Her Charming Secret (17 page)

Jo giggled when she heard him say that, because she had spoken to Aiden’s grandfather once and he was really cheerful. She looked at him as he sat there smiling. “Aiden,” she called. He turned around. “Do you believe in love at first sight?”

“I don’t know, Jo,” he answered, completely surprised that she had asked something like that so suddenly.

“My mother married a guy she barely knew,” she said as her face abruptly filled with unhappiness. He remembered the day at the park, when they were talking about their families and she refused to talk about her father. “Dad loved her but he left us. All alone! He never came back, and when he did – it was too late. The reason why Jacob means so much to me is because of his love and kindness. He took me in when I was alone. And he has always been there for me.”

He held her hand tightly and said, “Thank you for telling me this. I know that you don’t feel comfortable talking to others about your dad. But you trusted me, and I hope you always will.”

“I trust you more than myself,” she whispered and moved closer. Just as he came closer, their flight was announced and she pushed him and jumped on her feet.

“Let’s go!” She grinned while pulling him up and started walking towards the gate.

“Vancouver?” he asked. He wasn’t surprised at all because he guessed that they might be going to British Columbia or somewhere near the other side of the country.

“YES! Now let’s go,” she exclaimed and pulled him along.

“Hey, wait, I was going to get my coffee.”

Poor Aiden! Just one cup wasn’t enough, but Jo wasn’t listening to him and they boarded the flight.

“Finally! You and your coffee, I swear you are addicted to that stuff,” Jo complained as they searched for their seats. Aiden was a little disappointed to see that they weren’t in the business class. When the stewardess asked them if they would like something, he tried to ask for coffee, but when he saw Jo glaring at him, he ordered apple juice instead.

“That’s better.” Jo winked. “Now, let’s get this adventure started.”

“Bien sûr, ma chérie.” He smirked, leaving her confused about what he said.

Their flight was peaceful; they talked a lot and got disturbed by the lady who sat next to Aiden. She kept flirting with him, and Jo, who had become a little possessive, glared at her and, at one point of time, rested her head on Aiden’s shoulder and teased him about being popular. Realizing that this was going to be an unforgettable experience, he placed his hand on hers, knowing that something exciting was going to happen in the near future.

- Chapter 15 -

Grisly Road Adventure

“Where is she?”

“We are extremely sorry, Mr. Knight. Miss Josephine isn’t in Toronto. We tried to find out where she went, but we couldn’t track her location.”

“Did I hire you to give me excuses? Find her. NOW!” Joseph Knight said in a stern tone and stormed out of his office. He would find her, no matter what happened.

Richard stood near the door looking at this tenacious man, who would do anything to bring Josephine back home. He sighed and walked away because he wasn’t ready to argue with him anymore.

*  *  *

Aiden and Jo reached Vancouver at noon. Jo couldn’t help but feel thrilled, and she saw that Aiden looked exhausted. He had been tensed during the flight.

“Are you jet-lagged?" Jo asked, placing her hand on his shoulder.

“I just need some coffee,” Aiden muttered, walking away. As soon as they exited the airport, Aiden raised his hand to hail a cab.

“No, Aiden, wait. My friend will pick us up,” Jo called after him.

“You didn’t tell me about this friend of yours.” He sighed and waited. Five minutes later, a black Volvo pulled up in front of them. Jo, who seemed to be familiar with the driver, waved at him. He stepped out and hugged her. “Long time no see, Joey!”

“Hey, Seth, how are you? Help me with these bags?” Jo smiled and introduced Aiden to Seth. Aiden was uneasy because he had to sit in the back while Jo sat next to Seth in the front. 
Why does she have to sit there?
 He thought.

“How was your flight?” Seth asked, breaking the silence.

“It was good,” Jo replied instantly. “But I guess Aiden didn’t enjoy it much.”

Seth just nodded. “Hey, Aiden, would you like something to eat or drink? I should have offered that first. My home is almost an hour away,” Seth said.

Aiden knew that this was the right time, and as Jo was busy talking to Seth, she wouldn’t notice. “Yeah, is it possible to stop by a café?”

Jo looked at him in the rear-view mirror and sighed. She knew that he would get himself a huge cup of coffee now.

“Sure, there’s one just ten minutes away,” Seth replied.

Aiden kept staring at his wristwatch and Seth was right; ten minutes later he pulled over and Aiden walked towards the café as soon as he could, followed by Jo.

“Aiden, wait! Is it okay if Seth joins us? He has done this before and it would be good to have some company,” she murmured.

He stopped in his tracks. “Is it just him? Who else will be joining us?”

Turning towards the lady who was taking his order, he said, “One double espresso to go, please,” before he turned to face Jo.

“There are three other people. My friends,” she sighed.

