Then Comes Marriage (14 page)

“So I’ve been told.”
 

“I like weird.”
 

I smile. “I do too. Which is good, since I’m a weirdo, right?”
 

“Right. And who wants to be normal anyway?” he asks and nudges my arm.

“Boring people.”
 

“Boring people who wouldn’t wear skin-shoes.”
 

We both laugh, and it hits me how easy it is to talk to Derek, and how he plays right along with my twisted sense of humor.
 

“Have you even been here before?” he asks once the bus takes a turn, bumping along the road.
 

“No. This is my first time in Hawaii. You?”

“I went here once, when I was a kid. I don’t remember it though. I was four or five and was dragged along by my parents for their anniversary. They met in Hawaii…which is why my mom is back now. It would have been their fifth time here.”
 

Would have been
.
 

“I’m sorry about your dad.”
 

He shrugs. “Thanks, but it’s all right. I’m all right.”
 

I nod, trying not to react to his leg brushing against mine with every bump in the road. And there are a lot of bumps. His skin is warm and he smells good, like soap and cologne and the ocean, all bottled up into one intoxicating aroma that’s so faint I have to lean in to get more. It’s like he did it on purpose to make me get closer.
 

And if he did, it’s working.
 

“So those other people with you were…?”

“My sister Margery, Aunt Becky and my cousins Amy and Justin.”
 

“It’s nice your family does stuff together like that.”
 

“I guess.” He looks out behind me, watching the passing landscape. Strange, how he shuts down as soon as we talk about him.
 

“How long are you here?” I ask, hoping a subject change can bring back his smile. I miss the light in his eyes already. I haven’t known him for more than a few minutes, but I’m sure that light isn’t something the world gets to see very often. Rare like a shooting star, bringing light to the night sky for just a moment before everything goes dark again.
 

“Four more days,” he says.
 

“I’m here for ten more. It seems like a long time when I say it out loud.”
 

“Two weeks of vacation is a long time to be away from work.” He shakes his head, like his words surprised him. “But I suppose that’s a good thing to most people.”
 

“You must love your job.”
 

He nods, not looking into my eyes. “It keeps me busy.”
 

“I can only imagine. No offense to you Texans, but Dallas kind of scared the crap of me when I first moved there.”

“No offense taken, and I understand. It’s a big city. You don’t plan to come back?”

I shake my head. “My family and friends are in Michigan. I only moved to Dallas because my ex got a job.” I get a flash of the day Travis got the job offer, and a rush of the emotions I felt.
 

Excitement.
 

Fear.
 

Dread.

And a strange feeling of responsibility. Moving that far from home was such a grown up thing to do. Having already accepted his marriage proposal, I didn’t question the decision to move, didn’t listen to that little voice inside that screamed “don’t move so fucking far from everything you love!” because I thought I was moving with someone who loved me more than everyone combined.
 

Live and learn. That’s the only way to look at shit and not see it for the pile of crap it actually is.
 

“And now that you left the Night’s Watch, what are you doing?”

“Nothing. I have to start applying for jobs when I get back.” I groan at the thought.
 

Derek gently nudges me again. “Don’t worry about that now. Enjoy this.” He motions to the passing ocean. We travel in silence for a while, enjoying the view.
 

The bus slows, and then stops in a gravel lot on the side of the road. Derek and I hang back, waiting for the others to get off before we make our way off.
 

“Wow,” I whisper, slowly turning around. “It’s like a totally different world than the resort.”
 

“Just wait until you see the waterfall,” Derek says.
 

I push my bag back up on my shoulder and walk toward a farm stand. A smile breaks out across my face. I’m here, making my way through cut grass to a muddy path that will take us to the falls. I reach inside my bag for my phone and snap a few pictures as we walk.

The forest is alive with birds and bugs, and it doesn’t take long before I can hear the waterfall in the distance.
 

