Falling Again in El Salvador

by Julie Danvers

  She held on tight as the bike took off with a thundering roar.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  IT FELT AMAZING to be back on a motorcycle again.

  Cassie’s trip with Bryce several weeks ago, when she’d first arrived in El Salvador, had given her just a small taste of how much she’d missed the freedom of the road. More than that, she’d missed the sense of glorious possibility that accompanied the sensation of speeding along stretches of wide-open highway. The feeling of adventure was intoxicating.

  The road was every bit as beautiful as it was rumored to be. They were driving along the Ruta de las Flores—the Road of Flowers—and Cassie could see that it was aptly named. The roadside was thick with purple, pink and yellow wildflowers. In the distance, a volcanic mountain range towered over the horizon. Cassie knew that many of El Salvador’s volcanoes were active, but the peaks of the range were unexpectedly lush and green, contrasting nicely with the blue of a cloudless sky. As the miles of road dropped away behind them, Cassie felt the sensation of flying, as though she were a bird skimming the road with its wings.

  She chalked up most of her excitement to the thrill of being back on a motorcycle.

  But as amazing as it was to be back on a motorcycle, it was even more amazing to be next to Bryce again.

  His jacket enveloped her in his scent, just as it had on their earlier ride. She knew he’d only lent it to her because it was in his nature to be protective. But sitting behind him, with her arms wrapped around his torso and the warmth of his body close to hers, it was hard not to get swept up in the emotions that washed over her.

  She felt tears forming at the corners of her eyes that had nothing to do with the wind. It had been far too long since she’d had such a sensation of pure joy, she thought. Overworked and burned-out, she hadn’t realized how long it had been since she’d simply let herself enjoy the moment. Whatever this feeling was, she didn’t want to let go of it ever again. She let out a whoop, unable to stop herself, and not caring whether Bryce heard. But he must have, because at her cry, he went even faster, and she let out another shout of delight. This, she thought, was how life was meant to be.

  They rode steadily for most of the morning. The road wound through coffee plantations and towns with brightly colored houses, where they stopped every so often for breaks. The plan, Bryce explained, was to stop at three different towns to give vaccines and educational presentations to the residents, and then spend the night in Juayua before returning the next day.

  Their first stop was Apaneca, where Cassie was charmed by the cobbled streets and adobe houses. After they’d delivered a batch of vaccines, they stopped for coffee at a small roadside shop. One wall of the shop had been painted with an elaborate mural of flowers and butterflies, and Cassie and Bryce sat outside, sipping their coffee and discussing their plan of attack for the next two towns. A lifelong caffeine addict, Cassie considered herself something of a connoisseur when it came to coffee. El Salvadoran blends were fuller and bolder than she was used to, with a somewhat floral aroma. She inhaled deeply, savoring the scent.

  Bryce was drinking coffee, too, but he seemed to be drinking it rather hastily, and Cassie noticed that he kept looking at his watch.

  “Slow down!” she protested as he finished his remaining coffee in one big gulp. “It’s a crime to drink coffee this good so fast!”

  “You think this coffee is good? Well, just wait until we get to Juayua. The coffee there puts this stuff to shame.”

  “Nonsense. This is one of the best cups of coffee I’ve ever had. Why are you really hurrying?”

  “Well. Here’s the thing. Every weekend there’s a food festival in Juayua, called the Feria Gastronomica.”

  “Hmm, a food festival. Why do I suddenly have the feeling that we’re not just on this trip to deliver vaccines?”

  Bryce checked his watch again. “If we make it quick, we can wrap things up in Salcoatitán in about an hour, and then hit Juayua by early afternoon. Just in time to have some of the best street food El Salvador has to offer.”

  She cocked an eyebrow at him. “You just might be speaking the language of my heart, Bryce Hamlin. What kind of food are we talking about?”

  “Everything under the sun, and trust me, it’s all delicious.”

