Completely Smitten by Kristine Grayson

woke up, the odder the voice seemed to her. The throat clearing, the whistling, and then the radio seemed strange.
    Somehow she hadn’t expected to find other people so close by, but it made sense. Even when people sought isolation, they achieved it. Human beings clustered. Besides, the regulations governing this part of the primitive area might have been different from other parts. Neighbors might have been closer than she realized.
    But she didn’t realize people could travel with their radios. Showed how much she knew these days.
    By the time she had gotten out of the bathroom and changed into clean clothes (and they seemed even cleaner than they had when she was hiking—as if they’d been freshly laundered and replaced in her pack), the voice had stopped speaking.
    The birds were even louder, suggesting that the man had moved away from them. The house smelled of coffee and fresh baked bread. Ariel’s stomach rumbled.
    Apparently being injured did wonders for her appetite. Either that or she’d really have to rethink this dehydrated food the next time she decided to take a hike.
    She made her way down the hall, her heart beating in anticipation. She’d dreamed of Darius all night, of the feel of his body against hers, the way his lips had brushed hers so gently. Her cheeks grew warm.
    When she stepped out of the hallway, she was surprised to find the living area empty. The kitchen was still hot from that immense stove, and the front door stood open, the screen keeping the bugs at bay.
    The table, made from varnished pine, had a single place setting. The chair was pulled back slightly, revealing a footstool covered with pillows just beneath the table. There were plates of food near the single chair: muffins, a loaf of bread, and a steaming plate of scrambled eggs. A pitcher of orange juice sat next to a pot of coffee. A single red rose sat in a clear vase near the juice glass.
    Ariel made her way to the table. As she got closer, she realized what she had taken for a paper napkin was actually a folded piece of paper with her name written on it in flowing script.
    She picked up the paper, jabbing herself in the ribs with the crutches as she did so. Using her thumb and forefinger, she opened the note with one hand and read.
    Dearest Ariel,
    I’m afraid I was called away this morning on some personal business and I won’t be able to see you off. I’ve contacted a plane for you. It’ll arrive before nine. The pilot will help you board. I told him to come into the house so that you wouldn’t have to wait near the runway.
    In the meantime, enjoy breakfast.
    I’m sorry that we missed each other but I’m glad we met.
    I shall never forget you —
    Dar
    Ariel stared at the letter for a long time, her breath caught in her throat.
    He was gone. He had left her here, alone. Someone else had called for the plane. Someone else would help her board. Someone else would make sure her ankle got tended.
    She would never see Darius again.
    I shall never forget you was a dismissal. He really and truly was gone.
    Ariel sank into the chair and propped up her injured foot. She set the crutches aside and stared at the table before her. This was not a meal a man made when he was trying to get rid of someone. This meal took a lot of time and energy. It was a meal meant to impress.
    And where did he get the single rose? She had seen no bushes about. Besides, roses didn’t do well at this elevation, at least not in the dryness of an Idaho summer.
    If only she had gotten up earlier. She would have come out here and talked to him while he was cooking.
    She would have found out what the personal business was.
    How did he even find out about it? Just the night before, he had said he didn’t have a phone.
    Maybe Nasal Voice had been using Darius’s radio. Maybe Darius had sent the friend here to help him out.
    She grabbed her crutches. Hungry as she was, she wasn’t going to leave here without seeing Darius one last time. Or at least finding