“Careful,” Derek says, holding out his hand. “It’s slippery here.” My gold sandals, while comfortable and stylish, don’t make for the best hiking shoes.
 

“I feel like I’m in an Indiana Jones movie,” I say, smile still on my face. “I’m ready to find some sort of treasure and fight off bad guys. Or have you fight them off. I’ve never been in a fight.”
 

Derek chuckles. “I’ll defend you from the bad guys as long as you share some of the money you get when you cash in your treasure.”
 

“Deal. Ohh look at those red flowers!” I point to blossoms on a nearby tree. “I think that’s ginger!”
 

“I wouldn’t know. Want me to test it out?” Derek reaches for the flower. I grab his arm and pull it back, slipping in mud. Derek wraps his arm around my waist, steadying me.

“No! I don’t want to be responsible for poisoning you! And I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to pick flowers or plants or anything.” I get my footing back, standing just inches from him. Slowly, he takes his arm from around me. He lowers his head, eyes meeting mine. My heart jumps and I look away.

“We’re almost there,” he says, taking the lead again. The sound of the falls gets louder and louder with each step. The slick path comes to a bit of a drop off. Derek jumps down effortlessly. I put my phone back in my bag and take small steps forward, taking Derek’s hand once again.
 

A few people stand around the path, taking pictures of the waterfall. I keep my eyes on the ground, concentrating on not falling and getting covered in mud. The ground is covered in rocks and twisted tree roots, giving way to the water.
 

“This is amazing.” A chill runs down my spine just from the sheer beauty. I dig inside my bag again for my phone. I take a quick video clip of the falls, then snap a ton of photos. I hold the phone in front of me, trying to take a selfie with the falls in the background.
 

“I’ll take your picture for you,” Derek offers.
 

I reach for him, pulling him next to me. “Get in here.” He steps in close and I hold the phone out. “I need evidence we were together. You know, to make it easier on whoever investigates my murder.”

“Disappearance,” he corrects. “There be no body to be found. You’re pretty, so I might as well keep you alive.” Slowly, he runs his eyes over me, and I can feel the heat from him skin connecting with mine. The obvious checking out was meant to be a joke, but suddenly I’m flustered and diverting my eyes to the water again.
 

“It’s louder than I thought,” I blurt, needing to fill the silence between us. “The water, I mean.” My heart is thumping louder than I expected as well.
 

“It is.”
 

We both watch the waterfall. A couple swims toward us, able to walk halfway to the shore in shallow water. I startle when someone jumps from the cliff above, hitting the water with a heavy splash and disappearing from sight. With wide eyes I watch, thinking there is no way the water is deep enough. But only a few seconds later, a boy emerges and lets out a whoop. He swims to the side and another follows.
 

“That looks like fun,” Derek says.
 

“No, no it doesn’t. That looks dangerous.”
 

“People jump from there all the time.”
 

“People do lots of stupid stuff all the time,” I counter. “And they get hurt.” I watch Derek trace his eyes up to the top of the waterfall.
 

“Want to at least go up there and look down?”

“Just look?” I ask

“Sure. Just look.”
 

“Then yes, I can do that.”
 

He smiles and his green eyes light up like the bright sky above us. He takes a few steps back and takes off his shirt. As a nurse, I’ve seen my fair share of nudity. As a straight woman, I’ve admired my fair share of attractive men.
 

Yet neither have prepared me for Derek’s muscular chest, stained with ink and battered with scars. I want to reach for it, run my fingers over the sleek lines of his tattoos and feel each and every ridge of scar tissue. I inhale, unable to look away from the muscles in his back, bulging, flexing as he moves. Holy fuck. I need a drink. I’m not prepared for how hot he is making me, and suddenly, I can relate to the waterfall.
 

He takes off his shoes and removes his wallet from his pocket, and then turns to me.

“Come on.” He holds out his hand.
 

