Page 137 of Trapped: Until The Darkest Of Night

“But she’s not coming,” I admit to myself resignedly. “She’s not coming because I’ve been a complete lunatic. A brute. A…oh, hell…” Angry at myself, I dig my nails into my palm. If only I had never kidnapped her. I wish I had taken her to the RV for a beer. If only I had written to her on Facebook. I wish I had…

It’s too late, any chance I had is gone.

I stroke Grey’s short summer coat, but he ignores me. For some unknown reason, he suddenly seems restless. Before I can get hold of the leash, he jumps away toward the visitor center.

“Hey!” I protest, diving after him. Like a baseball player going for the base, I dive directly to the front of the edge of the forest and catch the leash with three fingers. Grey whines.

“Shut up!” I hiss through my teeth. I know I’m only mad because Lou hasn’t shown up. In essence, I’m not angry, just disappointed, sad. It’s not Grey’s fault that my world has shattered into a thousand pieces.

Wiping my eyes again, I trip over the concrete lip of the walkway that connects the shower rooms and the visitor center. Grey tugs at his leash like crazy, whining and barking, almost getting tangled up. At the closed glass door of the visitor center, he stands on his hind legs.

“What the…” I peer through the glass and fall silent.

A girl is standing in the camping gear alcove with her back toward me. My heart starts to beat wildly. That shiny, flaxen hair that reaches down to her narrow shoulders, that white blouse with the wide sleeves, that shy yet determined demeanor. The silent vulnerability she has exuded since I…well, since I met her here a year ago.

I rub my eyes and look up again, expecting her to be gone, but she’s still there. Like drops, realization seeps into me.

Lou is here!

For several heartbeats, I can’t breathe even though my chest grows larger than the sky.

Lou is here!

She came. I can’t believe it.

Tears well up in my eyes, and without really knowing what I’m doing, I yank open the door to the visitor center. Grey starts running like crazy, impossible to stop. A man in an army-green cap jumps to the side just in time to avoid him. Someone screams.

I stand there stunned, watching Lou walk toward the exit.

“Hey, mister, you can’t come in here with your wolf…”

I have no idea who said that. I have no idea what’s going on. My head is full of wonderful, confused thoughts when I realize Lou still hasn’t seen me.

“Lou! Lou…wait!”

She flinches at the sound of my voice.

“Call the wolf back…” The man at the cash register comes running around his counter.

“Excuse me, I’m sorry!” I yell at him, rushing after Grey.

At that moment, she turns around and Grey jumps up on her. Don’t! I want to scream, but he knocks her down, whines and barks like a dog that has found his master again decades later. Lou clutches his neck like a drowning woman. She laughs, giggles, and sobs at the same time. Crazy.

Eventually, she gently pushes Grey aside and sits up.

She looks at me without saying a word. Her eyes shimmer with tears. And yet there is also this magic, the mysterious dark blue sparkle that drove me insane that night by the lake. My heart clenches with longing, even with Lou so close.

“You came,” I say softly as if loud words might wake me from my dream. She takes my outstretched hand and I pull her up to me. A big lump sits in my throat. Only now that she is standing in front of me do I realize how much I’ve missed her. Much more than my consciousness allowed me to believe. Infinitely more.

She gently squeezes my fingers. “What? Did you doubt it?” She tilts her head and looks at me challengingly, somewhat defiant, like the old, adventurous Lou.

It fills me with a strange wistfulness, but also makes me smile. “All day long.”

Suddenly, her lips begin to tremble. “I thought you hadn’t come,” she blurts out and tugs at my arm frantically as if she needs to get her feelings out. “We broke down and a truck had overturned and there were these stupid oranges all over the road…” A dry sob breaks out of her.

Wait a minute…she thought I wouldn’t show up? Me? I involuntarily laugh even though I feel like crying like I haven’t in a long time. This girl is truly crazy. Maybe that’s why she loves me.

“I arrived yesterday. I’ve been waiting here since this morning,” I tell her, reaching for Grey’s collar because the cashier shouted at me again. “I had Grey tied up outside, but earlier he broke loose and I had to catch him.”

---