manner. “I think she just wants some attention.”
“Tanning hide is how you make leather. Why would she want to do that?”
Journey, who’d never been an advocate of wasting her time trying to get a tan felt vindicated. “Exactly. People ruin their skin trying to get a tan. Especially with a tanning bed.” When she saw his narrowed gaze, she shook her head. “Getting a tan is letting your skin get darker.”
Reno was trying to follow her line of thought. “Where I’m from, women protect their skin. They consider a tan, as you call it, to be a sign of low class.”
Journey saw the women turn her head to stare at Reno through her sunglasses. She didn’t appear happy. “It’s pretty common knowledge now that too much exposure to the sun’s damaging ultraviolet waves causes cancer.”
“Cancer.” He repeated the word. “I’ve heard Domino use that word. Terrible disease, isn’t it?”
“You’re right about that.” Nodding ahead of them, she announced, “See, the crowd is thinning out the further away from the road we go.” She could see a few people fishing and a couple taking a full-body dip in one of the deeper areas. “There’s a miniature waterfall up ahead. If that spot is unoccupied, it’s my favorite.”
Reno walked along beside her, trying to see anything that looked familiar. “This place has changed. Shallower. The rapids are almost non-existent.”
“Just depends on the amount of rainfall. A guy died when his truck was swept off the road and into the river a year or two ago. I think Apple almost suffered the same fate here, come to think of it. Benjen saved her.”
When he didn’t comment, Journey touched his arm. “What’s wrong?”
They came to a stop next to the waterfall. There was no one about, so they stripped down to their suits and Reno held her hand as they stepped into the knee-deep water. “You look very alluring, Sojourner Stanton.” He ran the tip of a finger from just under her breast to just over her femininity. “There’s not much material to this little outfit.”
“Hey, it’s a one-piece, very modest.”
“The one-piece has a lot of openings in it. Most of your front is uncovered.” He spun her around. “As is most of your back.”
“Do you want me to put my cover up back on?”
He looked around. “No, not at all.” Pulling her close for a kiss, he took advantage of their solitude.
Journey kissed him back wholeheartedly, but she could feel that something wasn’t right. “You didn’t answer my question back there. What’s wrong?”
He waved his hand around. “I’ve always loved this place. I lived here for four years. But now, all I can see is this granite. What if…” He paused, unable to go on.
Journey finished for him. “What if somebody disappears?”
“Yea. What if I disappear? Where will I end up? When will I end up?” He pointed at the people he could see farther upstream. “Has it happened before? How often?” Reno knelt in the water, placing his hands on a slab of granite. “Never in my life have I felt so…temporary. And I’m not talking about dying. After I came through, I know now how easily you can…”
“Vanish?”
“Yea.”
She came close and hugged him from behind, laying her cheek on his back. “I’ll hold you. Keep you from going anywhere.”
Reno laughed lightly. “Silly, isn’t it?”
“After what you’ve experienced, you know what’s possible.” She held him for long moments, rubbing the smooth muscles of his back. “Let’s try not to think about it today. Let’s just be.”
With a sudden movement, he swung around to pick her up. His demeanor completely changed. “I like how you think.”
Together they played in the water, swimming like fishes in the depths, and frolicking in the shallows. They splashed one another and kissed at the waterfall. He chased her from one bank to another and she dunked him when he caught her. “I love your laughter.” Journey wrapped her legs around him under the water. “That’s one thing I couldn’t quite imagine. Your voice.”
“Is it what you expected?”
“Yea, but better. Deep and sorta scratchy.”
“And to think you wanted me to sing.” He made a tsk-tsking noise.
“All the best singers have distinctive voices.”
“Distinctive doesn’t necessarily mean pleasing to the ear.” To prove his point, he framed her face and began to sing. “Oh Shenandoah, I long to hear you. Far away, you rolling river. Oh Shenandoah, I long to see you. Away, we’re bound a way. Across the wide Missouri.”
Journey felt tears come to her eyes as he sung