The Price of Fame - KJ1 (21 page)

“Wise choice, young lady, as dinner will be a spectacular affair; the falls it is. Right this way.” She swept her hand in the correct direction, indicating that Jay should lead the way and set the pace. As they walked, Kate explained that the Kaaterskill Falls were once as popular as Niagara Falls, and, at 260 feet, represented the highest falls in New York state, including Niagara Falls. The falls consisted of two tiers: the upper, which was a 175-foot vertical drop, and the lower, comprising the other 85 feet.

Jay was impressed with her friend’s knowledge of the area and its historical value, and she loved listening to her talk; Kate’s deep, melodious voice flowed over her like honey. The day was still fairly young, but already it was shaping up to be one of the best she could recall having in a long, long time.

A short time later the trail led through a stand of virgin hemlock trees, emerging at the lower basin of the falls. When the two women arrived at their destination, standing at the bottom of the falls looking up, Jay was struck speechless. The roar of the water crashing down was overwhelming and, even from a good distance away, the spray proved powerful enough to coat them with a light mist.

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“My God, Kate, this is amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Jay regarded the scene with a sort of childlike wonder, turning around in a circle to take in the entire view. “And there’s nobody else here.”

At that last comment, Kate smirked, knowing that she had picked that spot in which to picnic for that very reason. She had been fairly confident that, so early in the season on a weekday, the place would be relatively empty of tourists and day hikers. She was glad beyond words that she had been correct.

She led them further down the trail, far enough away from the falls that the noise was minimal and the spray non-existent, yet the view of the falls was still breathtaking. They were standing on the edge of Spruce Creek, which featured a number of huge stones and some pieces of the upper segment of the falls that had fallen to the creek bed long ago.

“Come over here and give me your hand, Jay.”

“Why?”

“Has anybody ever told you, you ask too many questions?” the taller woman mock-growled.

Jay chuckled and moved closer, making a grand show of presenting her hand. At that, Kate grasped the hand, pulling the smaller woman to her and scooping her up in one smooth motion, supporting her under her knees and her shoulders.

“Wha,” the writer sputtered, “what are you doing?” She latched on to Kate’s neck reflexively.

Kate smiled down at her mischievously. “Well, I assumed that you didn’t want to get wet, and since our picnic spot is over there...” With her head, she gestured to a huge, flat rock in the center of the creek. “I thought this might be the best mode of transportation for you. Now, if you’d prefer...” She made as if to set Jay down in the water.

“No!” the petite blonde screamed.

“I didn’t think so.” With little effort, Kate picked her way across the rocks that populated the creek and over to the designated dining area, carrying Jay in her arms. Since the water wasn’t particularly deep at that point and her hiking boots were waterproofed, unlike her companion’s sneakers, she wasn’t concerned about her feet getting wet. When she reached the giant boulder, she set her date down gently on top of it.

“How’s that?”

“Mmm, great.” Jay knew Kate was asking about the lunch spot, but she was actually thinking more about being swept up into those strong arms.

“Glad you like it,” Kate chuckled. She removed the pack from her back and spent several minutes looking around inside for the items she wanted. First, she pulled out a red-and-white checkered tablecloth, which the two of them spread out on the rock. Then she produced two paper 129

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plates, napkins, and silverware, which she arranged on the makeshift table. Next, she unloaded several sandwiches, bags of chips and pretzels, fruit, and carrot sticks. Finally, she removed two bottles of water from the pack and hoisted herself up onto the surface of the boulder.

“Wow, this is quite a spread.”

“I wasn’t sure what kind of sandwiches you liked, so I got a bunch of different ones for you to choose from. You get first pick: there’s turkey with mayo, roast beef with Russian dressing, grilled chicken breast on a hard roll, and a lettuce, tomato, and cheese sandwich with mayo.”

Jay was flabbergasted. “You are amazingly thoughtful, you know that? I can’t believe you went to all this trouble and carried all this stuff in that pack. It must weigh a ton!”

“Nah, it’s not too bad, and besides, since I didn’t work out today, this will substitute nicely.”

