Dark Shadows

"Ha! You see!" Lauren said. "I told you you look like her! But would you believe me? Oh, no! But when a hot guy tells you...well, then suddenly it's true."

"You're just digging a deeper hole for yourself, Lauren. You should probably go while you're still only behind," Lisa said still pretending to be deeply offended.

"Okay, okay. I'm going."

She picked up her purse then said, "You two don't do anything I wouldn't do...if I had a super hot, young boyfriend to do it with!"

"Lauren! I swear!" Lisa said shaking her head.

Lauren did a finger wave goodbye leaving Lisa to try and explain what just happened.

"It's fine. She's really great. You're very lucky, Lisa. I wish I had a brother or a sister to share things with."

"No, you're right. She really is amazing. And I'm willing to admit she's also my best friend although sometimes I could pinch her head off. I should also say our mom is the third Musketeer in our friendship trio. We both love our dad, but it's just so different, you know?"

Collin reached across the table and put his hand on hers.

"I'd like the opportunity to try and fit into that mix somewhere," he told her. His face was kind and genuine, but he wasn't smiling this time.

"I don't see why that can't happen," Lisa replied. Her heart was pounding furiously again as Collin held her hand and ran his index finger over hers.

"That makes me very happy. I really have been waiting for you, you know. To find that better place."

"You haven't dated...at all? I mean, since you..."

"Since I told you the right person is worth waiting for?" he said very kindly. "No. I haven't. I haven't had any interest in dating anyone until I could know you were free and if you were even interested in me like I am you."

"This is so silly, but I was thinking you weren't really interested in me. You know, like I am in you."

"Wow. This is getting...interesting," Collin said with a smile.

"Yes. Yes, it is," Lisa agreed.

"I know we've only spent a small amount of time together, but, there's this cabin that's a bit of hike into an area with a reasonably nice trail leading to it just into the Cascade Mountains. I was wondering if you might like to maybe hike up there with me this weekend."

"And...hike back that same day?" Lisa asked barely able to talk.

"Not...necessarily," Collin told her with a smile. "We might want to, you know, rest and gather our strength before going back."

"Ah. I see. Well, strength is very important when it comes to doing something physical and we wouldn't want to run out of strength would we?"

"So...is that a 'yes'?"

"Yes, Collin. That is most definitely a 'yes.' Well, assuming you help me figure out what I need to bring and how to carry it."

Collin did her one better and took her to a sporting goods store where they bought her a back pack and some hiking boots with a couple of pairs of decent socks. They really didn't need to take all that much with them as it was only a five-mile hike from the end of the last place they could drive a vehicle to. They'd spend one night then hike back and call it a first real date.

When the weekend arrived, Lisa was ready to go and found herself enthusiastically chatting with Collin the entire way. The more they talked the more she wanted to know about him and the more she learned the more she liked. She couldn't believe how much they had in common when it came to the so-called 'big ticket' items in a relationship. Collin's take on love and romance mirrored what she'd wanted and craved for so long.

"So do you want children someday, Collin?" Lisa finally asked as they passed the tiny town of Greenwater as they headed toward Chinook Pass on Highway 410.

"Definitely," he said. "Do you?"

Lisa's confidence waned when this subject came up as the 'age monster' reared its ugly head again in a big way.

"I...I do," she told him truthfully. "I always have. I just wasn't married to a man who wanted them, too."

"Them? As in more than one?" he asked with a smile.

"I think I could be persuaded to have more than one," she said smiling back happily. "With the right man, of course."

Collin didn't mention it, but it was killing Lisa so she forced herself to ask him.

"I know we just met...kind of...and I've really enjoyed talking to you."

"Me, too," he assured her.

"Well, I was wondering when it comes to children..."

"Yes?"

"Well, I'm not exactly 23 anymore. Or 33. And not that you and I are talking about having kids together or anything, but...well, I know we're just getting to know each other, but would my age change your mind where kids are concerned if that subject were to come up?"

She suddenly felt panicked and started talking very fast.

"I know marriage hasn't even come up so this is just hypothetical, but you're a lot younger than me and maybe I'm being overly paranoid, but..."

Collin reached over and took her hand and said, "Lisa? Could you maybe take a breath? Maybe even a very long one?"

