A Decision Based On Love Read online

  Chapter 15

  Tyson was healing. It was slow and laced with moments of guilt, sorrow and anger, but the moments came less and less often. The situation with Marci was a wakeup call for all of them. At first he forced himself to enjoy his laughing children and he had to train himself to squash any guilt that reared its ugly head to mar his happiness. Soon it came naturally to join them in their infectious joy. They were the balm to his shredded soul. Even when they were being ornery Tyson found comfort in how normal and self centered their little worlds were. Yes, he still worked too much but Liz was good at dragging him away with tantalizing promises of adventures that waited when he got home. Whenever he got her cryptic messages he knew she was planning something to lure him home early. It was a camp out in the living room, a night trip to the zoo or a picnic on the rooftop (the kids were in bed for that one). She was trying so hard, how could he not?

  It shouldn't have surprised him one Friday when all three of them showed up at his office about 2 pm. They were wearing jeans, flannel shirts and hiking boots. Kylee had on his old fishing hat and she was bouncing up and down from the moment they walked into his office.

  “Well, well, well, what have we here?” Tyson leaned back in his office chair and laced his hands behind his head.

  He was just about to start the guessing game with her when Kylee could contain the mystery no longer. She burst out, “We are kidnapping you! For the whole weekend. Come on daddy. Come see what we brought.”

  Tyson looked at his smug wife and raised both of his eyebrows. “I expect you know that kidnapping is a federal offense.”

  “Not when you are married to the victim,” Liz made that part up because she really had no idea if that were true.

  “What if the victim has a full schedule this afternoon?” Tyson wondered out loud.

  “Oh, he doesn't. I called his very accommodating secretary and she moved all his appointments to next week. You are ours until Monday morning, so don't even think about escaping.”

  Tyson could do nothing but surrender. He put out his hand and let Kylee drag him out the door, past his smiling secretary and into the parking lot. He was briefly stunned to see his dad's new camping trailer hitched up to his truck taking up about 4 parking spaces, sideways in the parking lot.

  “It's harder to park than I thought,” Liz supplied apologetically.

  Picturing Liz hooking up the trailer, getting the kids and the camping gear all ready, and driving the whole package down here warmed his heart a little. “Do I get to go put on a flannel shirt and hiking boots too?” he asked Kylee.

  “No daddy, you can't go home. You will find something to do there so we brought your clothes for you.”

  Tyson laughed out loud. She already knew her daddy way too well. “Ok, then let's be on our way.”

  Kylee squealed and climbed into the back of the truck into her car seat and Liz bucked Kenny in.

  For safety and sanity reasons, Liz handed the keys to Tyson. This kidnapping victim would have to drive to the designated hideout.

  Fortunately, Lake Pleasant was about 20 minutes from their house. If it had taken any longer Kylee might have driven them both crazy. The high desert lake was formed by a dam and at this time of the year it was nearly at full capacity. Liz directed Tyson to the top of Vista Point, a rocky old road that led to the top of an overlook where a couple of stone picnic tables sat. The lake was surrounded by saguaro cactus, ocotillos in bloom and plenty of wildflowers. They parked the trailer in full view of Honeymoon cove and set up camp. On the top of the point they were far enough away from the water that they didn't worry about the kids wandering in when they weren't looking, but they had to take a short hike to get to the water's edge. After they unloaded the camping gear, Tyson put Kylee on his shoulders and Liz put Kenny in a back pack and they headed to the water. Kylee was waving a pink Barbie fishing pole in the air, talking a mile a minute as they walked.

  When they got to the shoreline Liz dipped Kenny's toes in the water and Tyson helped Kylee fish. She tried to catch a fish for almost 10 minutes before she got discouraged and gave up. She decided that she would rather throw rocks in the water and her daddy was soon showing her how to skip a stone. Kenny sat on the sand, trying to eat dirt and crawly things.

  They headed back to the camper and Liz started dinner while Tyson and the kids played. They roasted hot dogs on the fire and only dropped three into the flames. Liz strongly suspected that Kylee and Tyson were deliberately wiggling their sticks excessively because it was so funny to watch the hot dogs fall into the flames. They settled into their camp chairs with their blackened hot dogs smothered in catsup and mustard and ate until they couldn't stuff anymore in their bellies. They universally agreed with the age old truth. All food tastes better when cooked over a campfire, bits of charcoal included. After dinner they cleaned up and watched the sunset over the picturesque lake. As sailboats, jet skis and pontoon boats made their way through the setting sun to the harbor they left wakes like snail trails across the dark water. The Arizona sky was full of pinks and blues fading into deep reds and purples all around them. The night was full of color and as they relaxed and helped Kylee identify all of the changing hues Tyson felt the tenseness once again drain from his body. He hadn't realized how stiff his shoulders were until he felt them relax. It was beautiful here and he was surrounded by more love than any one man deserved in a lifetime.

