by Dylann Crush
“Anywhere, but please, please, please hurry.”
“Cletus said there’s a restaurant by the train station.”
Reagan squirmed in her seat and wrapped her arms around her midsection. “I don’t care. Anywhere.”
“You got it.” Zach signaled a right turn and eased onto the road while Reagan tried to fill her head with thoughts of the dry, arid desert.
It didn’t work.
“You all right over there?” Zach cast her a side glance.
Her legs were welded together and she groaned. “No, I’m about ready to tell you to pull over.”
“That would be the icing on the cake. Getting a ticket for public exposure or something.” So far, they hadn’t seen a business, just rows of well-kept tiny houses. “Cletus said it wasn’t far.”
“Well, his definition of not far and mine must be very different.”
“Hey, this looks promising.” Zach slowed as they approached what appeared to be a little downtown area. “How about the ice cream shop?”
“I don’t care. Slow the car down. I’ll jump out.”
He eased into the parking lot, hitting the edge of a large pothole with the back tire. The whole car shook.
“Ugh.” Reagan moaned. “Stop. I’ll get out here.”
“You got it.” Zach pressed on the brake and before the car came to a complete stop she hopped out and darted inside the ice cream store. He took his time, finding a spot where the car would be least likely to earn a door ding. Even though it was only a rental, a ride this sweet deserved to be taken care of. As he strolled toward the entrance, Reagan peeked her head out of the door.
“I know I should have gone at the gas station. But is there any chance you can pick up the pace a bit?”
“What, you need my help getting your pants down?” he asked with a shit-eating grin.
“No. The bathroom is only for customers. Can you get in here and buy something?”
“Thought you were in a hurry. We can’t be sitting around eating ice cream when we need to get back on the road, right?” The look she gave him was probably supposed to turn him to stone on the spot. Instead, it made him want to see her all riled up more often.
He entered the store and Reagan shouted to the teenager behind the counter. “He’ll have a monster cone!”
The kid nodded and held up a silver ice cream scooper. “The monster cone, right?”
“Sure. Sounds great. Give me one of those.” Zach rocked back on his heels and crossed his arms over his chest as he looked around the small shop. Not many people treating themselves to ice cream at the end of March. Brochures for area attractions sat in a display against the wall. He walked over and located a flyer for the hillside train.
Like a lot of boys, he’d always been fascinated by trains. Growing up, he had a huge Lionel set that had run along a track he’d built around the edges of his bedroom. It was the one activity he and his dad enjoyed doing together. Wouldn’t kill him and Reagan to take a half-hour to ride up the hill and back.
“Will that be all for you, sir?” the kid asked.
Zach turned around and his eyes widened. A giant waffle cone bowl sat on the counter, filled with about a gallon of ice cream.
“What the hell is that?” he asked, approaching the counter.
The kid cleared his throat. “It’s the monster cone, fresh baked waffle cone bowl filled with a scoop of every one of our twenty-five flavors: cashew chocolate, very vanilla, razzleberry raspberry, arctic chip—”
“Stop.” Zach put his hands out. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No, sir. If you eat the whole thing, we take your picture and you get two tickets to the railway ride.”
“Really?” That piqued his interest. Reagan wouldn’t be able to refuse the train ride if he ate the whole bowl of ice cream to win tickets. He ran his hands over his stomach. It might be worth it, just to see the look on her face.
“Yes, sir. Would you like one spoon or two?”
Zach reached for his wallet to pay. “Oh, two spoons, definitely two.”
By the time Reagan joined him at the table, he’d managed to down about a quarter of the bowl. Spoon poised in the air, he was about to dig into what looked like a scoop of mint chocolate chip when she slumped into the chair across from him.
“Enjoying your ice cream?” she asked.
“You bet. You want some of this? I got you a spoon.” He held out the white plastic spoon to her like a peace offering. Their fingers brushed as she took the utensil. Her gaze lifted to meet his.
“I might try a bite or two. It would be a shame to waste all this homemade ice cream.”
“Who said anything about wasting it? I plan on finishing the whole bowl.”
“You can’t be serious. We’ve got to get back on the road.” She dipped her spoon into the scoop of rocky road.
“You’re the smarty pants who ordered the monster cone.”
“I was in a hurry and it’s the first thing I saw on the menu.” She slid the ice cream into her mouth and slowly drew the spoon back out, drawing his attention to the way she surrounded the lucky piece of plastic with her full, pink lips.
“You’ve got to admit it, it’s good.”
She dipped her spoon in for another bite. “You really think you can eat all this?”
“I don’t think it, I know it. It’s a mental game. Convince yourself you can do something, and if you truly believe it, you can.”
“Is this another piece of wisdom you gained from the monks?”
“Nah. Just common sense. What’s something you want to do that you’ve always been afraid of or felt like you can’t?” Everyone had some kind of fear or challenge. He’d battled a few of his own self-doubts and had become a huge proponent of helping others recognize their limitations and overcome them. Especially when the person he was helping was a beautiful woman from his past.
Reagan took another bite of ice cream and looked thoughtful for a moment. “I don’t know. Flying, I guess?”