Lisa stopped talking and did just that. She inhaled very slowly and as she exhaled Collin spoke.

"I wouldn't have waited nearly six months for you to find that better place if I wasn't interested."

He looked at her, smiled brightly, then added, "Very interested. So should things continue to go as great as they've been going, you should know that I am not the least bit concerned about your age."

He squeezed her hand then said, "I would love to have a family with you."

She looked over at him and it looked as though she was on the verge of getting emotional.

"Unless, of course, the age difference...or something else about me makes me a potentially unacceptable father."

Lisa was blinking rapidly as her eyes filled with tears.

"There is absolutely nothing about you that would make me feel that way. You're quite possibly the smartest man I've ever met. You're determined and hard working, and you share my most important values. And well, don't go getting a big head, but you're also just about the most handsome man I've ever known."

"Hey! Who do you know who's better looking than me?" he said feigning resentfulness.

"Well, I've never met Matthew McConaughey so...okay, maybe you are the most handsome man I've ever met."

"Hmmm. Matthew McConaughey, eh? Um...I guess I can live with that...Detective Beckett."

Lisa's heart soared with happiness and she looked over at him and said, "You goofball! You sweet, adorable, handsome goofball."

Collin smiled at her then said, "There's our turn just up ahead."

He pulled off-road and headed another 12 miles into timber country then turned onto a trail and drove until they couldn't drive any farther.

"Will the car be safe here?" Lisa asked as they got out and stretched their legs.

"I hope so. It's a very long walk back to Seattle from here."

He opened the trunk and showed her a satellite phone.

"If someone does steal this bucket of bolts, no worries. I can call from anywhere on earth with this baby."

"You think of everything, don't you?" she said sweetly.

"I try," he told her before he grabbed her and pulled her to him.

Lisa yelped then immediately put her arms around him as their eyes met.

"Before I take you to my lair, I wanted to tell you that I have some very strong, very real feelings for you, Lisa."

"Oh, I see," she said trying to be nonchalant. "I suppose as long as that's the case I won't have to ask you your intentions."

"My only intentions are to spend every single moment with you for as long as you'll put up with me," he said as he brushed her pretty hair back.

"I think I could put up with you for a very, very long time," she told him. She smiled again then asked, "Does every single minute include time spent...sleeping?"

"I'd like it, too," he told her just before he kissed her.

When it ended Lisa said, "Oh. Well...once again, I like what you like."

He helped her with her pack then strapped his on which had almost all of their gear inside it. Lisa's had only a few pounds of stuff which was plenty for a first-ever hike.

Lisa found herself actually enjoying the walk as well as the company as they strolled along a narrow, worn path as they climbed ever higher.

"It's so peaceful up here," she said as the cabin came into view. "It's virtually silent and everything is so...green."

"Nature is incredible," he told her as he reached for her hand. "But there's something I'm enjoying looking at even more than nature."

"Oh, there is, is there?" she said sweetly.

"There is. In fact, I don't think I'll ever get tired of looking at...her," he said as he pulled her arm behind her back as much as the pack would allow.

"I'm glad," Lisa told him. "Because...I have very strong feelings for you too, Collin."

They spent the afternoon exploring the area all around the cabin which included a small lake and a beautiful waterfall coming off of one of the many smaller rivers that flowed down from the snow-covered mountains.

When it started getting chilly, they went back to the cabin where Collin made a fire.

"What's for dinner?" Lisa asked as she watched him place kindling on some scraps of paper to get the fire going.

Once the fire was strong enough to handle some pieces of wood, Collin rooted around in his pack and produced a couple of cans of beef stew and a small cook stove with some Sterno to warm them up on. He also had some trail mix and bottle water.

Lisa couldn't remember ever eating anything that tasted so good as they ate with the sounds of the fire crackling next to them.

When they finished, she snuggled up next to him and said, "That was the most delicious, most romantic dinner I've ever had."

"Same here," Collin told her as he kissed the top of her head. "It's getting dark already."

The last light of the sun faded quickly leaving the cabin dark except for the glow from the fire.

"Let me put a few more pieces of wood on that," he said as he stood up.