  “I don’t know, Bryce. You are asking me to rush through a pretty damn good cup of coffee just on faith alone.”

  “I promise it’s worth it. I make a trip to drop off medical supplies to Juayua every few months, and the food festival’s the main reason I always volunteer to make the run.”

  She gasped in mock indignation. “Wait a minute. This festival’s the main reason? What about your passion for providing medical care? What about building ties among the communities we serve?”

  “Those are all nice perks, but the real reason I got into this doctoring business was so I could indulge in local cuisine.”

  Cassie drank the rest of her own coffee in a final gulp. “Then it sounds like we’d better get a move on.”

  His eyes danced. “There’s the Cassie I remember. Always up for new things.”

  She smiled at his enthusiasm. Where had this carefree version of Bryce been when they were dating? Five years ago, if they’d gone on a trip like this together, she’d have expected him to maintain their schedule with meticulous care. And he’d have driven something much more practical than a motorcycle. But now, he seemed relaxed. He even seemed as though he were having fun.

  She’d never known he could be like this. But then, clearly, she hadn’t known him as well as she’d thought.

  A short time later, they arrived at the town of Salcoatitán, where they demonstrated how to administer the vaccines to town officials in a beautiful nineteenth-century church. Before getting back onto the road, they stretched their legs under a giant tree that loomed over the town square.

  “Couldn’t we just stay here for the rest of the day and do Juayua tomorrow?” she asked, stretching her arms overhead. The afternoon sunlight was luxurious, and she was beginning to feel sleepy.

  “Nope,” he said firmly. “The food festival’s only on weekends, so we have to keep to a tight schedule. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”

  She gave him a skeptical look.

  “All right, here’s something I know you won’t be able to resist. There’s a huge waterfall that’s about a twenty-minute hike outside Juayua.”

  A waterfall? Her eyes gleamed. She’d been aching to see a waterfall since the day she arrived.

  “Let’s get a move on,” she said, snapping her helmet back on. “We don’t want to stand around here and lose the rest of the day.”

  It was midafternoon when they finally arrived in Juayua. They were greeted enthusiastically by a woman with a kind face and graying hair. Bryce introduced the woman as Gina Lopez, one of the town’s most senior midwives and their medical liaison to the local health community.

  “Mrs. Lopez is one of the best midwives in the country,” said Bryce. “We’d get nowhere in Juayua without her.”

  “Nonsense,” said Mrs. Lopez, giving Bryce a fond smile. “I’ve birthed most of the babies in this town. But every so often there’s something that’s more than what a midwife can handle. There are mothers and children who wouldn’t be here today if there weren’t a Medicine International outpost within driving distance.”

  They discussed the vaccines with Mrs. Lopez, and she invited them to stay for dinner. “Not this time,” said Bryce. “It’s Cassie’s first time in Juayua, and she was really hoping to go to the Feria Gastronomica.”

  Cassie rolled her eyes. “I was really hoping to go?” she muttered to Bryce as Mrs. Lopez led them back outside.

  “You haven’t lived until you’ve had the prawn sticks,” he muttered back.

  Outside the house, Mrs. Lopez’s teenage son and two of his friends were discussing Bryce’s motorcycle with frank admiration.r />
  “Is there any chance you’d let us try it, Dr. Bryce?” Fernando Lopez wheedled. “We’ll be careful, I promise. Just around town a few times.”

  “Not today, Nando,” Bryce said. “But tell you what, tomorrow there might be time for me to take you on a ride around town for a bit.”

  Fernando scowled, and Cassie had a feeling that the boy had been entertaining images of himself impressing girls while driving the motorcycle all by himself. “It takes a while to learn to ride a motorcycle,” she said, hoping to help Fernando understand that he most likely would not have been able to race off down the road even if Bryce had said yes. “But sitting on one while someone else drives can help you learn.”

