Amy would have loved to grab a few brochures to take home for Katie, but that would just make her want to go somewhere, and that wasn’t possible with school and the store.
Maybe by next year Amy would be making enough to hire someone at least part-time so they could take a real vacation.
She felt a twinge. Though she’d left Katie in good hands at her friend Lynne’s house, she missed her daughter. And then another twinge, this time from guilt. Amy was enjoying the freedom of not having to worry about her for a few hours.
A brochure on the right side caught her eye. The Grand Canyon. Her mom had always promised she’d take her to see it, but hadn’t. Amy had never pushed, and once her mom got sick, she hadn’t wanted to go without her. Amy swallowed now and started to slide the brochure into her back pocket.
“What’s that?” Jace said from behind her.
She jumped and dropped the brochure to the floor. They both bent to pick it up, but he was faster. He peered at it, then lifted his gaze to her.
“Hey, cool. I’ve never been there. Is it as great as it looks here?”
She was silent, not wanting to admit that she’d lived in this state all her life and hadn’t ever seen its greatest attraction. “Um, I don’t know.”
Jace straightened. “You haven’t been there?”
“No, I haven’t.” Instead of explaining, she headed back to the bike and pulled her helmet off the seat. Jace followed more slowly. He’d unfolded the brochure and was studying a map on the inside.
“We could do this. Look.” He held up the map for her to see.
“No, we can’t.”
“Why not?”
He seemed genuinely surprised and she supposed that all her planning and need for predictability was strange to him, as strange as his total freedom was to her.
“Look, Jace.” She hugged the helmet, needing something to hold on to. “I really appreciate all you’re doing and what you’ve done on the kitchen. Despite what you think, I do accept help.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she put her fingers over his lips, and immediately regretted it.
All the way here, she’d been careful to keep physical contact with him to a minimum, not an easy task while sitting behind him on a motorcycle. But she’d enjoyed this afternoon, and had begun to trust him. Such a casual gesture negated all her caution.
Their eyes met and she saw the smile lines form beside his eyes. His skin slid against hers, reminding her she still had her fingers over his lips. She quickly pulled her hand back.
When he didn’t say anything, she continued. “Besides, you can’t keep paying for everything. I’m not destitute. And I have responsibilities. My store. My daughter. I can’t just take off like you do. I appreciate the offer, though.”
She stepped back and started to put on the helmet. They’d accomplished what they’d come for and now it was time to head home.
“But we
can
do it,” Jace stated.
“What?”
“Go see it.”
“I just said—”
“I listened to you. My turn.” He put his finger on
her
lips, much as she had, but he seemed more aware of his touch. He slid his hand away much more slowly, leaving her silenced. “Look, it’s only two hundred miles from here. We could drive up in just a couple hours.”
Amy stared at him. He was kidding, right?
“Look at this map. We go up here, get a room, then after we look around tomorrow, cut across here to get back home.”
Amy watched the finger that had touched her lips glide over the paper, and could envision them riding over those roads. The temptation was huge.
She was being a bad mother again, wasn’t she? By even considering this, she was doing the one thing she’d always sworn she wouldn’t. Putting a frivolous whim before Katie’s needs wasn’t acceptable. It was something her mother would have done.
“No, I can’t.” Amy strapped on the helmet. If Jace talked to her, she’d still hear him, just muffled. That would make it easier to dismiss him.
The tapping sound on the helmet made her turn around. Jace reached out and unbuckled it. “I know you can hear me, but take it off...please?”
She reluctantly did so. “Yes?”
“Katie is staying over with Lisa tonight, anyway. I’m sure she’d be thrilled to spend the day, too. Lynne’s always offering and you turn her down.”
“How do you know that?”
He chuckled. “What do you think your daughter talks to me about?” He leaned in close. “I know all your secrets,” he said in a stage whisper.
Amy’s heart lurched, until she realized he’d only know what Katie knew.
“Come on,” he urged. “When was the last time you took time off, just for you?”
She looked away. Probably never. She shrugged, realizing she must look just like Katie as she did it. Great.
“We are doing this,” Jace said, and pulled out his cell phone. “What’s Lynne’s number?”
