Burnt (7 page)

As he said the words, he heard how irrational it sounded. If he truly wanted to be alone, he would have gone alone. He wanted Tara there, because he liked having her around. It was simple enough.

“I could help you study,” Jake mumbled, but moved away from the door.

Kevin was tempted to ask something sarcastic, but thought against it. It was already late.

“Have a good weekend, okay? I’ll see you in a few days.” He glanced around and saw Jake wasn’t even looking at him.

“Bye Jake,” he shouted.

“Goodbye,” Jake mumbled and went upstairs.

Kevin hesitated for a moment, and turned to leave. Jake would understand eventually and everything would be fine. He got into the car and headed toward Tara’s house. As he pulled in front, she was already heading out of the house. Her bag and tent were perched on the bottom step of the porch. He got out of the car and opened up his trunk to help her load up.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said.

“No worries,” she said, smiling. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she looked ready for the outdoors in her hiking boots, stretchy blue jeans and a white t-shirt under a lumberjack vest.

“Why’d you bring your tent? I brought my dad’s two-room tent, remember?” he said, confused.

“I think two tents are always better than one,” she answered, not wanting to get into their recent intimate moments. She tried to change the subject.

“Do you have the itinerary?”

He pulled it from his pocket and handed her a copy. “Yep. This is yours. I came prepared.”

She laughed. “I’m impressed.”

Tara got into the car and he shut the door behind her. When he got into the car with her, she had to say something about the itinerary she was reading.

“Um...I think you are delusional.”

He turned to her, before driving away. “About what?”

She pointed to a spot on the schedule. Kevin wasn’t surprised as he looked down at her finger. He looked up and smiled at her.

“Nope, I’m pretty sure it isn’t a mistake.”

“I don’t know how to break it to you, Kev,” she started. “I’m not rappelling down a mountain at six o’clock tonight.”

“Why?” he asked, unable to break away from her stare.

She groaned. “Does it matter? I told you over and over this wasn’t happening. I thought you understood.”

“I do, but if it’s a fear of heights thing...I can help you overcome it.”

She sighed, looking upward. “It’s not a thing. Tell it to my shaky legs.” She let out a soft laugh.

“Can I think about it?”

He nodded. “Of course. I don’t want to pressure you to do anything. Everything will be your call. I promise.”

Kevin saw her try to smile, but knew she was terrified. It wasn’t worth it if she was that scared. He would just take it in stride and they could decide later.

***

T
he tents went up shortly after they made it to their campsite in the park. Tara was excited to be in the same spot they had camped in so many times during high school. It already felt like old times. Her eyes went to him, watching him as he warmed up the pre-packaged chicken, flipping it on the grill they placed over the campfire. Some things had changed. He had matured. He would usually tease her, telling her she needed to do the cooking, but was eager to start cooking this time.

“The chicken smells wonderful,” she called out to him, drinking bottled water as she waited.

He looked up and smiled. “I hope it tastes half as good as it smells,” he said, then laughed. “We’ll have just enough time to eat and get to the mountain for our rappelling adventure.”

She rolled her eyes. She had no intention of doing anything like rappelling down a mountain. “You tell me how it goes for you,” she remarked sarcastically.

He looked up, staring at her. “I’m not doing it without you.”

She shrugged. “Then...you’re not doing it.”

“We’ll see about that,” he mumbled.

“What did you just say?” she asked, although she heard him clearly.

“I said...supper’s ready.” He put the chicken on a tin plate and handed it to her. She raised an eyebrow, but didn’t let on she had heard him. “You better eat up, before it gets cold.”

She grabbed the plate and headed to the picnic table, with Kevin following right behind her. Neither of them mentioned the itinerary during the meal. They just took in the peace and quiet of the wilderness.

“I’m glad you insisted we come here, Kevin. It’s really beautiful here,” Tara said.

Kevin nodded. “You can say that again.”

He took in the view around the camp and then looked back at her.

“We should come back here more often.”

