Chris shrugged and stopped, balancing on a boulder in the middle of the stream.
"I like to hike along the streams, hop rocks, get my feet wet," she said and laughed as she nearly fell in. "I love the sound of water," she added. "I just found it by accident, really."
"Tell anyone?"
"Are you kidding? Just you."
"Good."
Their eyes locked for a moment, both breaking into slow smiles. Then Jessie followed Chris along the rocks, laughing good-naturedly when she slipped and dunked one boot into the cold water up to her ankle.
They were silent as they followed the stream and before long, Chris loosened her pack and laid it away from the rocks in dry spruce needles. She motioned for Jessie to follow. They walked on, the roar of the falls making its presence known.
Jessie let her mind drift back, remembering the time her father had shown her this place. Their secret place, he had said. They would sneak off and make sure no one followed them, then pitch their tent where they could sit and watch the sun as it fell behind the horizon, listening to the sound of the falls. She wondered if Chris knew there was a trail going down to the falls. You could walk all the way down and stand behind the cascading water. Jessie remembered sticking her face into the cold spray, afraid she would be knocked down by its force, but her father had been there, holding her.
Chris watched Jessie now, saw the small smile touch her then disappear just as quickly. She wondered what it was Jessie was thinking of.
Jessie let out a sigh and shook herself, warding off... something. She finally let her eyes slip back to Chris and met her curious gaze.
"It's beautiful here."
Chris held her eyes a moment longer. For a second, Chris was certain those dark eyes had opened to her, revealed some deep truth. Then they closed again, the same mysterious dark gaze that Jessie normally fixed her with securely in place.
"Yeah. This is one of my favorite spots."
Chris walked to the edge where the stream sloped downward before disappearing over the side of the mountain and looked out over the distant canyons, the peaks rising up beyond them in the west. It was a clear afternoon, still warm for early September. The nights had been getting cooler, hinting of autumn, but the days remained warm and cloudless.
There was no sign of a previous campfire, no charred rocks to mark a spot and Jessie watched as Chris gathered some rocks now and cleared an area. One of the rocks that Chris picked up was black on the bottom. Apparently, Chris dismantled the fire ring when she left, leaving no sign that she had been there. Just like her father used to do. Jessie shrugged off the depression that threatened and went about gathering small twigs to start their fire. There was a fallen pine nearby and she broke off larger limbs and hauled them over to the fire ring, breaking them with her foot and stacking them neatly in a pile.
They set up the small tent and took out the sleeping bags, then Jessie surprised Chris by pulling a bottle of wine out of her backpack.
"You packed that?" Chris grinned. "Weren't too concerned about weight, were you?"
"And aren't you glad?" Jessie asked. "Or do you want to have coffee with your dinner?"
Chris laughed. "Tell you what. I'll share my tent if you share your wine."
"Hardly a fair trade, seeing as it's not raining." Jessie clutched the bottle to her chest and raised an eyebrow seductively. "You'll have to do better."
"Okay. I think I have a sleeping bag to bargain with."
Jessie seemed to consider this, her eyes raised into the trees. Then she looked back at Chris, her eyes twinkling with delight.
"Sleeping bag for half my wine? Okay, McKenna, I accept."
Chris nodded, enjoying the unexpected playfulness. By the look on Jessie's face, she was enjoying it too. They worked in silence again, Jessie breaking up sticks for the fire and Chris laying out the few cooking utensils and pots she had brought along.
"I think I'm going to hike the stream a bit," Chris said.
"Go ahead," Jessie said. "I brought a book." She pulled out a worn paperback and waved it at Chris. "I'll just sit and relax."
"Okay. I won't be gone long."
Chris walked back the way they had come, hopping across the rocks until she came to the trail. She crossed over and picked up the stream on the other side. She had been camping here twice before and both times had intended on exploring upstream but had ended up perched on a rock overlooking the falls and canyon. She thought this time she would leave the view and solitude to Jessie. She had lightened up since the first couple of encounters and Chris was beginning to enjoy her company. She wanted nothing more than to confront Jessie with her true identity, to talk about Annie, to find out why she was back, but Chris admitted that it really wasn't any of her business. And if Jessie wanted to be Jennifer Parker for a few days and escape from her real life, who was Chris to haul her back to reality?
She stopped after nearly a half-hour, the trees casting long shadows over the stream as the sun was sinking lower. If she were to catch the sunset, she would have to hurry.
She found Jessie leaning against a rock, book held opened in her lap, but she was looking out over the canyon.
"You're back," she said. She lazily moved her head to glance at Chris, a sleepy smile on her face.
"How's the book?"
Jessie shrugged. "One of those self-help books. Mostly bullshit," she said.
Chris laughed at the sincerity of Jessie's words.
"So you took a nap instead?"
Jessie grinned. "This crap always puts me to sleep." She motioned to the sky. "I was afraid you were going to miss the show."
"Of course not. That's why we're here."
The sun made its way over the ridge, far to the west, shooting oranges and reds their way. Jessie opened the bottle of wine and they each poured some in their drinking cups. They sat against the rock, quietly watching the sun fall from view, their eyes filling with the deep colors of sunset, the western sky aglow as a brilliant burgundy shot through the few low-hanging clouds before fading to a quiet pink. Overhead, the cedars and pines whispered their secrets as the wind caressed the branches and carried scented air into their faces.
Jessie couldn't imagine a sight more beautiful. The colors were even more splendid than she remembered and she shut her eyes for a moment, trying to forever burn it in her memory.
She felt Chris watching her even before she opened her eyes. A faint rosy haze remained where the sun had been only moments ago and she turned to Chris, their eyes locking in the last light a day.
"Beautiful," Jessie whispered
"Yes, very."
"Thank you for letting me share that with you."
Chris's smile was as soft and unhurried as the sunset had been and Jessie felt herself being pulled into those blue eyes. Unfamiliar feelings washed over her and she didn't know what to make of her rapidly beating pulse or the difficult time she had catching her breath. She let her eyes slip briefly to Chris's mouth, wondering if her lips were as soft as they looked.
Chris pulled her eyes away, silently acknowledging the growing attraction between them. She wondered if her attraction was simply a result of finally giving life to a picture on the back of a book. Chris still wasn't certain that she liked Jessie Stone, but she suspected she had yet to meet all of her.
She moved away, leaving Jessie staring after the long-gone sun. She started the fire easily, then put water on to boil for their dinner. With the dark came the chill of night and Chris moved into the tent, stripping off her shorts and pulling on an old, comfortable pair of sweats and bulky sweatshirt.
Jessie did the same, taking the small flashlight from Chris's hand. When she came out of the tent, she was holding up toilet paper.
"Gonna take a trip to the woods," Jessie said shyly.
Chris nodded. "Don't go far."