  “Enough!” Mrs. Lopez scolded the boys. “Stop bothering the doctors this instant.” To Bryce, she said, “You can leave your bike here. No harm will come to it. I’ll keep a close eye on it and put these boys to work. They’ve got better things to do than ogle a motorcycle.” She was still shooing the boys away from it as Cassie and Bryce ambled toward town.

  The Feria Gastronomica was everything Bryce had promised. The town center was bustling with people milling about food stalls and eating at colorful tables and chairs. Bryce couldn’t seem to resist plying her with food, and she couldn’t seem to resist eating of it.

  “Start with this,” he said, handing her an elote loco—corn on the cob on a stick, covered with cheese and a tangy sauce. “That way you can still walk around while you’re eating and decide what you want to snack on next.”

  There truly did seem to be every sort of food under the sun available. The smell of grilled meat was irresistible, and she and Bryce munched on shrimp sticks while they chose their next course. They finally sat down at one of the brightly colored tables with a huge plate of beef and chicken alongside rice, salad and tortillas.

  Cassie loaded meat and vegetables onto a tortilla and pinched it into a taco. She took a bite and sighed. “Okay, you were right. It was worth rushing to get here so we could do this. This is some of the best food I’ve had since I got here.”

  “Surely not better than the food at the camp mess hall!”

  She winced. “Don’t tell anybody back at the camp, but after trying the pupusas here, I’m not sure I can face the ones back at the mess hall. Does saying that make me a terrible person? Our cooks work so hard for us.”

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “It’ll never get back to camp. I won’t tell a soul.”

  She smiled and gazed into his eyes. “I knew I could trust you.” They held each other’s gaze for a moment. Cassie had forgotten how warm his eyes could be.

  She cleared her throat. “Now what about this waterfall?” she said.

  The waterfall was only a short hike from town. The path was visible, but only just; thick overgrown foliage threatened to eliminate it.

  “It’s a good thing we’re here in the late afternoon,” said Bryce. “Enough tourists have come through here today that the path is fairly clear. If we’d come earlier, I probably would have had to borrow a machete from Mrs. Lopez to clear our way.”

  A machete. She pictured Bryce swinging a machete to clear away the tall grass. There was still a lot about El Salvador that she was getting used to.

  Pushing the jungle foliage back from the path was hot exhausting work. Bryce traveled in front of Cassie so that he could bear the brunt of the labor. Within moments, both of their shirts were soaked with sweat. Cassie couldn’t help but notice the way the muscles tightened under Bryce’s white T-shirt as he pushed back the grass and ferns. Then, as if her resolve hadn’t been challenged enough for one day, Bryce removed his T-shirt and tied it around his forehead to keep the sweat out of his eyes.

  Lord have mercy, Cassie thought. Bryce was perfectly tanned underneath his shirt. Beads of sweat formed along his chest and back, and his jeans hung low on his hips.

  The image of a half-naked Bryce leading her through the jungle was going to be with her for a long time. “How far away is it now?” she asked, wondering just how long she was going to be tortured.

  “About ten minutes,” he replied.

  You can handle anything for just ten minutes, she thought.

  Finally, they arrived, hot and exhausted.

  “Here it is,” said Bryce. “Los Chorros de la Calera.”

  The waterfall consisted of several crystal streams; some strong and thundering, others quiet and fast. Each stream cascaded down a rock face covered with moss and vines, and they all fed into the same pool at the bottom. The sun dappled the surface of the water, and all around her was the fresh smell of the forest: wood and vegetation. It reminded her of the visits she’d made to greenhouses and conservatories in New York, but there, she’d always been aware of the traffic and the throngs of people just outside. Now, she was completely surrounded by greenery, and the mist rising from the waterfall was the only source of coolness in the heat.

  “It’s beautiful,” she breathed, and for a moment she and Bryce simply stood together in the silence. Then she turned toward him, and there it was again—that feeling of old emotions being stirred.

  It’s just nostalgia, she thought. But as the sounds of the waterfall rushed in her ears, she knew her feelings were about more than just the past. They were about this moment with Bryce, too.