If Amy refused to give it to him, wouldn’t he be forced to take her home? He looked determined enough to do whatever he wanted despite her wishes. Once she was on the back of the bike, she’d be at his mercy.
Oh, for heaven’s sake. “I’m being paranoid, aren’t I?”
He laughed out loud and she couldn’t help but join him.
“I don’t have it memorized.” She dug her own phone out of her bag. If anyone was calling Lynne, she would.
Her neighbor picked up on the third ring. Amy could hear the girls giggling in the background. “Hi, Lynne! How are the girls?”
“Having way too much fun.” Her smile sounded in her voice. “Thanks for letting her stay. Lisa’s thrilled.”
“Uh, yeah. I was wondering if it would be a problem if Katie stayed a little longer.”
There was a brief moment of silence before Lynne answered, “That’s no problem at all. It actually works better. Beau wanted to take us over to the show in Gilcrest. This way Katie can come with us and we don’t have to worry about time. Everything okay there?”
Jace busied himself checking the bike, but Amy knew he was listening. “Yeah. Actually, we were considering taking a quick side trip. Up to the Grand Canyon. Just until tomorrow afternoon.”
“That’s a great idea.” There went Amy’s excuse of no sitter for her daughter.
“Tell Katie we’ll call her tonight,” she finished.
“And tell her I’m granting her one wish,” Jace said in the background, loudly enough for Lynne to hear. Amy heard her friend’s laughter just before she disconnected the call.
“What wish?” Amy poked Jace’s shoulder once she’d put her phone away.
He grinned at her. “The longer visit with Lisa,” he answered.
She should be more upset than she was with him, shouldn’t she? He was taking over again. But the fact that he’d thought of something fun for her, and for Katie, touched her.
It was all going so smoothly. Almost as if it was meant to be. Amy had to roll her eyes. She must be losing her mind.
Jace grabbed the helmet and settled it back on her head, buckling the chin strap. He tweaked her nose and said, “This is gonna be fun.”
Amy couldn’t resist his mood. He straddled the bike and looked over his shoulder once he was settled, waiting for her to climb on.
She hesitated. Oh, God, what was she doing? “I still wish you’d wear a helmet.” She tried to distract him and herself from the impending finality of her decision.
“Yes, Mom,” he teased. “Now get on, Ms. Not-the-mom-for-twenty-four-hours.” He started the engine and opened the throttle to make the engine roar.
She climbed on behind him. She wanted to do this.
* * *
A
MY
HAD
ALWAYS
WANTED
to visit the Grand Canyon. They’d talked about it in school and she was the only kid in her class who hadn’t been there. Her mother had always promised that someday they’d go. Someday. That had been her mom’s favorite phrase. Right up until the day she died.
Now Amy sat on the back of the monstrous motorcycle she’d sworn she’d never get on, too close to Jace’s body, headed to the one place she’d always dreamed of seeing. This felt different from the trip to Phoenix. She’d been able to convince herself that was business. But now it felt very different.
What was she doing? She had to be crazy to let him talk her into this.
Was that why it felt so good?
She swallowed back the laughter that bubbled up from her throat.
Speed Limit. Stop, Wrong Way. No U-Turn... Amy watched the road signs fly by as they headed up the highway. Though Jace had pulled his hair back with a tight band, the wind tugged the strands loose. Seated so close behind him, it was as if they reached out for her, caressing her. She was thankful for her helmet, or the temptation to lay her head against his back would have been too much.
The Harley ate up the road. With each mile, she was farther away from home, away from her daughter, away from the woman she knew she was supposed to be.
Something inside her awoke, a longing she’d almost lost track of. Caryn would be proud. Amy laughed. If Jace heard her, he’d probably think she was crazy. And maybe she was. But wasn’t it grand?
Jace drove easily through the Phoenix traffic. At first, she had to fight the urge to sit rigidly on the back of the bike. She came up with all kinds of scenarios in which she and Jace were splattered all over the pavement that whizzed by beneath them. But Jace had shown her before they ever left Rattlesnake Bend how to move with him and the bike.