“All you have to do is convince yourself that you can do it. Picture yourself taking off and landing safely. Envision flying up in the clouds.”
“That’s it?” She snorted. “You could have saved me a visit to the shrink and hundreds of dollars in prescriptions for anti-anxiety meds if it were that easy. That may work for you, Buddha, but I’ll stick with my happy pills.”
Zach rolled his eyes and shook his head. “It’s all in your head.”
“Yeah, my head, my pounding heart, shaky hands, roiling gut…”
“Try it next time you get on a plane. I bet it will help.”
“Oh yeah? What life-shattering challenge did you manage to get over with your self-inflicted mind tricks?” she asked.
Her teasing smile lit up her eyes, and Zach wanted to kiss the grin right off her face. Flirting helped pass the time, but they were entering new territory now.
He leaned back in his chair and let his spoon rest against the bowl. “I was in a bad accident a couple of years ago while I was shooting some rock-climbing gear on some cliffs. My rigging gave way, and I fell about thirty feet to the canyon floor. My leg was crushed, and they had to carry me to a place where the chopper could land and airlift me out. Took me about six months before I could walk again. Every day I told myself I could do it. Now my leg is more metal than bone. But I’m walking, right?”
Reagan had paused, spoon mid-way to her mouth while he told his story. She set the spoon back in the bowl and reached across the table to put her hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
He shrugged. “How would you? We lost touch.”
Her eyes took on an unfocused glaze for a moment. Before he could say anything, it passed. She squeezed his arm then leaned back in her chair. “Well, we’ll have to keep in touch from now on.”
Not likely she’d ever want to see or hear from him again if he went through with the assignment from Scazzoli or his plan to keep other members of the press away backfired. But it was a ni
ce thought. “You bet. We’ll have to keep in touch. Now help me finish this ice cream so we can ride the choo-choo train. Pretty please? If we finish the whole bowl we get two free tickets to ride the train up the mountain.”
“We don’t have time for you to indulge in one of your childhood fantasies and go for a choo-choo ride.”
Zach cleared his throat and leveled a heated gaze at her. “For your information, my fantasies have come a long way from train rides. Unless you want to take a ride on my special engine.” He wiggled his eyebrows like he was issuing a challenge.
Reagan met his gaze and gasped. He didn’t think it was possible to choke on ice cream, but she coughed and put her hands to her mouth where a small line of melted rocky road trickled from the corner of her lips. She grabbed for a napkin and wiped her mouth.
“Behave yourself, will you?”
“Behaving is so overrated. Now, are you going to help me eat this monster bowl you insisted we order, or am I going to become lactose intolerant all by myself?”
The flush on her cheeks subsided.
“If you let me go up the hill, I promise after that we’ll drive through the night and not stop until we get to Miami,” he promised.
Letting out a huffy sigh, Reagan thrust her spoon back into the middle of the mound of ice cream. It had started to melt and all the flavors blended together. “Fine. But this is it. No more stops. A quick ride up and right back down again.”
“You got it. And if you decide you want to ride on my special engine…” His words trailed off as his gaze lifted to her face.
“You’d better stop offering, or I’ll put that engine out of commission, buddy.”
He had no doubt she could. Zach smirked and dug his spoon back into the bowl. Only about twelve hundred more bites to go.
11
Reagan put her hands to her stomach in an attempt to squelch the massive gurgling. She hadn’t had that much ice cream since…well, never. What had possessed Zach to force feed himself the entire bowl?
The entire bowl except the huge portion she’d ingested. And now regretted. How had she let him talk her into a train ride? They were still at least eight-hundred miles away from Miami. And now she was about to board a tiny train car that would take her to the top of some Civil War memorial?
She hated heights. Flying was the worst, but even tall buildings made her stomach churn. Her thoughts briefly lingered on the field trip they’d taken to Sears Tower in the seventh grade. She was the only one who’d puked at the top and had to ride the elevator back down with one of the chaperones, then spend an hour at the bottom waiting for the rest of the class. They had teased her for weeks. How had she let Zach talk her into scaling a mountain?
It was that damn grin of his. Depending on which way his lips quirked, he could make it challenging, teasing, or sexy. Sometimes all three at once. She’d always taken more risks around Zach. He brought out something wanton and wild inside her. Always had.
Seemed like the other guys in high school overlooked her for the social butterflies or perky, bubbly cheerleaders who went to all the football and hockey games and cheered for their boyfriends. Reagan missed out on a lot due to her dad’s campaign demands and social schedule. As the daughter of a prominent senator, she had been expected to make herself available for photo opportunities and be at her dad’s beck and call. Teddy loved the limelight, but she preferred to spend time with her few close girlfriends or bury her nose in a book. Until she met Zach.
He had transferred to her school freshman year. His first day, he took the seat next to her in chemistry, and they ended up lab partners. She’d never been a fan of science class but found herself looking forward to third hour more and more each day. He always made her laugh, and he seemed like he was interested in getting to know her—the part of her beyond the senator’s daughter.
Zach’s hand grasped hers. “Ready for this?”
Her breath hitched. Nodding, she let him lead her onto the single train car. He pointed out a seat in the middle and let her slide in first so she could see out the window. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
“Mind over matter. Wanna practice?”
