Chapter Twenty-one
It had snowed during the night. Not a heavy squall, thankfully.
Just enough to make the canyon look like it had been frosted.
Fallon hadn’t closed the curtains in the bedroom, and the view through the window was breathtaking.
But then, so was the woman sleeping naked next to her.
Nora had awakened her in the night, apologizing profusely for having had too much to drink.
Fallon had laughed and told her she was a cute drunk.
Nora’s response was to tell her she was cute all the time, and their verbal exchange had slowly turned physical.
This time, Fallon had no doubt that Nora felt it too; their luxurious climb to arousal was from genuine closeness, not just a desire for gratification.
There was caring in each touch, an understanding that they were building toward a relationship of mutual appreciation and affection.
And while that was the intimacy she’d always yearned for with Nora, the big question remained: How would they make this work?
The dim sunlight was filtering more intensely through the clouds, and she didn’t want Nora to miss the amazing sight. “Nora. Baby, wake up. You need to see this.”
Nora stirred. “What is it?”
Fallon pointed through the window.
Nora rubbed her eyes as she yawned. “Wait,” she said, sitting up. “Is that snow?”
“Yeah. Doesn’t it look awesome?”
She’d barely finished her sentence before Nora was up and dressing with one hand while simultaneously digging in her suitcase for her camera. Fallon, still lounging in the bed, watched her with an amused expression. Nora frowned at her. “Aren’t you coming?”
Laughing, Fallon got into her clothes and followed Nora onto the balcony. After she’d snapped a few shots, Nora said, “Closer. We need to get out there.”
They ran down the stairs and out onto the walkway in front of the hotel.
Nora stopped occasionally, her camera clicking regularly as they walked briskly along the rim toward the Bright Angel Trail.
“Are you okay?” Nora asked, as if she knew Fallon was watching her. “Can we go along the path for a bit?”
“Sure.”
Half an hour later, Nora directed her to pose alongside the first tunnel.
“You don’t need me,” Fallon said. “This scene is great as it is.”
“I do,” Nora insisted. “I need you for perspective.”
They looked at each other for a moment as Nora’s words echoed in the cold morning air. “I need you for that too,” Fallon said.
Nora walked over and kissed her, a sweet lingering of lips, before giving her a little push. “Go pose. Then I’ll buy you breakfast.”
She took several pictures before Fallon called, “There can’t possibly be an angle you haven’t shot. I’m cold and hungry, and the snow is almost gone.”
“Were you always this whiny, or is it a new thing?” Nora asked, shrieking in pretend fear when Fallon started after her.
Back in their suite after breakfast, they warmed each other up in the shower before dressing more carefully for the day.
They caught the Hermit Road shuttle bus and alternated between walking along the rim and riding to the next stop.
“Show me what you see,” Fallon said as Nora maneuvered around other tourists to take three pictures of the Abyss. “I mean, how do you decide what to shoot when you’re looking at such an amazing vista?”
Nora made her fingers into a rectangular frame, moving it across their view.
“I don’t have the kind of lens that could get all of this scene, so I have to emphasize one part at a time.
I watch the way light and shadows change, looking for a combination of the two that gives me a reaction.
” She smiled. “I guess it sounds silly, the idea that I have to have feelings about my subject.”
Fallon shook her head. “It doesn’t sound silly at all. It explains why your photos evoke such emotion. May I try?”
Nora handed over her camera, and Fallon took one shot of the canyon before turning the lens at Nora.
At first, Nora didn’t seem to notice she was the new subject.
At the second click, she turned, and Fallon shot three more pictures while Nora protested, finally laughing and putting her hands over her face.
“What?” Fallon asked. “You don’t like it when the tables are turned?”
Before Nora could answer, an older woman came over and asked if they’d like her to take a photo of the two of them.
They agreed, moving closer, arms around each other.
Fallon flashed on a memory from their Firecamp days.
Nora had been reluctant to pose for a shot of the two of them, but Hannah had insisted, so Fallon had tickled Nora’s ribs just before the camera clicked, making them both laugh.
Nora had threatened to delete the results but was outvoted as everyone oohed and aahed over the image on the small screen.
Fallon briefly wondered if that picture had made it into the video.
“Smile,” the woman prompted before taking several shots. She declined their offer to take one of her before she boarded the waiting bus. “You have to send me those,” Fallon said. “The ones of you especially. You’re so much more beautiful now than in the picture on your Firecamp application.”
