Honeymoon for Three by Alan Cook

Eating in restaurants, driving through the
countryside in a leisurely fashion. He mustn’t get used to it,
because he was rapidly burning through his money.
    It was clear from the notebook that they
intended to visit the 14,000 foot peak. He hoped they weren’t going
to try to climb it. Actually, he wouldn’t mind Gary climbing it,
because it was a treacherous mountain, but he didn’t want anything
to happen to Penny. He, himself, had never climbed a mountain, and
he wasn’t about to start now.
    He spread his Washington map out on the bed
and studied it. He figured that sometime tomorrow they would show
up at Paradise, a village inside the park. Although the park was
large, it didn’t have many roads. He should be able to spot them
there easily.
    He had mixed feelings about finding them. On
the one hand, he wanted to see Penny again. On the other hand, if
they did make it here, it meant that they were still together and
getting along all right. It meant that Penny hadn’t yet seen the
light.
    ***
    The food served in the rustic dining room of
the lodge was delicious, and there was plenty of it. The walls were
dark wooden logs, just like the walls of the cabin he was staying
in. That was a real log cabin, albeit with modern conveniences.
From what Alfred had learned about the original log cabins in
school, they were dark, cold places, and he wouldn’t want to live
in one.
    He was chowing down on a healthy hunk of
meat when out of the corner of his eye he saw a young couple come
into the dining room. He looked directly at them and then jerked
his head away. They were supposed to be camping. He hadn’t seen a
campground in the vicinity. Did that mean they were staying
here?
    He became petrified, not able to move for
several seconds. Then he turned his head slightly and peeked at
them. A waitress escorted them to a table on the far side of the
room. Good. They were seated with their profiles toward him,
meaning that they probably wouldn’t notice him.
    With Gary, it didn’t matter anyway, because
he no longer looked like the person who had probably been described
to them by the woman at the chapel. Penny hadn’t seen much of him
for six years. Well, she had undoubtedly seen him at the restaurant
in Lomita when he had eavesdropped on her conversations with her
roommate. She couldn’t have recognized him.
    His current short hair and hairless face
resembled his yearbook picture a lot more than his previous look
did, but she would still have a problem recognizing him at this
distance. Especially if he didn’t let her get a good look at his
face.
    Breathing easier, he finished the main
course and ordered apple pie a la mode. Since he didn’t dare call
attention to himself by getting up to leave until they were gone,
he might as well enjoy himself. He looked at them from time to
time—casually, ready to turn his head away if they glanced in his
direction.
    His precautions were unnecessary. They only
had eyes for each other. They bantered; they laughed; sometimes
they reached across the table and held hands. They were
obscene.
    Alfred finished his pie and drank coffee.
The dining room wasn’t full, so he wasn’t pressured to give up his
table. He grew impatient, waiting and watching what he didn’t want
to see. Fortunately, they didn’t linger over dinner, which would
have increased his agony. Any time spent watching them together was
too much. He didn’t know how much longer he could stand it when
they finally finished eating and left.
    Now what? He had gotten his glimpse of
Penny. She was obviously happy. Now he should do what he had
planned—go home, get his job back, and rebuild his life.
    But first, he hastily paid his bill, put on
his new winter jacket, and left the dining room. Outside it was
dark, but he heard a tinkle of laughter coming from among the
evergreen trees. Walking swiftly and silently on a blanket of pine
needles, he followed the laughter and was just in time to see them
enter one of the