Mariah Stewart: Coming Home

“On the way back,” she answered, a bit too quickly. She wasn’t sure how far four and a half miles would be and the trails appeared to be a bit rustic, with some fallen trees to walk over or around.

The trail ran along streams where there were small waterfalls, and while the man-made bridges were deteriorated, there were rocks to follow across the water. It was beautiful and quiet, but the trails were beginning to lead upward. After a particularly steep ascent, Vanessa was finding it harder and harder to catch her breath.

“Are you all right?” Grady asked from time to time, and she’d nod and say, “Yes. I’m fine. Sure.”

But by the time they reached the outcrop of rocks that marked the ridge, she was panting and couldn’t wait to sit.

“And my feet hurt,” she told Grady.

“Well, here, sit down and rest for a few minutes and let’s enjoy this spectacular view.” She started to sit and he said, “Wait.”

He inspected the rock and the terrain off to both sides.

“What?” She frowned.

“I just wanted to make sure there were no rattlesnakes sunning themselves where you were about to plant your butt.”

He sat and held a hand up to her to help her down.

“That was your idea of a joke, I hope. Though it wasn’t really very funny…”

“No.” He shook his head and opened his backpack. “No joke. I don’t make jokes about poisonous snakes.”

“You mean, there really are rattlesnakes around here?” She cast dubious glances at the ground.

“Sure. You’re in the woods.” He looked up and saw her uncertainty. “It’s okay. I checked. It’s safe.”

She sat but looked uncomfortable.

“So how do you feel?” he asked.

“Seriously?” She looked up at him and he nodded. “I’m tired, I’m hungry, thirsty, and I do not like snakes.”

“Other than that, what do you think of the view?”

“It’s beautiful,” she admitted.

She looked out across a green valley. Overhead a hawk circled, and in the trees somewhere behind them, a bird was singing. “I do understand why people like to do this. Other people, though, not necessarily me.”

He took off his backpack, opened it, and handed her a bottle of water.

“Don’t drink it too quickly,” he warned. “Just sip it.”

She did her best not to chug it. It was lukewarm but tasted wonderful. Amazing how good water can taste when you are truly thirsty.

“And look, Ness.” He pointed off to her right and grabbed her hand. “That’s a bald eagle. Look at the wingspread…”

“Oh.” She stared at the huge bird that had soared up from below the rocks. “I’ve never seen one that close. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one at all. It’s… it’s breathtaking.”

They watched it rise, then glide across the valley.

“That was a moment.” She smiled up at him. “One I will remember for a long time.”

“Good.” He squeezed her hand. “Now, are you ready for lunch?”

“Oh my God, I thought you’d never ask.” She leaned back on her elbows and held her face up to the sun.

“Here you go.” He put something in her hand.

She opened her eyes and looked down.

“Normally, I’d be the last person to turn down a candy bar,” she told him, “but I’m starving and I need real food, so I hope you have something fabulous in that backpack of yours.”

“It’s not a candy bar, it’s an energy bar. And it is lunch.”

“This”-she held up the wrapped bar-“is lunch? I walked for two hours and this is all I get?”

He nodded calmly.

“See all the good stuff it has in it?” He turned the bar over and pointed to the list of ingredients but she appeared not to notice. He shrugged, then unwrapped his bar, took a bite, and began to chew. “It’s really good. Honest. I take them out on the trail with me all the time.”

“Why don’t we have real food?”

“Because it’s easier, more convenient, and certainly lighter in weight. You’re getting all that your body needs between the nutrition in the bar and the water.”

She continued to stare at him.

Finally she said, “Grady, do you remember when we were making cookies at my house before the wedding?”

“Sure.”

“And you said that Mia didn’t know you had a job and if I promised not to tell her that you’d buy my silence-your words-with anything I wanted?”

“Right.”

“Well, I never told her, so the offer is still good. I mean, it’s still open, right?”

“Uh-huh.” He took another bite. If he was worried about where this was leading, it didn’t show.

“And it was anything I wanted, right?”

“That was the deal.”

“Here.” She held out her energy bar. “You’re going to need it.”

“Why?” He frowned and took the last bite of his.

“Because I know what I want.”

“I always pay up. Go ahead. What is it?”

“I want you to carry me down off this damned mountain and buy me a burger.”

Diary -

What a week this has been! First, Harbor Fest was a rousing success! There were so many people pouring into town that Chief Beck had to set out some hastily prepared signs directing people away from the docks and down to the park. The mayor said if this keeps up all summer, we’re going to need to hire more police just to direct traffic. Daniel’s thinking about investing in a van to use as a shuttle between the Inn and the town so that his guests don’t have to drive their cars to shop or visit the historic sites where they’d have to fight to park.

Who’d have thought that one day those old houses and churches up on the square would be considered “historic”? Heh.

I must say there are some happy merchants on Charles Street, though. Lots of visitors mean lots of shoppers and diners.

Now this is the big news, and personally gratifying to me: Grady Shields is back in St. Dennis! I saw him in Cuppachino on Friday where he was picking up lunch to take to Vanessa at Bling because she was too busy to leave the shop. Isn’t that sweet? I asked him if he was just visiting for the weekend and he said he thought he’d be staying longer than that. Then he said he wanted to come down to the paper later to take out an ad for his wilderness guide services because he’s thinking of offering some hiking and camping tours in the Appalachians.

Well, you can imagine what was going through my mind at that moment!

Yes, of course, I secretly rejoiced that I’d remembered the right words in the right sequence and that I did find all the proper herbs. I’d have felt simply terrible if I’d turned that handsome young man into a toad.

Of course, it’s possible that this extremely promising development had nothing to do with me… that Vanessa and Grady would have gotten back together on their own, and that the little ritual in which I’d engaged on their behalf was really nothing, after all, but words whispered while burning some smelly old vegetation.

I, however, like to think that the old girl still has it.

– Grace