Kiss Me, Lynn (11 page)

When the trout arrived, Alex sat down to enjoy his lunch too.
Conversation dominated each table, with waiters standing by to refill glasses and make sure everyone was pleased with the food.

At last!
Lynn felt this day had been worth the entire trip, just to be in the midst of the Inca capital city. She could hardly believe she was here! She and the others at her table exclaimed over everything they saw in the Plaza—bands, military groups, marchers, floats, and people in native costumes. Those who had gathered for the spectacle cheered, laughed, danced, and ate foods sold by vendors. The only way it could’ve been any more perfect would’ve been sitting with Alex, seeing the pride and excitement in his eyes over this special occasion—with his hand in hers.

She risked glancing at him, but he was deep in conversation with Sharon and Cathi, who clearly enjoyed monopolizing his time.
They had their guide’s full attention, and that was exactly as it should be.

<><><><>

Time to move on. They had another stop to make before returning to the hotel for dinner and some rest. Then, tonight, they’d be going to the planetarium above Cusco. A full day.

On their way to the bus, Alex hung back until he could walk with Lynn.
“Did you enjoy your lunch?”

“Very much.
I’m so glad everyone isn’t trying to please the Americans by serving us hamburgers and fries!”

“Actually, you can get both at the hotel restaurant for dinner tonight, if you’re hungry for something that isn’t Peruvian.”

Lynn thought about it a minute. “I can have burgers and fries at home. While I’m here, I want to sample as many different Peruvian dishes as I can.”

That pleased him.
He helped her onto the bus, then took his place in the front seat across from Rudolfo while Lynn went toward the back to what had become her “regular” seat. The bus was big enough they all had room to stretch while traveling from one place to the next. That was great.

Alex pointed out various landmarks on their way to the Inka Museum.
They spent about an hour there, seeing pottery, mummies, silver figures, textiles, and even musical instruments made and used by the Inca.

Out in the central courtyard of the museum, several women dressed in brightly colored Inca costumes sat before their looms, weaving blankets, shawls, and other things the
turistas
loved to take home with them. Lynn stood behind one woman, admiring her skill with weaving. As soon as the woman noticed her standing there, she began to recite the prices of the various things she’d made, which were stacked in abundance on shelves near her loom.

They all took their time looking through her offerings
, and several bought things from her. Prices in Peru were quite reasonable, since the local currency—
soles
—were worth about a third of the American dollar. Prices quoted in
soles
could be divided by three to get a good idea of the cost in dollars. One thing they’d all learned in Lima was that most vendors didn’t keep American money, so a twenty dollar bill in payment for an item costing forty-five
soles
might not result in change. Exchanging US dollars for
soles
was definitely the best thing to do.

Lynn had discovered
, the first time she’d bought something with American money, that the vendors would not take any bill with the slightest tear or mark. They explained that the bank would not take damaged US money. Even the exchanges wouldn’t take bills that weren’t perfect. So a lot of their cash was worthless!

By the time they left the Inka Museum, Lynn was exhausted.
Even Vicki had removed her shoes and massaged the arches of her feet. Vicki had always been the most active of their group, and she generally “led the pack” wherever they went. If Vicki’s feet were getting sore, then everyone needed some rest!

At the hotel, Lynn knew she needed to check e-mail as soon as she got back to the room
, but it was the last thing she wanted to do.

Chapter 11

Nothing from Santa Fe.
After some rest, everyone gathered at the bus to go to the Cusco Planetarium. Lynn had taken Alex’s advice and worn warm clothes, since they’d be outside part of the time, looking through the telescope.

Before helping her onto the bus, Alex asked her quietly, “Is everything okay at home?”

“No word yet, but I hope so.”

They wound their way through Cusco, then up the mountain.
The lights below and on the mountainsides all around the city reminded Lynn of a trip she’d made to Mexico City when she was in high school. Their flight had arrived after dark and the pilot circled the vast metropolitan area before landing. There weren’t nearly as many lights in Cusco, but they were more beautiful, Lynn thought, because the air at this altitude was so clean and clear.