I blink, shaking myself back to reality. Right. I’m climbing to uncertain death. It takes me too long to remove my sandals, and even longer to get the stupid sundress over my head. I shove it in my bag and put it next to Derek’s stuff, which is nestled between two tree roots. We go to the right of the water, making our way to a worn path.
 

Mud squishes between my toes. “I think I stepped on a worm,” I say and freeze. Do I look down and see the dead bug? Or keep going?
 

“There aren’t worms in Hawaii,” Derek says matter-of-factly. “They’re not native here.”
 

“Oh, well that’s good—hey! I think worms are everywhere, aren’t they?”
 

He laughs. “You almost believed me.”
 

I shake my head and struggle to keep up with him. Naturally athletic people like him shouldn’t exist. It defies the laws of nature. Or maybe naturally clumsy people like me do.
 

The path up the cliff is muddy, dotted with roots and rocks, made smooth from miles put on them by hikers just like us. The journey to the top only takes a few minutes. I’ve kept my eyes down, calculating my next step and concentrating on not slipping and falling the whole time. When we stop at the top and I look around me, I’m stunned.
 

“Holy shit,” I mumble. “This is amazing.” On one side, the forest continues uninterrupted, carrying on like normal as if the fifty-foot waterfall is nothing to admire. And on the other side…that fifty feet looks really fucking high. The water streams ahead of us, deceivingly calm and peaceful before jutting off and cascading down into the small pool below.

“I don’t think it’s deep enough.”
 

“Not here,” Derek says, getting way too close to the edge of the cliff. My arm twitches, wanting to reach out and pull him back for safety. My heart is in my throat in a way it’s never been before. I’m scared and exhilarated at the same time.
 

We stop by the rushing water and I stick my foot in, careful not to fall.
 

“It’s cold!” I exclaim. “It feels so good.” I bring my foot back and look down. “Wow that’s a long way.”
 

“I’m going to jump,” he says.
 

“No!” This time I really do reach out and grab him, trying to pull him away from the edge. He’s too heavy for me to actually move, but he humors me and takes a few steps back. My fingers are wrapped around his wrist as if that will keep him from taking the plunge. “You could hit the ground and break your neck!”
 

“I’m not diving in,” he says and leans forward, looking down. “Just jumping.”
 

“So you’re okay with breaking both legs.”
 

He shakes his head. “I won’t break both legs. You saw two people jump off and survive it just fine.”

My grip tightens around his wrist. “That doesn’t convince me.”
 

He tips his head. “Are you scared of heights?”
 

I swallow. “No. I’m scared of falling from tall places.”
 

“That’s the same thing.”
 

“It’s not. I’m fine with being up high. I’m
not
fine with plummeting from that up high place.”
 

He laughs. “Fair enough.” He twists his arm and places his own fingers around my wrist so that we are awkwardly holding onto each other. I slide my hand back, fingertips lingering on his skin. “Just look down.”
 

“No thank you. I might fall.”
 

“You might not.”
 

I swallow my pounding heart. “Fine. Just look, remember?”
 

“I remember.”
 

I hold onto a tree and inch forward. Water rushes down next to us, sparkling in the bright sunlight. Everything is so beautiful it looks fake.
 

Including Derek.
 

Did my plane crash on the way here and this is really a dream? I blink, feeling the mud between my toes and the bugs buzzing around my face. If this were a dream, those wouldn’t be here.
 

He moves forward and I panic he’s going to jump. I reach forward to grab him, but slip. My feet go out from under me and I know it’s too late to do anything. I’m falling and will slip right off the top of this cliff and crash into shallow water. Maybe I won’t die, but I’ll be too injured to enjoy the rest of my vacation.
 

“Careful,” Derek says and catches me. My arms go around his neck, eyes locking with his. “This isn’t a good place to jump.”
 

“How can you tell?”

“Everyone else jumped from over there.” He points behind me. I straighten up and take a few steps back. Derek moves onto a rock near the falls and extends his hand. “Jump with me, Rachel.”