“Ready.” Hope switched on her own headlamp and took his hand. Lucca led her into another world.

They descended a gentle slope into darkness that deepened as the trail twisted and turned until they moved beyond the daylight from the entrance into total darkness. She had expected bone-chilling cold, but instead, the air seemed warmer than that on the surface. Hope tugged the cave map from her pocket and held it in her headlamp’s light. “We are about here?”

Lucca gave it a look. “Yes, just about. We’re going here.” He pointed to what looked like a lightbulbshaped room another two inches away. “This little section here is the short, narrow passage. There are two spots before then with a bit of a drop-off, and these”—he pointed to three Xs on the map—“are where we might get a little wet.”

“Drop-off?” she repeated. “Drop off to where? Mole People world?”

He snorted. “You know, teacher, fans of B horror movies don’t usually believe they are true. It’s a hop down for me and I’ll help you. Now, come on.”

He led her on a trek that sometimes sloped deeply, sometimes climbed steeply, but always remained dark as a tomb but for the beams of light from the headlamps and flashlights. As the passage narrowed, unease crept up Hope’s spine. She’d never been claustrophobic before, but they’d come down so far. Into the mountain. Thinking about all the rock on top of them … she shuddered. And bats, to boot.

“Here’s the first drop-off,” Lucca said, his voice a hollow echo.

Hope held her breath as he sat, then scooted off into the darkness. She didn’t breathe freely until she heard his feet hit the ground. The darkness was all but absolute. From somewhere below him, she heard the sound of running water. “You know, Lucca, I’m all for adventure, but I think it adds a lot to the experience to be able to see it.”

“Don’t worry. Zach says Cam has left lanterns in the dragon’s lair. We can light up the entire room.”

“The dragon’s lair?”

“That’s what Cam calls it. Says we’ll understand why once we see it. Sit down, honey, and let me help you.”

“Dragon’s lair. Great.” Hope sat and let her legs dangle. As she scooted toward the edge of the rock, Lucca grabbed her around the waist and lifted her, lowering her down slowly, her body pressed tightly against his. When her feet finally touched the floor, still clasping her body against his, Lucca spoke in a gravelly tone, “There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

She exhaled a shaky breath. “No fire-breathing mole people yet.”

“Gotta go deeper to run into moles. So, what was your favorite Twilight Zone episode?”

“Excuse me? You’re going to bring that up now?”

“I think you’re too obsessed with moles. You probably should be worrying about Martians. Or nukes. Remember that Planet of the Apes plot? A nuke landed in a cave but didn’t explode and they worshiped it as a god?”

“You are really weird, Lucca Romano.”

Laughter rumbled deep inside him, and hearing it, Hope felt warmth flowing through her. That she could give him that on this day was a true gift.

They hiked for another ten minutes before his flashlight picked up a stake with a red plastic flag tied around its top. “Here we go,” Lucca said. “A short crawl, and we’ll be there. You have a set of elbow pads in your pack.”

Hope pointed her flashlight toward the hole in the wall and her stomach fell. It wasn’t much bigger than a rabbit hole. “You’re kidding. You can’t fit in there. I can’t fit in there.”

“Yes we can. Zach gets in and his shoulders are as broad as mine. We have to angle in, then it widens out immediately.”

Dread closed in like the walls of rock around her as she stared at the tunnel. “You’ll get stuck and I’ll have to go for help and I’ll get lost and end up a slave for hairy, hunchbacked, one-eyed creatures mining ore with a pickax.”

“Wow. For such a brave woman, you are sure chicken.”

“Brave? You think I’m brave?”

“You are one of the bravest women I’ve ever met, and you inspire me, Hope. You are the reason why I’m here today and not in a bar drinking myself into oblivion.”

His statement touched her, and while she could easily have returned a flippant remark, she accepted the sentiment with the gravity it deserved. “Thank you. I’m glad I’m able to help.”

After a moment’s pause, she added, “But if you get stuck and I have to make the trip back to the surface alone in order to get help, I’ll make your life so miserable you’ll wish the mole people got you.”

“I understand.”

Then, before she was quite ready for it, he slipped off his pack, shoved it into the passage, and started crawling away from her. “Yikes.”

With his light rapidly disappearing, the darkness seemed to envelop her … as did the sense of being completely and totally alone. Hope swallowed hard, pulled her elbow pads from her pack, and put them on. She knelt at the entrance to the passage and peered inside. She couldn’t see a thing. Her voice squeaked, “Lucca?”

