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As expected, she sets a brisk pace, which I can only keep up with because my legs are longer than hers, and I’ve kept in decent shape since hanging up my cleats. We’re only going a short distance, so she won’t lose me, but she doesn’t know that, and I think she’s trying to.
Five minutes into the run the trail abruptly ends at the base of a rocky hill. “Now what?” She paces back and forth, hands on her hips.
“Up.” I grin.
She sighs heavily and starts picking her way over the rocks. It gives me a spectacular glimpse of her long, lean legs, but it’s her face I really want to see. I pull up next to her so we can scale the final few feet in sync.
“Oh wow,” she gasps when we reach the top.
There’s a large semi-circle viewing deck carved into the rock, with a hundred-eighty-degree view of the Rocky Mountains. Brilliant blue sky meets the vibrant green tree line all along the horizon, as far as the eye can see, and the best part is there isn’t a structure in sight. The land is completely untouched, pristine, the colors so vivid it looks like they were manipulated with a photo filter, which makes the reality that much more impressive. If there’s a better view in all of Colorado, I’ve yet to find it.
Sawyer wanders to the center of the viewing deck, where there’s a large circular pedestal.
“Is this a sundial?” She runs her fingers over the rough surface.
“It’s a map of all the peaks you can see from here.” I stand behind her and point to the sketch on the map, careful not to crowd her, although I’m close enough to feel the electricity between us. “Here’s Longs.” I move my finger from the map to the horizon, drawing an imaginary line between the pedestal and the mountains in front of us. “And Pikes Peak.” I draw another line.
“There’s Mount Evans,” she says, drawing her own line. “Wow. I had no idea this was here.”
“I don’t think many people do. I’ve never seen anyone else when I’m here.”
“You come here a lot?” She wrinkles her brow. “How did you find it?”
“It was an accident really.” I rub my jaw. “I drove out here the first year I was back from school. I was looking for someplace quiet and I thought this area might not be too busy during the day, but there was a group of people partying at our usual spot so I kept driving. I saw the pull out by the road and figured I’d turn around, but then I saw the trailhead. It wasn’t so overgrown eight years ago,” I add when I notice her confused look.
“Anyhow, I followed the trail and found this spot. I like it because there’s no cell service back here, so there aren’t any distractions.”
“Distractions from what? What do you do while you’re here?”
She may be more focused on the view than me as she waits for my answer, though I’ll take it as another win that she asked the question in the first place.
“I write.”
“Write?” She turns to face me, skeptical. “You never did that before. What do you write?”
“Not what. Who.”
“Huh?”
“Who do I write,” I prompt.
“Okay, who do you write?” Her voice is tinged with impatience, but I won’t let that deter me.
“You.”
“Me?” She points to herself. “Why me? And why did I never get any of it?”
“I write to you because you’re the only person I want to talk to but can’t, and you never got to read it because I didn’t have a way to reach you.”
“If you really wanted me to get anything from you there were ways.” She crosses her arms and pins me with a gaze that says ‘bullshit.’
“True,” I agree. “Except we both know you didn’t want to hear what I had to say. I think you still don’t. Although if I’m wrong, you can read all of it. I still have all the letters.”
“What sort of stuff did you write?” She kicks the ground with the toe of her shoe to avoid looking at me. I suspect things are getting a little too personal for her liking, though she’s still talking.
“Everything and nothing. I told you what school was like, the people I was meeting, what was happening at home when you weren’t there. I told you about not knowing what to major in, being nervous for games, all the things I wish I had done differently. Everything I would’ve said to you in person if I could have. Everything I couldn’t say to anyone else.”
“Why couldn’t you talk to anyone else?” She casts a tentative glance in my direction.