“We’ll see how the weekend goes,” she said, taking a bite of her chicken and nodding. “This is even better than it smells.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, startling her.

She looked up and laughed.

“Nothing...it just tastes really good.”

“No...” He shook his head. “What do you mean by we’ll see how the weekend goes?”

She snickered. She didn’t know what she meant by it, other than it just seemed like the right thing to say.

“Nothing, but maybe after this weekend you’ll decide you’ve changed your mind.”

“I doubt it,” he mumbled, only this time she didn’t pretend like she didn’t hear him.

“What do you mean? We’ve changed since the last time we were here at Iron Horse,” she argued. “I’m not the pushover I used to be.”

His eyes squinted as he laughed.  She crossed her arms in front of her and stared at him.

“Why are you laughing?”

“No reason, but I didn’t know you thought you were a pushover. I definitely never saw that side of you.” He smiled.

She looked away. “The point is...we both have changed. It’s life.”

She turned to the grill, remembering how surprised she was that he volunteered to do one grilling. She couldn’t stop herself from replaying their make out session at the movie theatre. Everything reminded her of it.

“Well if we’ve changed, it’s for the better,” he replied, locking his eyes with hers.

She swallowed hard. The way he was looking at her made her think the topic had changed, and now they were talking about what she was replaying in her mind. She looked down at her plate and took another bite of her chicken. If she just let it slide, she could pretend nothing was getting to her. They ate the rest of their supper in silence and she tried to prolong the quiet and the meal as long as she could.

“Are you ready?” he asked, reaching for her plate so he could clean the dishes and put them away before they head out.

She twirled around and faced him. “I’m ready to do whatever you want to do, as long as it doesn’t have anything to do with mountains and ropes.”

“Are you really that scared?” he asked.

She thought about denying it, but finally just nodded. “There’s something about suspending myself off of a mountainside that gets me worrying it’ll be the last thing I do on earth.” She laughed nervously. “Call me crazy.”

He stepped behind her and reached out to hold her from behind. His hands took hers at her side. She looked down at their intertwined fingers, feeling the warmth of his chest on her back. Her breath hitched as she absentmindedly stared at the connection of their hands.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Tara,” he whispered. “You can trust me.”

“You know I trust you,” she said slowly, then turned at the neck to look back at him. “But how are you going to save me when you are hanging from another rope?”

“I would find a way,” he replied, smiling. “We’re going to be right next to each other and everything will be fine.” His thumb ran over her fingers and despite everything telling her to stand her ground, she lost all sense of objectivity.

“I can’t believe I’m considering this,” she said, feeling her heart beating faster.

Tara didn’t know how to feel. All she knew was they might get lost in another romantic moment.

Kevin let go of one of her hands and raised the other so he could turn her to face him. He pulled her closer to him and tilted his head down. Their lips met. She let his kiss linger, unable to think clearly. His tongue caressed hers and soon she reciprocated, enjoying the feel of his arms around her waist and his tongue exploring her mouth. Slowly, he pulled away, but nuzzled her forehead with his.

“What was that for?” she whispered, still feeling the sensation of his lips on hers.

“I don’t know.” He hesitated. “I wanted to show you. You have nothing to worry about,” he replied, his eyes revealing he wanted to kiss her again. He moved in again, this time his arms wrapped around her body and she felt herself drifting to where time stopped.  She moaned. She was aroused by the way her lips tingled against his.  He slowly parted from her. “And that was because I wanted to kiss you.”

His arms left her body and she stood there motionless.  Her breathing was ragged and her mind was blown. This trip was getting off to a provocative start, and she couldn’t resist what was in store for them.

***

K
evin looked on as the rappelling instructor secured Tara’s harnesses. He couldn’t believe she finally agreed to go. He thought for sure the adventure would be stricken from their weekend plans. He was petrified to try it himself, but after pushing this hard to get her to agree, he was left consoling her and keeping his own fear to himself. She looked at him, her face pale with fear. He moved to her as the worker walked away.

“I’m terrified,” she admitted.