Jay selected the turkey sandwich, some Fritos, a handful of carrot sticks, and an orange and arranged them on her plate. Kate handed her a bottle of water, took the roast beef sandwich, some of the remaining carrots, and the other orange, and the two women sat side by side watching the falls and laughing at Fred, who had taken to hunting for rocks on the creek bed.

When they had finished eating, Kate collected the plates, orange peels, chip bags, and silverware and placed them in a plastic bag before putting them back in the pack. Then they folded up the tablecloth and she stuffed that in as well. With everything cleaned up and put away, she leaned back against a shelf in the mammoth rock, motioning for Jay to lean against her. The writer happily complied, fitting herself in the space her tall friend had made between her legs and resting her back against the convenient chest.

Kate wrapped her arms around Jay’s waist and rested her cheek on the fair head. The smaller woman placed her arms on top of her companion’s and turned her head slightly. “That was a fantastic lunch.

Thank you for putting it all together. This is a beautiful spot.”

“Mmm, almost as beautiful as you, but not quite.” She smiled as a blush crept up Jay’s neck and into her cheeks.

“Yeah, right,” Jay said dismissively and shifted uncomfortably.

Kate put her fingers briefly to the lips below her and tightened her grip around the blonde’s waist, bringing them into even closer contact.

“Don’t, Jay. Don’t do that. You are without question the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and I’m not known for giving idle or false compliments. Please don’t dismiss or discount how incredible you are; you need only look in the mirror to know that I’m right.”

Jay was quiet for a moment before saying, “My father used to tell me that I was ugly and nobody but him would want me and that I was lucky 130

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to have him. I guess I believed him, and, even though you’d think I should know better by now, part of me still believes him.”

Once again, Kate was glad she’d never met the man, because she would have strangled him if she could have. “Your father was a sick man, Jay; the things he told you were designed to lower your self-esteem and keep you under his control. They weren’t the truth.” She let her words sink in for a few seconds before continuing. “Do you trust me, Jay?”

The younger woman was surprised by the question. “More than I’ve ever trusted anyone in my life. Why?”

“Because I want you to know that you can always, always trust me to tell you the truth, and the truth is that you are gorgeous, and amazingly desirable, and that, right now, I’m having a really hard time keeping my hands to myself.” Kate’s eyes had darkened with longing; the urge she felt to touch this woman was nearly overwhelming.

Jay shifted in the circle of Kate’s arms, burying her hands in the dark mane of hair, urgently drawing the tall woman to her mouth. This kiss was filled with passion, promise, and desire, igniting a fire deep inside both women. Time stood still for several long minutes and the rest of the universe ceased to exist, until reality finally intruded as they became aware of the sound of hikers in the distance.

They both pulled back at the same time, breathing heavily, eyes locked on each other. Kate ran her finger along Jay’s jawline and across her lips, and gently disentangled herself. Without a word, she stood up, shouldering the pack and settling it, and hopped down off the rock.

Picking the smaller woman up into her arms, her sapphire eyes never losing contact with the sea green ones, she carried her back across the creek to the trail where, reluctantly, she set her back on the ground.

“Shall we go on?” Kate asked huskily. “It’s a magnificent hike from here along the Cliff Walk.”

“I’m all yours,” Jay said with a twinkle in her eyes.

“I can only hope,” Kate murmured, so softly the petite woman wasn’t sure she’d heard her correctly. “C’mon Fred, let’s go.” With that, the canine bounded out of the water and back onto the trail, shaking himself off and managing to spray his mistress in the process. “Gee, thanks, buddy, I guess you could tell I needed some cooling off.”

Jay just laughed.

They moved along the trail at a comfortable pace, with Fred running ahead several hundred feet and doubling back to check on the humans’

progress every now and again. The two women estimated that by the time the day was over, he would have covered twice the ground that they had.

After a short time they came to a series of open overlooks atop steep outcroppings of rock. On two sides were clear vistas of mountains, and 131

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below was Kaaterskill Creek, which led to the Hudson River. They stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the view and to allow Fred to rest and get a drink, since his tongue was hanging out the side of his mouth.