When the bus stopped, everyone got out, but they didn’t see the
planetarium. “So, where is it?” Sharon asked Alex.

“It’s still above us.
The bus cannot go all the way to the top of the mountain. Here they come now in their vans, to take us the rest of the way.”

T
he owners of the planetarium arrived and took everyone up to the building and inside. The
turistas
sat on benches and listened to a brief talk about the Inca and their religious beliefs that related to stars and constellations. Lynn sat between BJ and Barb. Alex stood at the back of the room.

“Welcome to
the Cusco Planetarium! Before we go outside to view some of the heavens’ spectacular inhabitants that are visible this time of year, I want to tell you about how the Inca felt about the stars. The sun and moon were thought to be gods, and Inca agriculture was definitely related to such events as the summer and winter solstices and the equinoxes, and the position of the sun and moon in the sky.”

Lynn whispered to Barb, “If I fall asleep, catch me before I fall off this bench!”

“If you’ll promise to catch me, too!”

“The Inca believed that the creator, Viracocha, protected all living beings, and that the stars he created had special meaning, if only the people would believe the stories told about them.
To them, the constellations were shaped like birds and animals, such as the fox, llama, toad, birds, or the serpent. You may have noticed snakes in paintings by Inca artists.

“What we call the Milky Way, the Inca called a great river in the sky.
Floating on this river, they saw bright constellations made of stars, and dark constellations, which were dark blotches against a lighter part of the sky. The Inca believed these dark constellations to be Earth’s living animals. Everything on Earth and in the sky was connected. Kind of like ‘The Force’ in the movies.”

Lynn found that comparison extremely interesting.
She could remember Yoda telling Luke that The Force connected everything, even trees, rocks, and water. It had always been one of the most comforting theories she’d ever heard.

She leaned back a little to stretch her back and glimpsed Alex standing off to the side of the group now, instead of behind them.
His smile made her wish she could invite him to sit next to her.

The talk ended within a few minutes and they moved on to the next part of the tour—the dome of the planetarium.

Lynn was getting so sleepy, she had a hard time staying awake in the darkened room. Alex sat down beside her and took her hand. Without thinking twice about it, she leaned toward him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Much too soon, the presentation ended and they were invited to go outside to take turns looking t
hrough the telescope, which stood on the ground and was about four feet tall.

Lynn shivered in spite of
several layers of clothing and her jacket. The breeze came from behind the building, so she stood on the covered walkway, as much out of the wind as possible. There were two dogs outside who weren’t shy at all about approaching the group to be petted. Lynn wished she could wrap her arms around the bigger dog and share his warmth!

While the
group took turns looking at a star that turned out to be two stars close together, then a group of stars that had colors and looked like jewels, Lynn pressed closer to the building, wishing she could go inside. After Alex had taken his turn viewing the phenomena, he came to the porch, stood beside her, then eased his arm around her and pulled her in front of him.

Immediately, she felt the warmth of his body on her back
. She relaxed against him, his arms circling her waist, and silently thanked him. He held her hands with his, then whispered in her ear, “If you aren’t warm enough, I’ll try to do better.”

Lynn was grateful it was so dark outside, yet she knew that anyone who looked toward them would see Alex holding her.
The telescope had been repositioned to capture Saturn. It took several minutes for the astronomer to get it exactly right. He placed a stool beside the telescope. “Who wants to see?”

Lynn knew
she needed to be first. She pulled gently out of Alex’s arms and said, “Me! I’ve never seen Saturn except in photographs!”

A murmur traveled through the group.
No one else had, either.

When she approached the telescope, she instinctively touch
ed it before sitting on the stool.

“
Don’t touch the telescope!”

She took two quick steps back.

“Sorry. It’s just that it’s really delicate.” He looked through the eyepiece, then repositioned the scope, which took another minute.

“I had no idea…” Lynn said apologetically.

“No problem. Just sit and lean forward to the eyepiece.”

