Chapter 19
After weeks of tweaking, the sailboat painting was finally done.
Well, Lynn had thought it was done, actually, until a repetitive thought kept popping into her head. It disrupted her thinking, and eventually, her life. Every time she closed her eyes, or went to do laundry, or to make dinner, it popped in again. She couldn’t have a moment’s rest until she added one last detail to the painting.
On Tuesday, she decided to finally deal with it. She woke up at four that morning and added the finishing touch to the painting: a small, scruffy dog, plodding down the dock and off into the distance.
It was after six when she closed her eyes again, determined to go back to sleep. Naturally, her phone went off. At first she thought it might be her daughter. She was making a trip to Texas and Lynn had asked her to send a message when she’d landed safely.
But no. Instead, it was from Mike. “Do you have hiking boots?”
She smiled and typed out her reply. “I do. Why?”
“Are you up for a challenge? Today, or tomorrow maybe?”
She sat up in bed. Tomorrow would be better, considering that she hadn’t slept half the night, but…she wanted to know what he was up to.
“Sure.”
He then texted her GPS coordinates and asked if she could get there “early, to beat the crowds.”
She looked up the location – it was a trailhead in the North Cascade Mountains. It was only an hour and a half drive.
“How does eight sound?”
“Sounds perfect to me.”
She wasalmostangry at Mike for what he’d done at the vineyard. He’d finally opened up to her – kind of – before promptly disappearing again.
At least he told her about the case, and though it wasn’t what she’d hoped for, she took it. Plus, she got to hear more than just that. He told her about his generosity to his sister, and the tenacity with which he defended his family. As much as she tried to be mad at him, she could only be mad at herself.
He’d hooked her, yet again, and now she was going to pack up her hiking boots and follow him blindly into the forest.
When she got to the trailhead, there was only one other car in the parking lot. Mike was nowhere to be seen.
Lynn frowned. Perhaps he hadn’t made it? Or maybe Lenny called him back into action?
Lynn’s cell phone didn’t have service, so it was no use in trying to reach Mike. She spotted a sign and wandered over to read about the hike that she may or may not be taking that day.
It was called the “Lake Twenty-Two Trail.”
She’d never heard of it before, but then again, she didn’t go hiking much. Though she always wanted to, she found it intimidating. And it seemed like a dangerous thing to do on her own.
Not that she was afraid of being attacked. More so that she’d get hurt, or lost, or die alone in the wilderness. Not the way she wanted to go.
The sign promised cascading waterfalls, old growth trees, wildflowers, and even mountain goats. The total distance was 2.7 miles one way. That didn’t seem too bad, though Lynn wasn’t sure about the 1,500 foot elevation change. Was that a lot?
She snapped a picture of the sign with her phone. It noted that around two miles in, they’d have a view of Three Fingers and Liberty peaks. She had no idea which mountains those were, but she’d tell Mike about it, pretending she was an authority on peaks, and gauge his reaction.
Lynn moved onto reading about the Mountain Loop Highway, lost in thought, when she heard Mike’s voice behind her.
“You made it,” he said.
She turned around, unable to hide her smile. “You’re alive!”
He laughed. “Of course. How could you ever doubt me?”
She had the urge to hug him, but suppressed it. “You’ve given me reason to worry recently.”