Lisa watched him with the kind of admiration a school girl felt around the boy of her dreams when she realized that in spite of his age, he was no boy. He was very much a man in every way and that's when she realized how much she wanted to find out how far that extended when it came to romance.

"So what does one do in a cabin when the sun goes down?" she asked as he sat back down beside her on a soft rug in front of the fireplace.

"I don't know," he told her as he looked into her beautiful eyes. "But something tells me folks spend a lot of time staying warm by staying close."

"How close?" she asked quietly as her lips moved toward his.

"Very," he whispered as he kissed her softly at first and then with a passion neither of them had experienced before with each other.

Moments later, they were both undressed and Lisa purred with happiness when she saw that Collin was very much a man...in that way.

"Wow," she said as she stroked him for the first time. "This is...very nice!"

Collin kissed her then squeezed her soft breasts and said, "No kidding."

He carried to the old bed that was a lot sturdier than it seemed. That was a good thing because their pent-up passions were released several times that night and again the next morning.

Lisa couldn't remember the last time she wasn't able to shower 'after' and that thought would have normally disgusted her, but she was so happy to fall asleep next to and wake up beside her handsome lover, showering was the last thing on her mind. She did fret momentarily about her breath, but when Collin woke up and saw her looking at him, she forget all about that too, as he took her one more time.

There was just enough water left to let them brush their teeth and sponge off with before they got dressed and ate 'breakfast' which was mostly trail mix, beef jerky, and a cup of hot coffee. It was instant and came from some packets Collin brought with them, but thanks to the Sterno, they were able to heat it up quite nicely.

Just like dinner, breakfast—to include the very strong-tasting coffee—was both delicious and romantic.

"Do we have to go back?" Lisa asked when they finished.

"Only if you want to continue eating," Collin told her. "I'm pretty good with technology, but I don't think I could catch or kill enough food to keep us fed. I could try, but we both might lose a lot of weight."

"Hey! Are you insinuating I need to lose weight?" Lisa said pretending to pout.

Without missing a beat, Collin said, "Uh-uh. Your body is perfect." He kissed her then said, "Sensational even."

"Nice save," she told him before kissing him again.

They packed up and hiked back to the car which, for some reason, no one had taken.

The new lovers talked non-stop all the way back sharing details of their lives the way all lovers do. Lisa's heart was full, and she was finally happy to the point of bursting. And in spite of having been so wrong about Michael, she was sure she'd finally found the love she'd always wanted.

As the days passed, she and Collin spent as much time together as they could. Lisa was at a point where she had to sell her house and when she mentioned it to Collin he told her he'd taken on two new clients that day.

"Once you sell it, you'll need someplace to live," he told her. "A place where maybe someone who loves you and who wants to spend the rest of his life with you also lives. Now that my business is going so well, I'm ready to look at buying a home and it would make me very happy to share it with you."

He'd bought a beautiful diamond ring before meeting her for dinner and had planned to propose even before she mentioned the house.

"Collin? What...what are you saying?" Lisa asked, her hands already beginning to tremble.

"I'm saying...I love you, Lisa. I'm saying I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

He got down on one knee, opened the tiny box, then said, "I'm asking you if you'll marry me and move in with me—forever. Lisa Kennedy? Will you marry me?"

She couldn't stop shaking as she offered him her left hand. She nodded many times, but couldn't speak as he slid the ring on her finger.

Finally she said, "Of course I'll marry you. And I'd love nothing more than to spend forever with you, too."

That summer she and Collin did marry each other. Lisa's parents gave her away with their full blessing and Lauren served as her Maid of Honor.

Just a few months before she turned 37, Lisa Morgan gave birth to the first of two children, a beautiful baby girl they named Violet Elaine Morgan, taking the first names of his mother and hers, as well. Two years later, she had a son they named after Collin's late father, Thomas Paul Morgan.

Within five years, Collin's business had two offices in the Seattle area, and by his tenth year, there were five locations throughout the state. He was very careful in hiring and training the right people and by the time he was 35, he was able to turn over the day-to-day operations to other people and spend his days with his still-gorgeous wife and their beautiful children.

Long gone were the dark shadows that had hung over Lisa's life for so many years; a life that was now happy and full of joy and the kind of love she'd always wanted but never before found.