4

UP HERE IN the high desert, the morning was colder than Leila was accustomed to. She went back for a baggy sweater before stepping out into the crisp morning. After last night’s party, she wasn’t surprised that there was no movement in the hall. Everyone else would be asleep for a while. Closing the back door, she walked through the manicured grounds, then out of the property onto the desert path, feeling a few cool grains of sand dance up onto her feet. It felt good. No need to protect her pedicure now that the awards party was over.

She followed the sandy path down toward the valley that the house overlooked. On the rocky hillside, twisted pine trees spaced themselves at a respectful distance. The sand here was brick red. Down lower, it turned yellow, and far to her left it was brown. From behind her, the not-yet-risen sun lit the pink hills in the distance.

Her legs and feet were cold—bare in her shorts and sandals—while her upper body was warm in her favorite sweater. It was strange to feel cold outdoors. She usually only needed the sweater for air-conditioned rooms. She breathed in the crisp, fragrant air. The landscape was so different compared with Phoenix, only a hundred miles away. Here, desert and mountain met. The pines mingled with cacti on the hillsides.

Birds chattered from their perches. These same birds had jarred her out of sleep, but now she enjoyed the raucousness of their springtime passion.

As she neared the base of the valley, she saw a figure stooped toward the ground. Her first thought was to turn in another direction, but a flicker of recognition made her curious. She continued toward him.

Off of the wind-exposed hillside, shorter plants grew around her feet: stubby cacti, catclaw, aloe vera, and broom. The prickly pears had begun to burst with bright yellow flowers. She stepped carefully around the sharp tentacles.

The young man heard her coming and looked up. He had a sturdy bag beside him and held what looked like a paring knife. A larger knife sat on the ground nearby. A small yucca plant had been uprooted.

She remembered now where she had seen him, even though they had never spoken. He was Samantha’s son. Leila wished she had walked the other way after all. She would feel angry at Samantha for a while after last night and expected her adult son to have the same prejudices with an extra dose of entitlement. Now, here she was alone on an abandoned hillside and he with a couple of knives.

What was he even doing here, tagging along on his mother’s trip?

He looked at her with interest and set down the knife, straightening his tall frame as she approached. He slapped his hands together to shake off the dirt.

She was accustomed to men dropping what they were doing and giving her their full attention. It didn’t matter that she was fresh out of bed in a big sweater. Her thick hair must have been a sight.

This morning, when she set out on her walk, she hadn’t expected to have to be “on.”

“Harvesting some yucca root for breakfast?”

He laughed. The gentle tone of his laughter and the smile that accompanied it surprised her. There was a genuineness about him that she had not expected. She felt more at ease.

“There’s a different kind of yucca that grows here in the high desert,” he said. “It has many medicinal uses.”

“Are you a doctor?”

“Several rungs lower. I’m in nursing school at Arizona State.”

“I didn’t know they taught that sort of medicine there.”

“They don’t.”

She scoped out a rock and sat down about fifteen feet away from him, folding her arms.

He had neatly cut brownish-blond hair. His face had the glow that came from living in over three hundred days of annual sunshine and spending many of those days outdoors. It was a face that still needed some growing into; he would be more handsome in ten years than he was today.

“I know I’ve seen you before, but you always avoid everyone when we come to Samantha’s house. Why?” Leila asked.

“I’m not interested in her business or that world.”

Leila reached into her pocket for a rubber band and tied back her rebellious hair. “Are you staying up there this weekend?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’re in that world whether you like it or not.”

He frowned. Not at her, she could tell, but at her words. She laughed, wanting to put a smile back on his face.

“At least a trip to Sedona gives you a chance to collect your specimens.” She hoped she hadn’t offended him. “I’m hardly one to talk. I’m as wrapped up in that world as anyone.”

She thought of all her colleagues and coworkers about to wake up to their hangovers in the house on the hill. Yes, she was part of that world, but she wasn’t of that world. She never could be. The world she lived in was hers alone. Not even her father was there with her. It was a lonely place, but she was used to it.

“You work for my mom, don’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“What do you think about the mortgage business? Do you feel good about the work you do?”

“Yes, I do. It’s all in what you make of it. I love helping people. I always try to do the job with integrity. There are others—”

“Don’t worry. I know the way my mom works. You won’t offend me.”

“I think I already have. But yes, without naming names, there are those who work in a way I wouldn’t be comfortable with. The medical profession probably isn’t all that different.”

He nodded.

“What’s your name?” She had never heard Samantha use her son’s name in the office.

“Ashford.”

“That’s a unique name. I’m Leila. I’d shake your hand, but . . .”

He looked down at his hands, caked with sand, clay, and bits of yucca root. They both laughed.

“Rain check on the handshake. It’s nice to meet you, Leila. Is this your first time in Sedona?”

“Yes.”

“Come with me. I want to show you something.” He gathered his tools and folded them into a satchel. He tossed the remains of his yucca plant into the specimen bag.

Leila hesitated, mistrusting. What is he up to? After a moment, she stood up. He seemed all right.

Ashford led up the next hill, away from the house. The trail grew steep. She had wanted a walk this morning, so she didn’t mind.

“We’ll be just in time,” he said.

“In time for what?” She quickened her pace.

“Sunrise on Cathedral Rock.”

Just then, the sun cracked over the ridge behind them. Twenty yards farther, they reached the top of their own hill. Leila gasped.

Nearly a mile away across the valley rose Cathedral Rock with its many spires, glowing orange and gold in the morning sun. Each ring of the sandstone formation stood out sharply in varying colors, splashed by the horizontal rays. A forest of deep-green pines, occasionally broken by the orange ground, covered the expanse between them and the monument. The valley was still in shadow. Cathedral Rock shone over everything like a beacon. It looked so strong and ancient, yet also fragile, like it could crumble to dust at any moment.

“Isn’t it magnificent?” he asked.

“It is.”

She breathed the cool morning scents rising from the forested valley: pine, clay, dewy grass. As if rising with the scents and enveloping the beauty everywhere, a wonderful feeling of peace washed over her. Leila didn’t leave much time in her life for peace. She was grateful for the moment.

They stood for a few more minutes in silence as the sunlight spread. It was a strange moment, almost romantic in its way, between two people who had just met—he with dirt all over his hands and she having just rolled out of bed. If it weren’t for the dirt, would he have tried to kiss her? That was usually what boys brought girls to places like this to do.

What a scandal that would be if Samantha found out.

She turned back to him, smiling broadly. She was glad she had decided to trust him.

“Thank you. I bet this will be the highlight of my trip.”

He smiled back at her with a look that she recognized all too well. He was probably calculating the odds of a kiss attempt or at least wondering what it would feel like.

“I’d better get back.” She wanted to preserve the lovely moment and carve the peace in her memory before it changed.

She hurried back down the hill and up the other side toward the mansion. Movement had begun on the other side of its many windows. The building with its pristine grounds didn’t look so impressive now compared to the glorious monument across the valley.