Kipp threw up his hands. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about."
"You will. Trust me."
Kipp worked over his sandwich while pondering Libby's words. Afterward, he crumpled the paper bags and tossed them in the waste can.
Libby finished her sandwich and slipped into the bathroom. When she returned, she placed her hands on Kipp's slumped shoulders. "Don't think so hard. It'll come in its own time."
Totally confused, his head reeling, Kipp turned his attention to something more tangible. He took his turn in the bathroom and began to stew over how the sleeping arrangements would work. She would certainly want privacy, and he wasn't too keen on parading around in his shorts. If he left the room for a while, she would be all tucked in by the time he returned. Or, maybe she would want him to get into bed first. Prepared to give her the option, he came out of the bathroom only to discover she was still in her street clothes and already curled up on the bed nearest the window.
He sneaked close enough to see if she was asleep. Her eyes were closed, and she didn't move. He couldn't resist smiling. As much as this woman with the weird talent and strange explanations frustrated him, she also intrigued him.
The room held a chill from the air conditioning, and he took a blanket from the closet shelf and laid it over her. Her familiar rose scent aroused his senses. Kissing her cheek right now would have been so natural. Instead, he switched off the lamp, slipped off his trousers, and climbed into the adjoining bed.
* * *
CHAPTER 19
In the morning Libby woke to the sound of water running. During the night she had shifted positions and was now facing Kipp's bed. The clock was turned away from her, but by the heightened color of the walls reflecting light from the windows, the sun had risen.
The door latch clicked, and artificial light flooded the closet area. She pulled the blanket up around her face and peered over the edge. Kipp came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, exposing part of his thigh. He rummaged through his suitcase and slipped back into the bathroom with a piece of clothing in his hand.
It had been a long time since Libby had seen a man's partially nude body, and she experienced a stirring long suppressed. She willed the feeling away.
Thankful she'd been spared the uncomfortable position of parading around in a nightgown, she got up and smoothed out her wrinkled clothes as best she could and retrieved the brush from her purse to tame her hair.
While waiting for Kipp, she opened the curtains and viewed the brown arid foothills, tinged with a greenish blue, abutting the town they were in. When she turned back, Kipp, dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, his wet hair slicked back, was staring at her. She hugged her arms to her body and glanced at the clock. "I guess I slept in."
"I couldn't sleep. I guess I'm anticipating."
"That's understandable."
"I thought I'd go out for a walk and let you have some privacy. Is thirty minutes enough time?" When she nodded her assent, he stuffed his wallet in his pocket and left Libby to herself.
Sleeping in street clothes brought back memories of traveling by bus or train in her youth. But they also brought back memories of the excruciating times she lay on the couch, waiting for her ex-husband to come home. She shivered with dread and drove that thought away.
Kipp was giving her a half hour, but one look in the bathroom mirror and she decided an hour wouldn't be enough time to fix the problem.
While in the shower, she recalled glimpsing Kipp's body and experienced a rush of heat. She thought about his sincerity, his kind and respectful manner. But one glance at her own body reminded her she would rather keep their relationship platonic than to suffer the humiliation of seeing him repulsed by her deformity.
Once she was out of the shower, she hastened to style her hair, and by the time she heard the main door open, she was putting the finishing touches on her makeup. She dressed in capris and a blouse, nothing too clingy, and joined Kipp in the outer room.
He glanced up from opening paper bags. "You look terrific."
Her face warmed from the comment. She hadn't had this much attention in a lifetime. Kipp was a gentleman, something she was definitely unaccustomed to.
He set a Styrofoam cup on the table in front of her, and she picked out a banana nut muffin.
"I thought we might drive up to Idaho Falls this morning. Then go east from there," he said. "What do you think?"
She stared off into the distance.
"Libby, you're not going to get quiet again, are you? We need to keep talking."
She focused back on him. "I guess you haven't been around me enough to know that sometimes I'm tuning in. Like when you mentioned Idaho Falls, I was getting information."
"Did you get something?"
"I think your instincts are good. I sense Idaho Falls is going to be pivotal."
Kipp laid his hand over Libby's. "Are we that close?"
"We need to get up there."
Kipp leapt up, collected the paper bags, and threw them in the trash. Libby hurried to grab her cup to keep it from being confiscated.
"I'd like to call Ellen before we go," she said.
An irritated look crossed Kipp's face, the same expression she was beginning to recognize whenever he was impatient. "Can't you call on the way?"
She snatched her purse from the bed and hastened from the room. Kipp followed with the luggage.
While she waited in the car for him to check out, she called her home number. No one answered. She tried Ellen's cell phone.
* * *
CHAPTER 20
"Where are you?" Ellen yelled into her cell phone, rock music blaring in the background.
"We're on our way to Idaho Falls."
"Can you speak louder? I can hardly hear you. I'm on the treadmill, sweating like a gorilla in heat. Can you hear the machines?"
"Yes, and the music. How are you doing?"
