Never Far Away (6 page)

Chapter Five

Porter

   Porter knocked on Ella’s door right at nine am Saturday morning, as promised.  He waited a minute and when she didn’t come to the door he knocked again.  Finally, her heard footsteps coming from inside her apartment and then the door opened.  There stood Ella, hair falling crazily around her face with soft lines of sleep still fresh on her cheek, obviously just waking up.  His eyes wandered down from her face and when he saw that she was wearing his tee-shirt; he couldn’t help the strong and immediate possessive feelings that came over him.

 
  He was immediately inundated with images of Ella in his room wearing that shirt after their first night together and then again the night before she left.  That shirt went home with her to remind her of him and all this time she’d been wearing it not even knowing it was his or where it came from.  He wasn’t sure if he was comforted by the idea of her wearing his shirt unknowingly, or if it bothered him.

 
  “I’m so sorry, Porter.  I overslept.  I promise I will be ready to go soon.  Come on in.”  She looked down at herself and he saw when she realized she was just wearing a tee-shirt, as she pulled down on the hem trying to cover what she could.

 
  “It’s fine.  I can wait in my car if you want.”

 
  “Don’t be silly.  Come in.  I will be quick.”

 
  Porter walked into her apartment and looked around at her space.  Even though he knew she had shared this apartment with Kyle, it was seeping with signs that Ella dwelled there.  Poster sized prints of vintage Vogue covers adorned her living room walls.  There was a mannequin used for clothing design in the corner with long strands of different colored pearls around the would-be neck.  The entire apartment was decorated in shades of cream and pale pink.  It was a drastic contrast to Porter’s own decorating style, but it radiated ‘Ella’ and made him smile.

 
  He heard the shower come on in her bathroom, and he tried to find something to occupy his thoughts so that his mind didn’t wander to Ella in the shower with hot water cascading down her body.

 
  Along the wall there were pictures hanging in varied heights and he took some time to peruse them.  Most of them were pictures of Ella with her family, a lot of them taken many years ago.  One picture featured Ella, looking to be under ten years old, holding a baby wrapped in a pink blanket.  He assumed the baby was Megan.  Ella had two blonde braids coming down the sides of her face, and her eyes were the same piercing blue he had come to rely on.

 
  Another picture looked to be taken at a wedding and Ella was in a stunning black dress, smiling in the way that made his heart thump harder, only behind her, with his arms wrapped around her middle, was Kyle.  They both looked spectacularly happy and the sight of her hands covering his, with their fingers linked, tore at his heart.  He wasn’t accustomed to feeling jealous.  He knew this was an old picture that perhaps she just hadn’t gotten around to removing from her wall, but it still bothered him that Kyle was in her apartment, while he was still trying to break back in to her heart.

 
  He heard the shower turn off and got out of the hallway because the last thing he needed was to see Ella traipsing around her apartment wrapped in a towel.  He had plenty of self-control, but wasn’t a masochist.

 
  He wandered back into her living room and sat on her plush cream colored couch with small pink pillows. 

 
  “I’m so sorry again, Porter.  I will hurry,” she called from the back of the apartment.

 
  “Ella, really, it’s no big deal.  No rush.  The trail will still be there no matter what time we leave. I packed us a lunch.  I figured we would get hungry and I thought we could have a picnic.”  Porter smiled at the memory of the only other picnic they had together.  His mind was flashing images of Ella straddling him under a sleeping bag on the beach.

 
  “That sounds great.  Thanks.”  Ella came down the hallway and he took in her appearance.  She was wearing shorts again, this time some purple athletic shorts, with a black, form-fitting tank top.  She had a towel wrapped like a twisty cone on top of her head, keeping her hair up.  She sat down next to him on the couch to put on her shoes, her thigh brushing up against his, her closeness never far from his mind.

 
  “I’ve never been on this trail before.  I’m excited.  Thank you for inviting me.”

 
  “You’ve never been to Multnomah Falls?  It’s one of the most popular tourist attractions within fifty miles of Portland.  How can you call yourself a Portlander and not go there?”

 
  “Hey, I never said I hadn’t been there.  I have been there many times, but I have never hiked the trail.  When I was younger, I was always afraid to go to the top because of the old legend about the Native American couple who fell from the top.  Then, when I was old enough to realize that I was being silly, I just never made it back.  The falls are beautiful though.”

 
  “Well, it’s not a really difficult hike, but the views are spectacular.”

 
  “Just let me dry my hair and we can go.”

 
  She walked back to the bathroom and he heard the buzzing of her blow-dryer.  A few minutes later she appeared, fresh-faced and looked ready to go.

 
  The June sun was out in full force and even though it was bright enough for sunglasses and sunblock, it was early enough that there was still a chilly bite in the air.  They started their hike and were currently weaving through throngs of people, trying to make it past the popular viewing point that didn’t require any real hiking, just a place for people to come and admire the majestic waterfall, and feel the cool mist of the water as it crashed onto the rocks below.

 
  “That area down there,” Ella said as she pointed towards where the water was pounding into a pool formed at the bottom, “it used to be open to the public.  Megan and I would come here with my parents and we would swim down there.  A few years ago, that big boulder there fell from the top.  They closed off all the areas close to the falls to make sure, if anything like that happened again, no one would get hurt.”  A smile formed across her face.  “I will always feel privileged that I got to swim in those waters; we got to explore this beautiful place before they had to close it down.”

 
  “Sounds like a great memory.”

 
  “It is.  Tell me a memory from your childhood,” she gave him one of her shy and simple smiles.