“The passage turns about eight feet in, Hope,” his voice echoed back to her. “I see the end of it about ten feet in front of me now. It’s big enough that you don’t need to push your pack. Come on in.”

“No trolls? Spiders? Snakes? Bears? Bats?”

“Four out of five aren’t bad odds.”

“Aargh.” Hope checked that her headlamp remained on tight and stretched out on her stomach. Taking a deep breath, she started crawling forward. “I am such a good friend,” she muttered after making the curve, getting a mouthful of dust. When Lucca called, “I’m out,” she took her first easy breath since his light had disappeared.

The effort seemed to take forever, but in reality, took only a few minutes. When she spied Lucca’s hand reaching to help her out of the tunnel, she grasped it like a lifeline. “Do me a favor?” he asked as she found her feet.

Warily, she replied, “What?”

“Keep your face toward the wall while I light the lanterns. I want to see your expression when you first see the chamber.”

That’s easy enough. “Okay.”

She heard him move clockwise, and slowly the wall behind her took on a golden glow. “Don’t peek,” Lucca said.

“I won’t.”

“Now, close your eyes.” His fingers popped the clasp on her chin strap, and then he lifted the hard hat off her head and said, “Thank you for sharing this with me today, Hope. You’ve made the day bearable.”

Then he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. “Now, open your eyes. Welcome to the dragon’s lair.”

She did and, immediately, her eyes rounded in wonder. “Oh! The walls sparkle. And they look like scales. And … oh … look at the ceiling! Stalactites.”

“Definitely cool.”

Hope turned around in a slow circle, her smile filled with delight. Glistening greens and vibrant blues, golds, and pinks. She gasped aloud when she saw the drawings. “Oh, wow. Lucca, look. Cave paintings. I wonder how old they are? Do people know about them?”

“Apparently, Cam explored this cave when he was a boy, but if people in town knew about it, they forgot it. He remembered it sometime last summer. He told Zach he’s given permission to researchers from CU to begin a study next spring.”

“This is the coolest thing I ever …” Hope’s voice trailed off as she turned a little more and brought her gaze from the ceiling to the floor. “Oh.”

“Pretty impressive, isn’t it?” Lucca asked, his voice ripe with amusement.

“I … um … well.” Hope pursed her lips, holding back a laugh as she studied the stalagmite rising from the cave floor. It was five feet tall and bore a startling resemblance to an erect penis. Then, because her mouth still tingled from his kiss and he looked so darned sexy standing there all dusty and outdoorsy, it seemed like the right thing to do. She turned a pointed stare to Lucca’s crotch, licked her lips, and said, “I’ve seen better.”

Lucca went to full arousal in seconds. He took a step toward her asking, “Do I take that as a compliment or a challenge or an invitation?”

She backed up a step. “We’re in a cave, Lucca.”

“Yeah. It’s private. It’s primitive. We wouldn’t be the first people to be naked in here.”

“Why do you say that? Is there cave-painting porn on the walls or something?”

“No, but there’s a sleeping bag and a nice thick quilt. A bottle of champagne and a big box of condoms.”

“What? I thought you said you haven’t been here before.”

“I haven’t. It’s private property, though. Cam and Sarah’s private property. And, Zach might have mentioned bringing Savannah here.”

Now she gaped at him. “So … this is what, the Eternity Springs version of Lover’s Lane? Guys get together and talk about scoring next to the giant penis?”

“Actually, that talk is usually about scoring with the giant penis.”

That made her laugh, so Lucca took another step closer. “And don’t lay all the blame at the guys’ feet. I think Zach might have said that the champagne was Savannah’s idea.”

“Zach ‘might have said’ quite a lot,” she replied. “We’ve had one public date, Lucca. How have I acted to make them assume …”

“I’m family. It’s not how you acted. It’s how I acted.” He caught her hand and brought it to his mouth, pressing a kiss into her palm. “You are different for me, Hope. You are special.”

“You’re trying to seduce me.”

“Well, sure.” He slid a hand around her waist and pulled her against him. “That doesn’t mean I’m not speaking the truth.”

She rested her hand against his chest, not stopping him, but not encouraging him, either. “Lucca, I came to you when I was desperate. I need to know … I know that today is … not that it’s a problem. I just want to know … is that what this is? Escape?”