  She turned toward him, looking into the warmth of his brown eyes.

  And then, in spite of herself, she started to giggle.

  “What’s amusing you now?” he murmured.

  “It’s just that it’s so beautiful here...with the light reflecting off the pool and the forest surrounding us...”

  “And natural beauty is...funny, somehow?”

  “No, natural beauty is breathtaking. What’s funny is that amid all of it, you’ve got a T-shirt tied around your head. With the jungle backdrop, you look like a kid playing Rambo.”

  “Oh, so you’re laughing at me. Why don’t you take a picture of my amusing headgear so you can show everyone back at the camp?”

  “I would, but I left my phone back at Mrs. Lopez’s.”

  “Excellent. Then you won’t mind if I do this.” He pushed her straight into the pool beneath the falls.

  “Bryce!” she shrieked, laughing as her head broke the surface. “That was completely uncalled for!” Also shocking and completely unexpected. She’d never been pushed into a body of water in her life. Overprotected and sheltered as she was, no child or adult would ever have dared to do something as unsafe as shove her into a pool. She hadn’t even been allowed to swim until she went to college. She remembered going to pool parties on rare occasions as a child, watching sadly from a patio as other children splashed and screamed, pushing each other into the water with reckless abandon.

  And now Bryce had just shoved her in. As though she weren’t breakable. As though she were just an ordinary person.

  “I disagree,” he called from the shore. “You looked hot. I helped you cool down. You’re welcome.”

  “We just ate!” she said, with mock annoyance. “What if I got a cramp?”

  “Then I guess I’d have to come in after you.” And with that, he dove into the pool himself.

  He broke the surface beside her. They held on to each other for a moment, gasping for air as they found one another in the water. Her head spun, and she wasn’t sure whether it was with excitement or confusion. Maybe it was a mix of both. He’d become so much more carefree, and she loved it.

  Without realizing it, she tilted her face toward his and then suddenly, they were kissing.

  It was everything she remembered; it was better than she remembered. It was even better than the moment under the balsa tree, because this time his arms were wrapped around her and she could feel the full length of his body against hers. And this time, there was no mistaking the kiss for an accident. They hadn’t just gotten caught up in the moment. He was kissing her as though he meant to kis
s her. She knew it, and she was letting him know in every way she could that she meant to kiss him right back. His lips were heat and salt against hers; his arms wrapped about her and pulled her close with a firmness that felt more right than anything she’d experienced in years.

  And then they heard voices coming from the path ahead. They pulled apart just as a group of tourists emerged from the foliage.

  Cassie’s breath was fast and ragged. She fought for control as she tried to compose herself. “Well. That was certainly something,” she said, trying and failing to keep the emotion out of her voice.

  “Here, let me help you out of the water.”

  Was his voice quavering, too? His breath seemed uneven, but that might just be the exertion of swimming to the side of the pool and helping her climb up onto the grass. “We should get back to Mrs. Lopez’s,” he said. “She’s probably getting worried about us.”

  He was still holding her hand, even though she was already back on dry land. She gave no indication that he needed to let go.

  Their eyes met. She had absolutely no idea what to say.

  Fortunately, he did.

  “I know we’ve been talking a lot about moving forward,” he said. “And if you don’t want that to happen again, I completely understand. I won’t put you in that position ever again. But I had to take the chance. I needed to make damn sure I left that waterfall without any regrets.”

  She stepped close to him. “I’m glad,” she said.

  “That I kissed you?”

  “That you took the risk.”

  * * *

  Bryce’s lips burned as they hacked their way through the foliage back to Mrs. Lopez’s house.

  He’d known the moment he was going to kiss her again. It had been the moment she’d emerged from the water, laughing. He’d pushed her in completely on impulse, unable to resist her playfulness. And when he’d seen her head break the water, eyes sparkling and face filled with excitement, he’d known that nothing was going to stop him from kissing her again.