She did as he said, then gasped.
In the center of the black circle of sky, Saturn hung like a crystal, slightly tipped to the side, with the rings circling it. It wasn’t that big—the size of a silver dollar, maybe—but seeing it as it actually was, and not in a photo, took her breath away.

“Wow,” she whispered.
“It’s actually there!”

Reluctantly, she
stepped back to let Dorothy take her place. The image remained in her mind on her way back to the porch. Alex was there waiting, watching her with an expression she hadn’t seen before. It was so dark, it might have been anything, of course, but it seemed different. More intense and emotional.

He suddenly looked down, then back to her, smiling.

She hadn’t imagined it. The look he’d given her—

Sharon had just gotten up from the chair.
“That was incredible! Thank you so much!”

Before long, they were back on
the bus and on their way to dinner. But the bus stopped before it had made it all the way down the mountain back to the city and pulled into a parking lot by a church. They got out and went to the fence surrounding the lot and gazed over the city, with its lights of every color, and paler white lights dotting the mountainsides.

Alex stood beside her, but didn’t take her hand this time.
Instead, she took his. Together, they gave themselves time to become part of the city Alex loved so much.

They proceeded to a restaurant with more native music and dancing.
A group sang and played while several dancers made their way through the crowd during dinner. After they finished playing, the musicians wandered around, selling copies of their CD, which Lynn and two others bought.

Lynn said very little during dinner.
Alex sat beside her, their knees touching under the long tablecloth, their fingers laced. Alex spent most of the time watching the musicians instead of looking at Lynn, which she knew was best.

When they got back on the bus, she made her way back to her usual seat.
She had to have some time with Alex, alone. From the way he’d looked at her, she could tell he wanted that, too.

<><><><>

At the hotel, Lynn was last to leave the bus.

Alex whispered, “Let’s take a walk.
I know it’s cold, but I’ll keep you warm.”

She nodded
, caught up with Sharon, and told her she’d be up in a while, then went back outside. Alex put his arm around her shoulders while they walked. Before long, they reached the plaza where they’d sat on the bench, but they didn’t sit there. Instead, Alex led her around the edge and stopped when they got to a clump of flowering shrubs that were taller than they were. The clump hid a space in the center and it was to that space, rather like the center of a grape arbor, that he led her. With the fragrance of the flowers surrounding them, they couldn’t be seen by anyone in the plaza.

“Are you cold?”

“No, thanks to you.”

“
Querida
, I need to tell you something.”

Lynn held her breath.

“I told you I have to come to think of you as a special friend. Yet, my feelings have grown deeper than friendship.”

“I know.”

“Your tour will end soon. We’ll go to the Sacred Valley tomorrow for two nights, then on to Machu Picchu for one night, then back to Cusco for your last night here before you fly to Lima, then home.”

“Yes,” she whispered, as he pulled her
closer.

“I don’t want you to go.”

She held him tighter, her cheek against his chest, loving the way he caressed her back and arms, creating a warmth inside her that made her breathing quicken and her heart beat faster.

“I have to go home, Alex.”

“I want you to stay longer. After this tour, I will have two weeks off, with no new groups. We could take our time getting to know each other better, spending more than a few moments together.”

The idea made her sigh.
If only she could…

“I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I feel…drawn to you…in a way I’ve never felt before.
Please,
Querida,
stay in Cusco with me.”

“
Querida.
It means ‘friend,’ doesn’t it?”

“No.”
He leaned back so she would look directly into his eyes. “It means ‘sweetheart.’”

When they
kissed this time, she wanted to show him that her feelings also went far beyond those between special friends. He kissed her lips, her cheeks, her eyelids, then her lips again. She couldn’t hold him tightly enough, couldn’t kiss him deeply enough, and couldn’t imagine having to leave him.

Lynn lost herself in the kiss.
Staying with Alex would mean freedom for her. Freedom from worry, from responsibility, from work, but most of all from her feeling of duty. Never had she known anyone who created this feeling of freedom in her, this desire to become part of another person. How could she leave? But how could she stay?