Her mind knew it, but her body struggled to give in. Leaning against him, joining his movements, was too intimate, too foreign...too tempting.
He turned his head and called out to her. She could barely hear him over the roar of the bike and traffic, mixed with the muffling factor of the helmet.
“Relax,” he said. His hand settled on her knee, gently reminding her of what he’d taught her.
“I’m trying,” she yelled back, realizing when he winced that she’d practically screamed it in his ear. If he hadn’t laughed, she’d have probably kept worrying about that, too.
Finally, they reached the outskirts of the city. Traffic thinned, and she heard the engine rev higher as they began to climb. The road was steep, and here the desert appeared more like what she’d seen in all those old Western movies Hank loved. The saguaros were tall, even thick like a cactus forest in places. There were blooms on many of the plants and the afternoon sun painted a bright gold over everything.
She forgot to pay attention to the pavement and the traffic, and looked out at the world beyond. Instead of sitting rigidly, she relaxed against his frame. He patted her knee reassuringly and glanced back, this time with a smile.
They climbed higher into the hills, not saying a thing, not really able to. It didn’t feel uncomfortable, though, for which she was thankful.
A rest area seemed to leap out of the roadside, and Jace pointed, silently asking if she wanted a break. She nodded and he slowed to make the sharp turn.
The silence when they stopped roared in her ears. When she climbed off the bike, her legs trembled, and she realized how long they’d been riding. Amy walked around, trying to get the circulation back as she removed the helmet.
No wonder Jace didn’t wear one. Her hair was damp with sweat. The breeze ruffled through it, scattering the long curls across her face. She impatiently tried to yank them away, only to find Jace’s big hands in her way. Slowly, gently, he parted the tangled strands to clear her vision.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
“No problem. Welcome to helmet hair.” He laughed and did some walking around of his own.
A few moments later, she came out of the ladies’ room to find him standing several yards away, gazing down the steep incline they’d climbed. The Vista was awe-inspiring. Amy felt as if they stood on the edge of the world, staring down at an endless valley that held desert and city alike.
“Wow,” she said, coming up beside him.
“Yeah. Amazing, huh?” His voice was soft and the look on his face pleasantly distant. “I can’t even imagine what the canyon’s going to be like. You ready?”
She nodded. Peace settled over her. Jace took the helmet off the back of the bike, and instead of passing it to her as he had every other time, he carefully held it in one hand and gathered her hair in the other. Slowly, he lowered the helmet, settling it in place.
Their eyes met and if she hadn’t had the helmet on, she’d have leaned into him.
“Let’s go,” Jace said, breaking the spell.
Amy stepped back, putting space between them. She swallowed. Hard. The idea of getting on the back of the bike again, so close to him, made her shiver.
Rattlesnake Bend was in the southern part of Arizona, the hot, flat part of the state. She knew its heat, its personality, as well as she knew Hank or Caryn’s. Here, however, the landscape kept changing every few miles.
Once they left the interstate, they traveled along a winding two-lane highway. They’d passed the sign indicating the boundary for the park a long distance back and now moved through a thick evergreen forest. Here, rather than beating down on them, the setting sun played hide-and-seek between the tree branches, reaching out and teasing them every little bit.
She inhaled the sweet pine perfume and realized that the baked-earth scent she always associated with the desert was missing. The air slipping in and out of her lungs was cooler, almost damp. Strange.
And yet she liked it. Liked it a lot.
She hoped they’d reach the lodge soon. Curious about this man who’d become such a big part of her life, Amy realized she wanted to talk with Jace, wanted to know what he was thinking and feeling. She laughed. Yeah, like he’d share his emotions. She’d been around too many women lately. Still, she’d like to know.
“Almost there,” he called over his shoulder, and she craned her neck to read the sign he’d seen ahead of them. The lodge was only two miles away.
Suddenly, she was anxious to be there, to get off the bike and see what she’d only seen in pictures. The Grand Canyon. Her heart sped up and she had to force herself to relax.
It was only moments later when they pulled into the parking lot and Jace silenced the engine. For a moment she sat there, drinking it all in. Finally, she climbed off, knowing she had to before he could.