  Liz and Kylee were dragging a mattress out onto the ground to lay and watch the stars come out and Tyson was trying to keep track of Kenny. He had recently figured out walking and he was toddling along trying to negotiate rocks and uneven ground. When he wasn't falling he was trying to get to close to the fire pit or walk off the edge of a cliff. They finally set him on the mattress with a handful of goldfish so they could all lay back and watch the stars come out. One by one they twinkled out of hiding and Kylee made a wish on every one. “How can you possibly have that many things to wish for? Tyson asked her.

  “They're not all for me daddy. I have to wish for everyone who's not here to see the stars too.”

  Tyson reached over and squeezed Liz's hand, “I'm not sure I have much left to wish for,” he whispered. “I think I might be the only man alive who has all he ever wanted.”

  Liz smiled at him and her nose started to itch so she knew she was going to tear up. She tried not too but every once in awhile she remembered how close she came to losing this man and it brought a stab of terror to her heart, followed by a prayer of gratitude.

  It was getting late when they finally got the kids settled down and into bed. Kylee in the queen sized bed of the camper and Kenny in a portable crib on the floor. The wild burros that wander around Lake Pleasant had started braying after dark and that had caused quite a commotion for awhile. Tyson had finally come up with a heartwarming story of a loveable, completely friendly burro family that had gotten separated in the dark and were wandering around calling to each other a cheery hello in burro language. Kylee was satisfied and fell into a contented sleep.

  Liz and Tyson snuck out of the camper and sat in their camp chairs facing the black lake. A partial moon was rising and the stars were in full bloom in the night sky. Occasional lights from a fisherman's boat played across the water. After relaxing for a few minutes and laughing over the day’s events, Liz stood and reached for something in her purse. She pulled out scented lavender oil and set it on the arm rest of her chair. Then she wandered in front of Tyson and leaned over him to plant a kiss on his lips. While he was preoccupied with the kiss she slipped her hands down, unbuttoned his shirt and eased it off of his shoulders. His undershirt joined the growing pile and he shivered a little in the night air. “What are you up to?” he asked with absolutely no hint of protest whatsoever.

  “I'm going to give you the most heavenly relaxing shoulder massage of your life my hard working husband,” she breathed against his parted lips. And then she proceeded to make good on her promise.

  Tyson relaxed under
the night sky, listening to the soft braying of the burros and his wife's quiet humming as she massaged the oil deeply into his tired shoulders. A breeze blew on the night air but Tyson was warm from the inside out. Nothing in the world could ever compare to being truly deeply loved by someone. At this moment in time he wanted nothing so much as to be able to show her the kind of love she showered on him. He snaked out his arm and wrapped it around her waist, pulling her onto his lap. She ran her oily hands up around his strong chest and up his neck to cup his ears. Then she kissed him deeply with all of the love in her whole being. He responded just as he should.

  Liz broke the mood with the reminder, “We should probably go to bed pretty soon because unless I miss my guess those two will be up several times tonight and start the day earlier than the sun.”

  Hand in hand they stepped into the trailer.

  Liz proved to be right and Kenny and Kylee were up with the first light of dawn. Kenny woke up disoriented and Kylee was grumpy. It took a bowl of Fruit loops and the promise of a morning kayak to charm her out of her lack of sleep grumpiness.

  It took most of the morning to get the kayaks, all of the life vests, the paddles and the whole group down to the dock and with tremendous effort they were finally off to explore the nearby coves. Kylee sat in front of Liz and Kenny bounced up and down and stood and sat in front of Tyson. The constant motion made paddling difficult, especially since Kylee insisted on paddling all by herself, but they were in no hurry so they crept slowly along towards the cove. They spied a Blue Heron, several jumping fish and nests of cormorants. They tried to sneak up on a burro grazing on the shore but Kylee and Liz banged into the rocks loudly several times and scared him away. Kenny kept trying to jump into the water until Tyson finally side tracked him by letting him throw gold fish into the water to feed the ducks. For at least a few minutes they floated along peacefully.

  The sun warmed their backs, the water rippled peacefully as they sliced quietly along the shore and birds called to each other. Tyson stopped paddling for a moment and just listened. He stretched his hands behind his head and leaned back into the sunshine, letting it soak deeply into his very being. Kylee began to sing a child's song with a catchy little melody and she sang most of the words wrong. Liz's musical laughter danced across the water. For just a moment everything in the world was as it should be.

  Of course it didn't last very long. Kylee had to go to the bathroom and Kenny shoved a goldfish up his nose too far to retrieve easily, so they headed back to shore. After lunch the kids took a long nap and even Tyson collapsed on the bed for a much needed afternoon rest.

  The days and nights of the kidnapping went along just about like that for the rest of the weekend. They hiked with Kenny in a backpack, kayaked around the cove, went fishing and tried to spy birds out of grandpa’s binoculars. They ate too much, slept too little and laughed more than they had in a long time. It was an almost perfect weekend and by the time they got home Tyson was more relaxed than he had been in many months.