“No.” What she wanted was to be curled up on a chaise lounge on the beach of the island resort, running through her final checklist one last time, not flirting with death in a rickety old railway car.
They were on the last trip of the day, so there were only a handful of other passengers. A family of five occupied three rows at the front. A young couple sat across the aisle, and a group of backpackers had taken over the rear of the car. Reagan looked out the window as the train shuddered and inched backward. Tiny pinpricks danced across her face at the movement. Evidently, they’d travel up the hill in reverse which meant she’d have to look down the hill on the return trip as they careened toward the bottom. Her hand scrambled for something to grab but all she found was Zach’s thigh.
“Can you abuse this instead?” he asked, offering his hand.
She nodded and wrapped her hand around his, squeezing hard as a voice came over the loudspeaker and warned them they’d be traveling a mile, some of it at about a seventy-degree angle, at a speed of about six-hundred feet per minute.
“I changed my mind. I’ll wait for you at the bottom.” Fuzziness crowded into the sides of her vision. She made a move to stand, but Zach put an arm over her waist and pinned her in place.
“We’re already moving. It’s fine. I’m right here. You can do this, Reagan.”
Her heart pounded against the cage of her chest, like a desperate bird trying to escape. Closing her eyes, she turned her face into Zach’s shoulder and breathed him in. The mix of musk, male, and his shower gel took the edge off. It killed her to need him like this, but she did. He must think she was some weak, knee-knocking, nervous Nelly. She couldn’t stand it when her fear got the best of her.
Zach stretched his arm behind her. The weight of his arm across her shoulders anchored her as the car rocked and continued its jerky ascent. She even managed to open her eyes and take in a glimpse of the trees drifting by. When her gaze moved to the front of the car, the whole town spread out below. Her lungs seized for a moment, but Zach leaned close and put his mouth to her ear, shifting her thoughts from how far up the hill they were to how his breath felt on the sensitive spot on her neck. A shiver ran down her spine.
He smirked. “You’re doing great, cupcake. Only a few hundred feet left to go.”
The track got steeper, and the car continued to climb. Reagan propped her knees up against the seat in front of her to avoid falling forward. Finally, mercifully, the train slowed and the voice came over the loudspeaker again, announcing their arrival. Since they were on the last car up, they’d only have about a half hour to explore before they had to descend. That might be enough time for her pulse to return to normal. The car stopped. She pushed away from Zach, no longer needing him to steady her nerves.
“What do you want to see first? The memorial? The spot where you can see six states?” Zach asked.
“You owe me for this.” Reagan’s jaw clenched together. Her hands went clammy and even the eight-degree dip in temperature at the higher elevation did nothing to cool the flush from her cheeks.
His lips quirked into his trademark smirk. “Just add it to the list. Come on, let’s check it out.”
He offered his hand, but she brushed past him and exited the car. As she climbed onto the platform she glanced down at the tracks they’d just traveled. Her knees went weak, and she braced herself against the railing. She’d made it up the hill, all right. But it appeared going down might be ten times worse. Zach hugged her to his side and steered them toward the station exit.
“Since you don’t want a vote, I say we check out the six states. If you’re a good girl, I’ll even buy you a treat.” His gaze drifted down and met hers. “Say, an ice cream cone?”
She rolled her eyes and adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder. “You can be so annoying.”
He held the door open for her, and she nudged him as she passed.
“I think that’s why you like me so much.” He caught up to her in a few short steps.
She resisted the urge to fist her hand in his T-shirt and yank his mouth down to hers. No, I like you because you make my insides hum. But she couldn’t say that. Instead, she gave him a playful swat on his granite-hard abs and walked ahead into the sunshine. She had twenty minutes to conquer the nausea in her gut before she had to get back into the death trap train car. It would take every last gulp of fresh air she could get.
Zach chuckled to himself as he and Reagan moved out the door into the sun. He’d enjoyed that ride up the mountain more than he cared to admit. The way Reagan nuzzled her head against his chest made him feel needed. And he still had the trip down to look forward to.
As they walked toward the info sign, his phone buzzed in his pocket. The sun glinted off the screen, making it almost impossible to read the caller ID. He stepped into the shade of a large tree and saw Scazzoli’s name. Damn. Way to ruin a moment. He rejected the call and shoved the phone back in his pocket. He’d deal with Scazzoli later. His gut pinged as he watched Reagan turn her face toward the sun and close her eyes. A smile played across her lips. The afternoon light hovered around her.
He dismissed the uncomfortable feeling in his gut, caught her hand, and tugged. “Let’s check it out.”
They wandered through some small shops selling souvenirs. He bought a half-pound of fudge for later and two bottles of water.
When they had read all of the informational signs and gathered their bearings, Zach headed toward the observation deck. “Ready to see six states? We only have a couple more minutes to kill.”
“Mmm. Sure.” She agreed but trailed behind him.
He moved toward the railing and Reagan stopped short. “I’ll be right next to you the whole time,” he said, tugging at her hand.
“I’m not going to the edge.” She pulled her hand away and crossed her arms over her chest. “No way.”