 
  “Well, I guess my favorite memory would be the one time my dad took me deep-sea fishing when I was twelve.  It was a birthday present to me and I had wanted to go out for years, but my mom always thought I was too young.  She had irrational fears of me falling overboard and drowning.  Finally, my dad convinced her that I was old enough and he signed us up to go out on one of those tours you see signs for along the highway in Lincoln City.”

 
  “I’ve always seen those signs! I’ve always wanted to go on the whale watching tours!”  Her excitement was contagious.

 
  “Well, maybe we’ll go sometime,” he said as he flashed her a bright smile.  “I remember being on the boat for a while before they stopped and let us throw out our lines.”  Porter took a few moments to bring the memory to the front of his mind.  Sometimes he had a hard time visualizing his father’s face; it had been so long since he’d seen him.  But this memory was so vivid, he closed his eyes for a moment to try and burn it into his mind forever.

 
  “My dad was an avid fisherman, but deep sea was new even to him.  I swear he was almost as excited as I was.  I remember just sitting on the boat, in our cool anchored chairs, built to keep you onboard as you reeled in a fighting fish, and we talked about everything.  He gave me advice about girls.  He told me about his dad, whom I was never able to meet.  We talked about sports, I mean, everything.  He wasn’t lecturing me and he wasn’t trying to tell me what to do.  We were simply talking.

 
  “All of a sudden there was a pull on his pole and his line started zooming out of his reel.  The men who owned the boat started shouting instructions at my dad to pull up hard and crank the turn.  Pull and crank.  Pull and crank.  My dad went at it for about ten minutes and I was on the edge of my seat.  The excitement was overwhelming.  My dad looked over at me and said, ‘Porter, get over here and reel this fish in’.  I couldn’t believe it, but he handed me the pole and I must have worked on that fish for twenty minutes.  Pulling and cranking.  The whole time my dad was behind me, pulling me back by my shoulders, giving me more strength to reel it in.

 
  “When that fish finally got close enough to the boat for us to see it, my dad started hollering and clapping his hands.  The owners handed him a giant net and eventually the fish was close enough for my dad to swoop down with the net and get it on board.”

 
  Porter looked over at Ella and realized he had been talking for a very long time, and she hadn’t said a word.

 
  “That is an amazing memory, Porter,” she said softly.

 
  “The fish ended up being a thirty-four inch tuna and it was a beast.  My dad was so excited, and I remember him hugging me and telling me how proud he was of me – for a stupid fish.  But looking back, I think he was talking about more than just the fish.  I think he was proud of the man I was becoming and I hope he still is.”

 
  Porter felt Ella’s hand slip into his and he laced their fingers together as he looked over at her.

 
  “I’m sure your dad is very proud of the man you’ve become.”

 
  They continued up the winding path that zigzagged up the side of the mountain, passing people who were walking at a more leisurely pace, and also politely smiling at the hikers coming down from the top of the trail.  All kinds of people were drawn to the beauty of the falls, teenagers out enjoying the sunny weather, older couples staying active, and even young families were hiking the trail.  Porter watched as a few dads passed him carrying small children on their backs.  He noticed how proud and doting some of the fathers seemed to be, making sure the babies still had sunhats on, or if they had fallen asleep on their father’s backs, making sure they weren’t in a position that would cause them pain when they woke up.  He also noticed the way the mothers of these children looked at the fathers.

 
  Obvious love.  Not lust, not even infatuated love, but love simple and overt.  The love he saw directed at those men who coveted their children was astounding, and for the first time he felt a little hollowness deep within him which he knew was the longing for a family.

 
  He knew it wasn’t an accident or coincidence that these feeling would transpire as he was holding Ella’s hand.  It was only a matter of time before he started thinking about their future, hoping she was onboard for everything he hoped they would experience together.

 
  The image of Ella’s belly round and full with his child suddenly grasped his heart and he knew that someday he wanted exactly that.

 
  About thirty minutes later, they made their way close to the top.  Of course, on such a beautiful Oregon day, there were a lot of people who had come to hike the falls and it had become a bit crowded near the viewpoint that looked out over the edge of the falls.

 
  “Let’s take our picnic and follow the water back a bit.  We can find a spot not so crowded and wait until everyone leaves for lunch.”

 
  “Sounds great.  Lead the way,” Ella said.

 
  Making sure not to let go of her hand, he led her off the trail and back along one of the smaller creeks that bled into the massive waterfall.  There was a thick canopy of trees, which Oregon was notoriously not short on, and the sunlight was being cast through the spaces between branches and leaves.  Small rays of golden sun were illuminating their path and the sound of the trickling water was ethereal. They were probably about a quarter mile off the main trail when he found a small area on the edge of the water with two big and flat rocks that would be perfect to sit on. 

 
  “This looks good here,” he said looking towards her.

 
  “Perfect.”

 
  Porter took his backpack off and started unloading.  He handed Ella the blanket which she spread out over the rocks and they took a seat.  As he unloaded their lunch he saw her looking around, taking in their surroundings.

 
  “It’s so beautiful here.  You know, I’ve always heard you’re not supposed to go off the trails.  Every year lots of hikers get lost around here and all you hear from rescuers is to stay on the trails.”  She gave him a look that said ‘this is dangerous, but I kind of like it’.

 
  “Don’t worry, Ella.  All we did was follow this creek.  We just follow it right back to the trail.  I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.  Although, I can think of worse things than being lost out here with you.”  She turned her head slightly and looked at him from the corner of her eye.