He couldn’t tell her he was scared too.

“You’ll be fine.” He reached for her hand and squeezed it. “When you feel scared, just look at me, okay?”

She nodded and turned to the place where they were going to make their descent.

“What if I start panicking?” she asked, hurriedly glancing back at him.

“Look at me,” he said.

He wanted to make everything better. He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

“They’re waiting for us,” he called out, pulling away.

Their hands remained connected while they walked over to the two workers and got their instructions. Kevin had to calm down his own racing heart.

“Do you understand?” the male worker was asking.

He nodded, even though he didn’t remember much.

“Just breathe,” he whispered to Tara.

The message was also meant for his own inner fear. They turned around and she hesitated for a moment. She looked at Kevin for strength. He gave her a thumbs up and an encouraging smile. With the help of the rappelling instructors, they both stooped and let their legs hang off the side of the mountain. The workers position them and gave the all clear. The rappelling journey down the side of the mountain began.

Kevin’s breathing was more ragged than before. He kept repeating in his mind,
just breathe.
Kevin had no doubt this vertical trip would be a few minutes of intense exhilaration, not just because they were rappelling, but also because they were doing it together.

“How are you doing?” he asked, trying to sound calm.

“I...I...I’m doing okay,” she stuttered.

“Remember what I said,” he replied, hoping she didn’t hear his uncertainty.

She didn’t respond to him as they continued their controlled descent down the side of the mountain.

“Just focus,” he heard coming from beside him.

“What’d you say?” he asked. His breathing was becoming more regular.

“Nothing,” she mumbled.

“We’re almost to the bottom,” he said, feeling relieved.
One, two, three, four,
he silently counted. It was breathtaking and he felt alive, and for a few moments he relaxed enough to look back and take in the view. It was a spectacular horizon. Kevin was almost sad it would soon be over. When he finally hit the ground, he felt a sense of achievement welling up inside of him. He sighed with relief and looked up at Tara, who was just a few feet above. The worker at the bottom helped to remove his harness and then he turned to where Tara was about to hit solid ground.

He could hear Tara’s shaky breath as she turned to him. Her hands were shaking and Kevin guessed it was from fear, and grasping so tightly to the rope. The harness was taken off and he couldn’t get to her fast enough. He put his arms around her and held her tightly. After several moments, he felt her begin to relax. Her arms opened up to him, wrapping around his body.

“I’m so glad it’s over,” she replied, shivering against him.

“I shouldn’t have made you do it,” he said, feeling apologetic.

She released him and shook her head.

“You didn’t hold a gun to my head. I knew exactly what I was getting myself into.” She looked up to where they had come from. “I’m glad it’s over, but I’m happy we did it together.”

“You are?” he asked, not knowing if he should believe her.

She smiled. “I am, but don’t get me wrong...I’m still relieved it’s over.”

He laughed. He was relieved too. “Well, while we’re this close to the hiking trails, what do you say we go for a little jaunt?”

She groaned. “After that experience on the mountain, I was thinking we could just go back to camp and start a fire.”

“Are you wimping out on me, Tara Matthews?” he teased.

She nodded. “I’m trying desperately to wimp out on you. Is it working?”

He wrapped his arm around her as they walked to the trails.

“Not really. You’ll need to try harder.” They headed onto one of the less traveled trails and disappeared into a forested area.

***

H
e could barely keep up. Having to climb down a mountain to follow them made it worse. He was sweating the entire way down, unable to appreciate the adventure or the breathtaking view. All that mattered was keeping track of where they went, and finally making it to the bottom. When he touched down, he quickly got the harness off and looked around the area. He didn’t know where they were, but he did know they couldn’t have gotten far. He was sure of it.

He walked around for a few minutes and then noticed the opening to the woods. He stepped onto the trail and quickly made his way. He understood their habits well enough to know where they would go. As he walked along the guided path, he spotted them up ahead. He slowed his pace and got behind a tree. He wanted to remain hidden. They stopped to look at some wildflowers growing around the area.