“Oh God,” Nora said as they resumed their walk along the canyon rim. “I actually remember the day my mom took that picture. I’d just gotten my hair cut short, and she made me put on extra makeup to keep me from looking ‘boyish.’ I was so mad, I refused to smile.”
“True. But the intensity in your expression was stunning. I always wondered what you were thinking.”
Nora stopped. “Can you guess what I’m thinking now?”
Fallon faced her, and they looked into each other’s eyes. Nora’s searching gaze resonated from the pit of her stomach to a slightly lower location. “That the Grand Canyon will be here forever, but we’ll only have our fabulous suite for one more night?”
Nora smiled. “You’re very good at that. But let’s ride the rest of the loop.”
After grabbing a light meal at the Fred Harvey Tavern, they went back to the suite, changing into comfortable clothing for a last evening on the balcony. “When did you first know you liked girls?” Nora asked.
“It all started with a book,” Fallon said, and Nora laughed.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“We’d had car trouble, and I was sitting in the waiting room, reading a story where the main character had the power to change things just by wishing.
I knew it was silly, but I thought if I had that power, I’d wish we could stay in one place, just for a little while.
I felt weird after the mechanic came and told us that the car parts would take several weeks to arrive. ”
“Like you made it happen?”
Fallon nodded. “My mom got a job in the diner, and I hung out there and helped sometimes. One day, this girl and her mother came in, and when the girl smiled at me, I felt happy inside. And kinda warm.”
“I bet.”
She gave Nora’s shoulder a nudge. “So I wished the girl would come back by herself.”
“And she did.”
“Yeah. Her name was Chloe, and she showed me the lake just outside of town. We held hands, and it felt wonderful. We met twice more, and the second time, she kissed me on the cheek when we parted. Oh man, that was something special.”
“More special than this?” Nora climbed onto her lap, kissing her soundly.
“Not even close. But then…”
“Okay. I’ll stop interrupting,” Nora promised, cuddling against her.
“Well, the holidays came, and Chloe was going to visit some other family in Denver. I gave her Seafire to read in the car.”
“Wait. The same book you gave me?”
“The very same. Well, not the exact one because Chloe never returned it, and she stopped coming into the diner. I’d see her on the street with some other girl occasionally, but that was it.”
“She broke your heart?”
“I thought so at the time, but I mended pretty quickly in those days.” Fallon smiled to herself, remembering the beautiful lady who’d come in asking for help as she’d been locking up one night, not long after Chloe had dumped her.
A week’s earnings didn’t compare to the feel of that woman’s body against hers. “And I got another copy of that book.”
“So you renounced wishing but decided to stick with Seafire and girls?” Nora asked.
Fallon felt the blood drain from her face. “I…” She bit her lower lip and fought back a wave of emotion. She didn’t want to relive the memory, but she wanted Nora to know her. All of her.
“What?” Nora pushed herself up. “Baby, what is it?”
Fallon took a deep breath, forcing herself to go on. “I made one last stupid wish. About a year later, my mom had been working really hard, and she looked so tired, I wished that she’d get some time to rest. Not long after that she…” Fallon swallowed hard. “She got sick and then—”
“Oh no. No, baby.” Nora took Fallon’s face in her hands. “Your adolescent wishing didn’t cause any of those things. You know that, right?”
She couldn’t meet Nora’s eyes. “Yeah, I do. But still…” She shrugged. “I stopped just wishing, no sitting back, timidly hoping for the life I wanted to come to me. I resolved to take charge of myself and understand the difference between things I could control and things I couldn’t.”
Nora kissed her forehead. “And obviously, you were successful. Making a home at Firecamp, becoming a crew leader…you got what you wanted.”
But I didn’t get you. They were quiet for a minute, looking at the stars. “And that girl, Addison?” Fallon asked. “Was she your first?”
“You remember her?”
Fallon couldn’t tell if she was pleased or upset. “Yes, but what I mostly remember is thinking she must be somewhat disturbed.” Relieved when Nora laughed, she added, “I mean, why did she bother flirting with me when you were sitting at the same table?”
“All right,” Nora said, getting to her feet. “Flattery will get you everywhere. Let’s go in.”
Fallon followed. “I meant it, you know.”
“I know. That’s why I’m taking you to bed.”
* * *
“My phone is completely dead,” Fallon said the next morning. “I haven’t even charged it since we turned them off.”