“Then what am
I
doing here, Jo?” he asked nonchalantly. He paid for the coffee and walked away. Her body tensed up when he walked past her without another word.

Seth’s place wasn’t big enough for three people. Jo got the guest room because Aiden decided to sleep on the couch. Seth tried to convince him to take the room, but Aiden wouldn’t listen. As he lay on the couch, he kept thinking that he had acted hastily. A noise disturbed his thoughts. 
Was someone here, a thief maybe?

The living room was dark as he walked towards the noise, and without realizing he tripped and landed on Jo, who switched on her flashlight to see Aiden on top of her.

“Ouch! My head hurts,” she cried out in pain. Aiden helped her up and rubbed her head a little.

“You okay? Does it still hurt? Sorry, I didn’t see you,” he said. “Do you want me to get some ice?”

She pulled his hand as he got up from the couch. “Don’t go, please!”

“I’m here, Jo.” He knew that she might get a bad headache soon, so he pulled his bag to him and took some Tylenol out for her. “One minute,” he said, going to the kitchen to get her some water. “Here, it will reduce the pain.”

“Thanks,” she sighed. Aiden sat quietly holding her hand. He had faced worse; his normal headache was ten times worse than Jo’s pain. He patted her head lightly and pulled her closer, hugging her lightly.

“Feel better?”

“Yeah,” she said and wrapped her arms around his waist. “This is so calming!”

“My mother hugs me when I have a headache.” He smiled. “It’s always good to know that you aren’t alone when you are in pain.”

She looked up. “I am sorry! I should have told you about my friends. We have been planning this for a long time, but everyone is always busy. This year was just lucky. And I really wanted to share this with you. This experience, the fun and the adventure; it’s not the same without you, Aiden.”

“You are wrong! This is about you and your friends.”

“So we aren’t friends? Am I still a stranger?” She huffed and pulled away. “Pretend that they aren’t here, that it’s just you and me. Then it will be fine!”

He couldn’t answer to that, so he sat quietly, cursing his bad luck. “Fine, I’ll come along. But tell me where we are going, please!”

She grinned widely and threw her arms around him. “You are coming with us! Yay! We are going to Grouse Mountain!”

He knew where it was and what they would do, and groaned deeply. Aiden Reid was many things, but he wasn’t an adventurous kind of person.

The next morning was just as gloomy as a stormy night for Aiden. They were going hiking! And the trail was marked Difficult. Seth and Jo were very enthusiastic. As Aiden didn’t have a pair of hiking boots, they stopped by a sports store where Seth helped him select a good pair.

“You haven’t done this before, have you?” he asked.

Aiden shook his head. “Listen, it’s gonna be hard. Most people quit halfway. You sure you can do this?” Seth asked when Aiden bought his boots.

“I’m not a quitter, Seth!” Aiden smirked and walked out. He met the other friends Jo had mentioned last night. Anne was a fitness freak, so she agreed to do this. Amy wasn’t all that excited; she felt that it was too challenging. Seth’s best friend, Brad, was here too. He reminded Aiden of Alex, as he was not just strong but a huge flirt, too; Jo avoided him all the time. Aiden thought that he knew this guy from somewhere, but he let it go, thinking he must have imagined it.

Grouse Grind was around thirty minutes from Vancouver. It was one of the most popular and used trails. Jo told Aiden that the distance was almost 2.9km and it would easily take them two hours to reach the top. Seth asked everyone to drink as much water as possible because they could easily get dehydrated. They carried bottles too. Aiden took this as a challenge and moved forward. Notices to hikers were put up here and there. When everyone was finally ready, they started their hike. Moving forward, Aiden saw a huge signboard that said, ‘GROUSE GRIND TRAIL. THIS WAY’, with an arrow pointing towards the trail. Aiden and Jo were the first ones to start their hike uphill when they walked past a gate and a small bridge. They kept walking till they reached a sign at a fork in the trail. Jo noticed that her friends were still taking time to reach the point where she was and she also noticed that Aiden was moving quickly.

Wow! He’s fast!
 She thought. She walked towards him and they took the left fork and continued their uphill climb. It was stunning; the trail was right in the middle of the trees. Huge trees concealed the wooden steps, giving only glimpses of the trail that lay ahead. They made their way over rocks, roots, and wooden steps. All of a sudden, Jo tripped on the roots but Aiden managed to grab her hand and pull her up. He held her hand as they climbed. A few minutes later, Jo heard a noise. She turned around to see Anne right behind them; the girl was definitely in shape, easily jumping over the roots and ascending very fast.

“Aiden, look, doesn’t she remind you of that girl from the movie 
Ring
? She climbs like that too.” Jo giggled. Aiden snickered, as he too noticed the likenesses. Anne was amazing, but he knew that she was just straining and wasn’t pacing herself, which would cause her to tire out faster.