Ellen slowed the treadmill to a stop and rested her sweaty palm on the handle. "I'm A-okay. I wasn't last night. Mel called. He wanted me to come home. He says he loves me, the fool. I told him to stuff it where the sun don't shine. Aren't you proud of me?"
"I guess the workouts are doing you good. You sound great."
"Where did you stay last night?"
"In a little town north of Salt Lake City."
"I mean, is there anything to report in the snuggle department?"
"The what?"
"Did you sleep together?"
"Of course not."
When Ellen scanned the room, her jaw dropped. Charlie Bender had come around the corner.
"Ellen?"
"Oh my gosh, it's my movie star."
"Who?"
"Charlie Bender. He just came out of the weight room. I'm a wreck, and he's coming my way." Ellen turned to the side to avoid eye contact.
"Ellen. I'll call you in a day or two and let you know what's happening."
"Okay, hon, you two take care." Ellen crammed her cell phone in her bag and held a towel in front of her legs just as Charlie approached in faded shorts and a wrinkled tee shirt.
"Didn't know you came here," he said.
She plastered a smile on her face and batted her eyelashes, all the while feeling like a two-ton whale. "I'm using Libby's membership while she's gone. What are you doing? Keeping that boyish figure in shape?"
Charlie patted his belly. "Too many dinners out. I put in my time and lift a few weights."
"I bet you come in here to ogle the women with their tiny little figures, like all the rest of the men here," she said, nodding toward the thin young woman who had stepped onto the elliptical machine across the room.
He gave the woman a sweeping look. "Naw. I like to have something to cuddle."
"That's refreshing."
"Are you about done here?"
"As done as I'll ever be."
"How about some juice? I'll buy. We can go sit in the park and talk if you want to. I have a little time before I have to get back
to work."
"I'd be delighted. I'll just clean up first and meet you there." She watched him walk away and give her a little salute from the top of the staircase. The man definitely made her heart skip a beat.
Wishing she'd been better prepared, she left the gym, dressed in a faded oversized sundress, the only outfit she'd brought with her. She crossed the street, smearing on extra coral lipstick.
Scanning the grassy area of the park, she spied Charlie on one of the benches near the river. A few geese were pecking the grass near the water's edge, their backs glistening gray in the sunlight. Downstream, water gushed over the falls.
Charlie stood and handed her a paper carton. "Hope orange is okay."
"You bet." She pulled the tab and took a long swallow of the cold sweet liquid, and he waited for her to sit first, which she happily took note of. "I just talked to Libby. They're on their way to Idaho Falls."
"You know their plans?"
"Kipp said it was okay if I knew. Actually, we're the only ones they told. God, I hope they find that little girl."
"Are they running into any problems?"
"Not as far as I know."
Charlie rested his arms on his thighs. "Kipp's a driven man when it comes to Kelly. I hope this deal works out."
"You mean finding his daughter, or Kipp and Libby?" Ellen shifted to see Charlie's reaction and wasn't disappointed.
"Wouldn't that be something? The guy deserves a good woman."
"She deserves a good man."
"You ever meet his ex?"
"No, but I saw her once on a magazine cover. The perfect woman," she said with mild disdain.
"She's a real..." He waved the comment away. "Let's just say they weren't compatible. What about Libby? She ever marry?"
"Yeah, if you could call it a marriage." She huffed in disgust. "The man defined the word abuse."
"I don't remember any police action concerning her."
"They lived in a different county when they were married."
"What happened to him?"
"He spent a week in jail. Then he left her when she got cancer."
Charlie's eyes widened. "Libby had cancer?"
"Breast cancer." Ellen told him all about the two surgeries, one of which Ellen considered to be a botched job, and the agony of the chemotherapy and after that the radiation treatments. "Her ex couldn't handle it."
"Nice guy."
"I always told her there was a gift in having the cancer. At least she got rid of him."
"She ever hear from him?"
"He calls once in a while when he's drunk or needs money, and he visited her once. He did remarry, so we've heard, and now he has another woman to kick around."
"I don't know how those assholes live with themselves. The department gets sick of having to deal with them." He took a large gulp of juice. "How'd she get mixed up with the guy?"
"That's the kicker," Ellen said. "He's an ex-cop. She met him when she was working with the police on a missing person case."
"Abuse knows no bounds."
"And Libby is a capable, intelligent businesswoman. You'd think she would know better than to stay with a man like that. Of course, I'm a good one to talk."
"Your husband ever hurt you?"
Ellen had never been asked that question and had to think how to answer it. "Mel? Hell, he barely ever touched me." She sucked in a breath. "God, I can't believe I told you that."
"Don't feel bad. I had the same problem. My wife would never put a hand on me. Not even a hug."
"Is that why you divorced?"
"That and a million other reasons. She said my belly disgusted her, but hey, this baby's all muscle." Chuckling, he pounded his midsection like a drummer.
Ellen laughed. "You're so funny. I like that."
Charlie emptied his juice carton. "I hate to run, but I have to get back to work. I'll walk you to your car."
