Page 18 of Luke

Four

Liz's special tree on first glance appeared like every other ponderosa pine dotting the slopes of Yosemite Valley. Luke didn't notice anything unique about it until she pointed out the carving of a heart on the trunk with three words scratched out: Colin loves Kathleen.

His chest tightened, a knot growing in his throat, as he compulsively traced the line of the heart with his fingers. "How did you know this was here?" he asked, wondering how she'd found this carving among hundreds of trees on the property.

"Your dad told me about it when he hired me. He remembered the exact location even though he hadn't been here in over twenty years."

He shook his head in bemusement, her words just confusing him more. "What exactly did he say?" Even as he asked the question, he wondered why he was dragging it all out. He didn't care, did he?

When it came to any mention of his mother…yes.

He lifted his head to meet Lizzie's gaze. "Tell me."

"He first met your mother at the creek down there." She pointed to the rocky stream of water about thirty yards away. "Your mother was barefoot, and she was making her way down the creek by jumping from rock to rock. She was wearing cut-off jean shorts and a red tank top, and her blonde hair was up in a ponytail. He said she was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen."

The knot in his throat grew a little bigger. "I can't believe he described her clothes."

Lizzie gave him a sad smile. "He was very specific in his memories of your mother. He said Kathleen was seventeen and he was eighteen when they first met. She was at the lodge with her family, and he was there with friends for a hiking trip after high school graduation. Once he saw her, he forgot all about climbing Half Dome. He sent his friends off without him."

"I can't believe he even contemplated climbing Half Dome. He was not interested in that kind of thing."

"Maybe he was…a long time ago."

He frowned at the idea that his dad had anything in common with him. "Go on."

"They spent every minute of the next four days together. Then she went back to Kentucky, and he went off to college. They tried to do long-distance for a while, but it didn't work, and it was ten years before they ran into each other again in LA. She was twenty-seven and he was twenty-eight then. He said fate put her back in his life and he wasn't going to let her go. They got married the next year, and, well, you know the rest."

He swallowed hard. He'd heard some of the story before—kind of—his aunt had probably told him a version of it, maybe his dad; he couldn't really remember.

"Your dad said that he and your mom used to come back here for vacation," Lizzie added. "It was a special place for them. When he heard that the resort was going under two years ago, he decided to buy it. But after he got the deed, he couldn't bring himself to actually come here without her. He said it would be too hard to visit the places where his beautiful Kathleen had danced from rock to rock, knowing that she would never dance again."

Luke blew out a breath. "Stop," he said, putting up a hand. He felt like his chest might explode if he heard another word. He walked away from Lizzie and stared down at the creek. He could picture his mother there now, the beautiful young woman with the laugh he could never forget. And he could see her dancing across the rocks just the way Lizzie and his father had described.

A moment later, Liz came up next to him. "I'm sorry, Luke. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't," he said quickly. "I was seven years old when she died; I barely remember her."

"But you remember some things."

"Not as many as I would like."

"I thought your dad might have already told you the story."

"If he did, I don't remember."

"Your father said that your mom brought the light and the heat back into his life, that after his parents died he was very much alone and his world was pretty dark at times. He was very goal-oriented. He chased career and money and power because it gave him something to think about, something he felt he could control."

Her words reminded him that he hadn't thought much about the fact that his dad had lost his parents when he was a teenager. He'd never talked about them, either. Apparently, when the people in his life died, Colin stopped speaking about them. But obviously the fact that his dad had bought this resort meant that he hadn't stopped thinking about his mom.

"He really loved her," Lizzie said.

"There were other women in his life after she died."

She met his gaze. "But he didn't marry any of them."

"Probably didn't want to have to worry about alimony or pre-nups," he said. "Or in the beginning, he couldn't find anyone who wanted a man with seven boys."

"You don't believe that. You're a lot of things, Luke—but cynical isn't one of them. You couldn't do what you do—challenge the world, look for the magnificence—without a core of optimism."

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