Page 15 of Love By The Falls

Strangely, this small pleasure increases my excitement more than I thought it would. I’m not sure what I expected from this excursion, but maybe taking a chance as ‘Opposite Charlotte’ isn’t as scary as I imagined it would be.

As the bus leaves the resort, Caleb talks to Teo, who’s sitting on the other side of the aisle.

I tune out their conversation, enthralled by the lush green landscape outside my window. We pass a small town with vibrantly colored homes and people chatting outside their doors. There’s a bar or restaurant with multicolored beads hanging from the door frame. Green rolling hills emerge from behind the town, and I grab my phone to take a picture of the beautiful landscape.

About twenty minutes later, the bus reaches the top of a hill, surrounded by trees.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve arrived at the next leg of our excursion,” says Arturo. “We’ll pick up the off-road vehicles from here.”

We gather outside of the bus and two more guides join us. They wear yellow shirts instead of blue ones with their khaki shorts. They smile brightly while Arturo separates us into smaller groups. “You three, please go with Maria. Joseph will take the three of you, and the rest can come with me.”

We follow Arturo to the row of Jeeps lined up next to the trees. “The six of you will be on your way soon. I’m just waiting for a third guide. He should have been here by now.”

The other two groups climb inside the vehicles, and we watch them pull away. Teo is bouncing on his toes, ready to join them.

Arturo checks his watch and phone, then huffs loudly. “He’s not coming.” He rests his hands on his hips and kicks the gravel road. “Perhaps I can take three at a time and come back for the rest.”

I look around. We’re in the middle of nowhere and I have no idea what sort of animals live in this area. “I don’t like the idea of being alone in the woods,” I say.

Caleb nods. “I agree.”

Arturo nods reluctantly, then looks up at the sky, perhaps hoping the third driver would fall from the heavens.

“What if I drive the other vehicle?” asks Caleb. “I drive manual and will follow you the whole way.”

Arturo bites his lip but considers the proposal. I think it’s a liability, but the guide agrees, satisfied with the suggestion. “Okay, I’ll drive slowly. Don’t worry.”

Caleb smiles. “I’ll be fine.”

“Thanks, man,” says Teo, patting Caleb on the shoulder.

I follow Caleb to the Jeep, although a part of me wonders if it would be safer driving with Arturo, who clearly has much more experience on these roads. But, somehow, a sense of loyalty wins over self-preservation.

I consider sitting in the back, but Teo and Nikki have already taken those seats. Double-checking my seat belt, I take two calming breaths as Caleb backs out.

He turns to me, “Relax. Everything will be fine.”

I groan. “Oh no. You’ve jinxed it now by saying that.”

“That’s not how it works.” He chuckles.

“Really?”

“Really. Nothing bad is going to happen.”

I bite my lip, stopping myself from shouting, ‘now you’ve double jinxed it’. But I’m trying not to be ‘Responsible Charlotte’ or ‘Negative Charlotte’ on this vacation.

“Your knuckles are white,” Caleb says as we hit a large rock on the road.

“What?”

He nods toward my hand that’s grasping the leather seat beneath me.

He laughs, but there’s nothing funny about the bumps ahead.

“I thought there would be a path.”

“It’s called off-roading,” Nikki shouts over the wind from the backseat.

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