Fifteen minutes later, they reached a small bridge over a dried-up creek. Aiden was timing their hike; Mr. Perfectionist wanted this thing to be done within two hours. Jo couldn’t see her friends, and Anne had already moved past them at full speed. Ten minutes later, they reached the first quarter mark. Each quarter mark had a huge sign with the number and a notice to the hikers.

Jo decided to wait for Seth and the others; she sat on a rock near the tree where the quarter mark was pinned up. Aiden didn’t want to leave her alone, so he sat next to her and sipped on his water bottle. It took Seth and Brad more than five minutes to join them. They were breathless.

“Jo, you’re here!” Seth exclaimed. “Amy gave up as soon as we started!”

Brad chuckled and added, “She didn’t make it to that bridge too. Where is the freak?” he said, his voice teasing as he asked about Anne. Jo explained how she strode past them at full speed. Seth and Brad wanted to take a break, but Aiden started to move uphill.

“Wait up, Aid,” Jo called after him and joined him. They set a steady pace as they walked ahead. They reached the second quarter mark where Aiden read that the trail ahead was extremely steep and difficult. It was lovely with all those trees around, but it was cold and a little dark too.

‘PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK’

The sign was doing a good job of making people stop halfway, but Aiden didn’t feel like giving up yet. He was pleased to know that Jo was still enthusiastic and wanted to continue the hike. They stopped in between for some water. The trail weaved its way uphill over more wooden steps and they reached the third quarter. Aiden couldn’t believe that he was doing this. He smirked and walked forward. Suddenly they noticed that the sky was growing darker, clear blue making way to dark gray, the threatening clouds whirling and crashing in vast and clammy pile-ups. There was a distant sound of the thunder rumbling overhead, and the seemingly abrupt darkening and change in color of the sky made Jo hold on to Aiden’s arm firmly. They were stuck between the second and third quarter of the trail, and there was no way to turn back now. If they got stuck in rain, it would be hard to go on.

“Come on, there’s no time to waste. We can’t get caught in this rain,” Aiden spoke quickly and started moving forward. They reached the third quarter, which was the steepest with the trail traversing over rocks in some sections. Jo slipped as she tried to keep up with Aiden’s speed. Aiden, who was still holding her hand, managed to pull her up. Unfortunately, she had hurt her hand and it was bleeding. Aiden, who wasn’t sure about what to do, ripped his handkerchief in half and tied it around her hand, stopping the bleeding. It still hurt, so he tried to guide her towards the trail. Huge raindrops were hitting the ground loudly; they were already drenched, but knowing that they were almost at the end, they moved forward as fast as they could. It was hard for Aiden to see, but he still maintained a tight grip on her hand and walked ahead. Jo was grateful that she had him here.

“Aiden, please wait,” she called. She sat down on a rock as the rain poured, feeling very tired; he removed his jacket and tried to cover her head. They were just five minutes away from the fourth and final quarter. Finally, Jo managed to gather some courage and jumped up.

“Let’s do this.” She smiled. Losing all his control, he pulled her into a tight hug. “That’s the spirit! When we make it to the top, we can celebrate,” he said, placing a kiss on her brow. She nodded and they started walking again. The rain had slowed to a drizzle now and they were able to see well. They arrived at the final quarter mark. The way ahead was also quite steep with some sections containing very large steps and rocks.

There was a voice in Aiden’s mind that kept saying, 
“Keep going, you’re almost there!”
 
He knew that there was no chance of quitting. He had to overcome this one, and he would. It was very hard as the rocks and roots were wet and Jo kept losing her balance. The adventurous spirit never died, though. She was still enthusiastic as she was two days ago. Slowly moving forward, they saw a light ahead of them.

“We are almost there,” Aiden called and helped her in the steep area. They finally reached the top with much struggle as Jo’s pain had increased. But she wasn’t worried about that as they stood at the top of the mountain.

“WE COMPLETED THE GRIND!” she cried. She couldn’t help herself; her excitement had already reached its limits. She jumped on Aiden and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back. Remembering that he had a bandage somewhere in his pocket, he told her to sit quietly on a rock. Clearing her wound with water, he bandaged it up. She felt happy to see this side of Aiden Reid. 
The kind, caring and loving Aiden!

“Aiden,” Jo called. When he looked up to see if she wanted something, she moved closer and placed a soft kiss on his lips. He was taken aback for a moment and couldn’t respond. She pulled away and whispered, “Thanks for putting up with me. I know that I’m crazy for doing this, but it means a lot when you stand by my side. Thanks for not giving up.”

He was surprised to hear this, but, placing his hand on her cheek, he responded, “My pleasure.” His mind felt fuzzy and he wanted to kiss her back, but his thoughts were cut short when Anne walked towards them and cleared her throat.