They strolled along the sidewalk, talking about the unusual heat wave that had gripped the town. His holding the car door open for her was another courtesy that didn't go unnoticed. She tossed her bag in the backseat, climbed in, and rolled down the window to say goodbye.
He stooped near the opening. "You free to go out to dinner sometime?"
Her pulse quickened, hurling her depression into oblivion. "You better believe it. Mel doesn't have a claim on me anymore."
"I'll call you tomorrow." He winked and sauntered toward his vehicle.
Ellen yelled after him, "Did anyone ever tell you, you look like...?"
He yelled back, "All the time."
* * *
CHAPTER 21
Wild grasses, parched by the late summer's sun, blanketed the eastern hills in a golden hue. Puffy clouds dotted the midday sky, and the air was pleasantly warm.
The trip north was uneventful, but the closer they came to the exit for Idaho Falls, the anxious feelings Libby picked up from Kipp were overwhelming. She tried deep breathing or counting the number of passing vehicles to focus her mind elsewhere, but little helped. Kipp remained quiet, except for the incessant tapping of his thumbs on the steering wheel.
Kipp veered to the right off the interstate. Traveling down one of the city streets, he finally spoke up. "Are you sure we shouldn't go to the police and ask around?"
Libby shifted away from the window where she had been staring at storefronts and looked at Kipp. "I feel we should do our own investigation first. We should turn east."
"But we don't even know where we're going."
She noticed a hint of frustration in his voice and wondered if he would ever trust her instincts.
At the next intersection she told him to turn left into the lot of the visitor's center. Kipp found a parking spot, and without a word he strode toward the red brick building as if he were grateful to have something concrete to do. She could almost see the nerves popping out of his skin. He'd escaped inside before she even got out of the car. Considering the gravity of the situation with all the unknowns, she shrugged off his lack of civility.
She entered the center and found him engaged in a dialogue with the attendant. The older gentleman, wearing a flannel shirt over his stooped shoulders, even though it was a summer day, spread out a map of the eastern counties.
"I want to get some good shots for a magazine," Kipp said, then turned to Libby. "I was just telling Ted here that I want those mountain shots. I said you'd been there before but didn't remember how to get there. Do you want to describe what you saw?"
Nice cover, she thought, as she advanced to the counter. "I was here a while back, and all I remember are three peaks grouped together. You can see them atop a long sloping meadow with lots of golden grass. They seem to rise out of nowhere."
The man ran his palm across the map and stopped near an area of green. "Wyoming or Idaho?"
"Idaho," Kipp said.
"Do you mind?" Libby slid her hand over the map's surface down the eastern part of the state and pointed at a spot on the border of Idaho and Wyoming.
"That's pretty close to the Tetons, but there are more than three peaks in that range. I guess you'll just have to have a look see." The man pressed a finger along the map. "If you follow this road, you'll get back on the highway, then take that road east. It'll take you to the town of Grand. You can see the mountains pretty close from there. You'll get an eyeful."
"What's Grand like?" Kipp said.
"Nice little town. Potato country. Farms all around. I'll warn you, though. There's a different breed of people living up in those hills. It's like going back in time."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You'll see for yourself."
A middle-aged couple came through the doorway, arguing about where they were going to eat lunch. Kipp folded the map and moved aside.
In the car he studied the map one last time before passing it to Libby. He started the engine and drove off. Asking him about lunch was pointless. He seemed intent on finding the highway out of town.
As they drove farther into fa
rm country, Libby's feelings drew her strongly to the east. She kept prompting Kipp to find a path in that direction, and Kipp exited on the easterly road Ted had marked on the map. Motoring over rolling hills, they were deep into acres and acres of wheat.
They'd been traveling well over an hour. Rounding a final curve, they perched on the crest of a hill. By now the sun was behind them, and when Libby looked up from studying the map, she braced herself with both hands on the dashboard. "Oh my gosh, Kipp. I think this is what I pictured. Pull over, quick."
He had witnessed the same sunlit scene and swerved to the side of the road. Libby jumped out first and stood trembling with excitement. With an arm over her shoulders, Kipp steadied her.
In the far distance several craggy granite peaks jutted out of the tree line. Opposite, where Kipp and Libby were, golden fields sloped to meet the town nestled in between. Libby's impression was dead-on.
She leaned into Kipp, thankful for his support. Maybe now she would be vindicated. She hated having to constantly prove her gift. Only when a car whizzed by, did she make an attempt to change positions, but his arm stayed snug.
He drew her closer and gave her a tender kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Libby."
His spontaneity was contagious, given the circumstances, and she returned the kiss.
He lifted her chin, forcing her to look into his intense green eyes. "When this is over..."
His eyes led her deeply into his soul, and she sensed a longing, but also a connection between them, far more than a passing friendship. Her breath caught. "We've only just begun. We don't even know for sure where the exact location is. We won't know until we feel it out. There is so much more to discover." She loosened his hold and hurried into the car.
Kipp slid into the driver's seat and held up his palm to her. It took her a second to understand his meaning, and then she laid her hand limply in his.
"I'm sorry if I've been a jerk," he said. "I've just been edgy."
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