“Let’s keep going,” Kate said. “The view gets even better when we get to Sunset Rock and Inspiration Point.” And, true to her word, as the pair approached those landmarks they came upon a riot of wildflowers lining the path, along with colorful butterflies and several varieties of birds.

“Oh, Kate, it’s amazing.”

“Yeah, this is my favorite time of year to hike the Catskills because all the wildflowers are in bloom. I sometimes spend hours up here just looking out at the mountains and flowers; it’s a great place to get away from it all and just be. I’ve never brought anyone else with me before.”

Jay soaked up her companion’s words like a sponge; she wanted to learn everything about her, including the things she liked to do and how she liked to spend her time. The writer reached out and took Kate’s hand.

“Thank you so much for sharing this with me. I feel so privileged that you wanted to show me this place.”

Kate squeezed the smaller hand and began moving again, not letting go. The trail was wide enough there to accommodate them walking side by side, and they continued on through forest until they came to a grassy knoll and the taller woman brought them to a stop. Jay looked around, not seeing anything but the junction with another trail. At her inquiring look, Kate explained, “This was the site of the Kaaterskill Hotel. It was built in 1881 and burned to the ground in a fire in 1924. At its peak, this area was
the
place to see and be seen by the rich and famous. Presidents, movie stars, and socialites all gathered here in the Catskills to play and vacation.”

“I think you missed your calling, Stretch. You should have been a tour guide.”

Kate rolled her eyes and tugged on Jay’s hand and they resumed their hike. The trail led them through open fields with views of the surrounding mountains and through dense forest where the smell of pine trees assaulted their senses. Twenty-five minutes later they emerged from the forest into a large open space.

“Let me guess,” Jay said, “Another hotel site.”

“Very good, Watson, but not just any hotel. This was the famous Catskill Mountain House.”

“You’ve got to do something about that British accent, woman. Either do it right or give it up, because I gotta tell ya, ya just ain’t got it.”

“Everybody’s a critic. Just for that, maybe I won’t share this with you.” She waved the copy of James Fenimore Cooper’s book in front of Jay’s face.

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Jay did her best to look contrite. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I promise I’ll try to behave.”

“That’s better.” Kate turned her friend slowly in a full circle so that she could appreciate the view of the entire valley as it stretched below her, and then she began to read a passage from
The Pioneers
.

Jay closed her eyes and listened to the low, smooth voice, and then opened them to take in the scene depicted by one of the greatest writers in American literary history. “Wow. It still looks the way he described it 150 years ago. That’s incredible!”

“I thought you might appreciate that. Just think, someday one hundred years from now, people like us will be walking along on a hike, quoting from a classic great American novel by a giant of her time named Jamison Parker.” At the incredulous look on the smaller woman’s face Kate added, “If you dream it, it can come true, Jay. Don’t ever give up on your dreams, they’re too important and you’re too talented.”

Jay was about to make light of the compliment, and then, remembering what Kate had said earlier about selling herself short, said simply, “Thank you.”

“Are you ready to go? We’re almost at the end of the hike, and if we go now we’ll have a little bit of time once we get back to the house to relax for a bit and shower before dinner.”

“Sounds great.”

Once settled in the car and on the road, they held hands all the way back home, each woman reliving some of the magic of their day together and content just to be in the other’s company. Fred was sound asleep in the back seat, having gotten his fill of exercise for one day.

As Kate was putting the finishing touches on her outfit for the evening, the front doorbell rang. She smiled to herself and called out,

“Jay, could you get that, please? I’m not quite ready yet.”

“Sure,” came the answer from downstairs.

Jay opened the door to reveal a deliverywoman carrying two long rectangular boxes. “Can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Jamison Parker.”

The expression on Jay’s face was one of shock. “I-I’m Jay Parker.”

“Well then, I guess these are for you. Somebody must like you a whole lot, that’s for sure. Well, have a great night.” And with that, the deliveryperson was gone.