to make. It will depend on what the doctor finds out about why she’s behaving so oddly. But while I’m here in Peru—with you—my only decision is to tell you the truth, to keep asking questions—and answering any questions you have—so when the time comes, we can decide what’s best—for both of us.”
He pulled her against him again.
“
Te amo, Querida.
I love you.”
“I know,” she said. “I can tell. There are many things I love about you, too.”
He kissed her again,
then whispered, “I hoped you would want to stay here with me, tonight. That we could be closer, so we can tell if we’re meant to be together. But now I think that would not be the best thing for us to do. Not while your mother is in danger and you are so worried about her.”
Lynn tried not to think about her mother being in danger.
She was just going somewhere and hadn’t told her father or anyone else where she was going. But Alex was right. Tonight was not the right time. She loved him for understanding.
“When we are together for the first time, I don’t want you to think about anything except being with me,
Querida.
”
Lynn kissed him again.
“By tomorrow, I’m hoping I’ll know where my mother has gone. She’s always been a strong-willed woman, and this may simply be one of those times when she decided to go somewhere and didn’t tell Dad about it. He calls them her ‘surprises.’ But somehow I don’t think that’s what’s happened this time. I have to know, though, before I can make any decisions about my own life. Thank you for understanding.”