Chapter Four
As they finished up dinner Saturday night at Chang’s, an exclusive Chinese restaurant, Mar thought over her tour guide responsibilities of last night and today and decided that she’d done pretty great. Last night she’d gotten them into a night tour of Alcatraz. It was always a little eerie but intriguing to walk through the prison at night and hear the stories from the prisoners, guards, and even a woman who’d lived on the island as a child. Luke had stayed close by Mar’s side and been as impressive and charming as she remembered.
They’d woken early this morning to hike up Coit Tower and watch the sun rise through a layer of fog, and then she had bikes lined up to ride. They pedaled hard the twenty miles out to Muir Woods in perfect sixty-degree temperatures with the sun burning away the fog. She proudly showed them age-old massive redwood trees, and they hiked to the picturesque Cascade Falls.
They rode back to have lunch at an open-air café in the quaint bayside town of Sausalito before riding back across the famous Golden Gate Bridge. Next, Mar let them ride a little slower to take in the beauties of the expansive and lushly green Golden Gate Park and the Presidio. They biked past some other famous spots like the Painted Ladies, Pier 39, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Legion of Honor, and Lombard Street.
Isaac and Cosette had been as cute and fun as any newlywed couple had a right to be, and Luke had been—she had to hold back a sigh—amazing. He was obviously a gentleman, but he’d also been funny and intelligent. She liked him, and she really hoped he liked her back.
As they finished up dinner and walked out into a chilly, foggy night, Mar hurried to put her jacket back on and noticed Isaac wrapping Cosette up tight in his arm. If only she had a big, strong, handsome man to wrap his arm around her. She glanced askance at Luke, thinking he’d fit that bill, and caught him looking at her. Smiling awkwardly at being caught, she hoped her desire to have his arm around her wasn’t written all over her face.
“We’re going to catch an Uber back to the hotel,” Isaac said. “Mar forcing us to ride the Tour de France today wore me out.” He gave her a conspiratorial wink, and her face flushed at the implication of why they wanted to go to the hotel so early. Very little would wear out a fit guy like Isaac; he just wanted to be alone with Cosette.
Cosette laughed and leaned into her husband. “You’re such a wuss sometimes, love.”
Luke and Mar both chortled at sweet Cosette calling her tough husband a wuss.
Isaac didn’t appear offended at all. On the contrary, he leaned close and tenderly kissed her forehead, then whispered something against her head that had her turning red and giggling.
Mar looked away. She was thrilled for their happiness, but she didn’t want to gawk at it.
“I’ll walk Mar home,” Luke spoke up.
The newlyweds glanced up with surprise in their eyes as Mar flushed with pleasure. He wanted to be alone with her. He wanted to walk her home. Virtual fist pump.
“O-kay,” Isaac drawled out. “We’ll see you tomorrow at church.”
“Perfect.” Luke turned to Mar and offered his arm.
Mar slid her hand through the crook of his arm. Her hand wrapped around his bicep, and her mouth went dry. Did most businessmen have muscles that firm? None that she’d met before.
She and Luke walked away, and she didn’t want to just go home and have him drop her off. What tourist attraction was close that would extend their time together?
“You know what I didn’t show you today?” she asked, scrambling for something.
Luke smiled down at her. “I can’t imagine we missed anything on that bike tour.”
“There are so many beauties to my city that I couldn’t possibly show them all in one day.” The only thing she hated about her city was how dirty it was becoming. It wasn’t uncommon to step over not only garbage and needles, but urine and feces. Disgusting.
“Okay. What did we miss today my beautiful tour guide?” He smiled down at her so brightly that she lost her train of thought.
“Sorry.” She blinked and refocused. “What was the question?”
Luke chuckled. “We missed some fabulous sites today, and you were going to rectify that mistake.”
“Oh. Yeah, right.” The hadn’t seen all of Golden Gate Park or the Presidio, but they were too far away. Her mind still scrambled, but as she looked around, she realized how close they were to … “Yerba Buena Gardens. I can’t believe I overlooked that gem in my tour-guiding duties. This way.” She tugged him down the block. It was like a sign from above. The gardens were right here, and as they got closer, she saw that they were blessedly un-crowded, as there wasn’t an event or concert tonight. She loved the concerts here, but tonight, she wanted some alone time with this intriguing man.
They walked into the park and toward the wall of water. It smelled fresh and clean with the grass and flowers both being well-maintained.
“Why is it if there’s a water fountain people want to throw coins in?” Luke asked in a musing tone.
“Well, duh, to have their wish come true.”
Luke smiled down at her and asked, “Do you have a wish you want to come true?”
Mar could think of lots of wishes right now. Some of them involved more time alone with this handsome man, and maybe some kissing. Most of them centered on her lifelong desire to not be alone. She pushed the latter away. She wasn’t alone right now. Far from it.Thank you, Lord, for Luke, she prayed.
Squeezing his arm with her hand, she pulled away and faced him. “Sure do. Do you mind spotting me a coin I can throw in? No room for extras in this dress.” She gestured at herself.