“I don’t mind. Whatever. So long as I’m spending time with you, I’m happy.” Oh no, did that sound as wimpy to her as it did to him?

He waited for an answer but she remained silent. He hoped she hadn’t had second thoughts. She’d believed him last night about not being involved with drugs. Otherwise she wouldn’t have kissed him.

“Let’s pretend the drugs thing didn’t happen. For today let’s just be two twenty-something’s out to have fun. Deal?” he asked.

“Deal!” She grinned back at him.

* * *

The ghost town was like something out of Hollywood. They parked the car and walked around checking everything out. Adam wanted to go panning for gold, telling Ashley he was going to find her a nugget. They giggled and splashed each other but neither found anything of monetary value. Then they went on the escorted tour of the old mine. Thick beams supported the walls, but it was still a bit freaky walking inside. Ashley held onto Adam’s arm tightly. She wasn’t about to admit she didn’t like being underground. The time for saying that was before they had gotten into the elevator. The dust clung to her hair, or was that the spider webs?

“Don’t be scared. Nothing is going to happen. See those?” Adam pointed to some old rails. “I guess they used to run the carts on those.”

She just nodded, not capable of opening her mouth. The scream was in her throat just waiting to escape. It was cold down there but, more than that, the place gave her the shivers. She imagined she could feel the miners who had died down there. Watching her, waiting for her.

“I’m sorry I’ve got to get out of here. I don’t like it,” she whimpered.

“Okay, don’t breathe so fast or you’ll pass out. Take it slowly. Come on. We’ll go back this way.” Adam led the way to a dark chamber. She hung back.

“How do you know the way to go?”

“It says so right here, look.” He pointed at the directions on the wall.

Their feet scuffed on the rocks, causing loose stones to slither down the sides of the mine. Convinced the mine was going to collapse on top of them, she walked faster. She would have run but he held her back.

“Ashley, be careful. You could turn your ankle or something. It’s safe. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you. Trust me, okay?”

She wanted to but the dripping water and shifting timber amplified her fear. She was terrified. Why had she tried to be brave? She closed her eyes, stumbling over some rocks. Bending lower due to the tight spaces, her heart raced faster and faster. The sweat dripped down the back of her neck, she cut her hands on the out-jutting rocks. Faster and faster went her heart.

“Breathe slowly. We’re nearly there. Can you see the light?

She couldn’t see anything but the darkness, but the smell was different. The air wasn’t as stagnant as it had been farther underground.

“Stay with me, Ashley. Steady now. Almost there.”

The sunlight warmed her skin. Relieved, she looked up to the sun hoping its rays would stop the chills running through her. She was shaking. She was mortified when she couldn’t stop. He held her rubbing her back gently, soothing her like she would Gracie. Then, he gave her some water. “Sip it slowly. Don’t gulp.”

Great, she was so attractive having behaved like a scared kid. Some date this had turned out to be.

“Here, wash your face with this.” He had taken off the T-shirt he’d been wearing under his shirt and wet it. She put it to her face, inhaling his scent. “Come on, let's get you sitting down.” Before she knew what he intended he had picked her up in his arms and carried her over to a seating area. A medic came to check on her.

“I’m fine,” Ashley insisted, wishing she could disappear.

“Your partner is doing a great job of looking after you.” The medic did a quick check of her oxygen levels and pulse. He seemed satisfied she was okay. “If you need us call okay?”

She just wanted to curl up and die of embarrassment. He had only seen her at work when she was cool, calm and collected, not this quivering wreck.

“So are you afraid of enclosed spaces or is it just the dark?” Adam asked.

“No, the dark is fine. I hate being underground,” she said.

“So why come down the mine shaft?”

“You looked like you were having so much fun and I didn’t want to ruin it for you. That worked out well, didn’t it?”’

“So long as you’re okay, I don’t care. I have to say, I was worried back there. I wasn’t sure how I could get you through some of those tiny spaces without hurting you. But we’re out now. Are you sure you’re okay? Do you want to go home?”

She did. She wanted to shower and change her clothes and get the smell of the mine out of her hair. But that would curtail his day too.

“No, I’m okay. I would love to take the train trip. It goes up into the mountains so the air will be clear.”

“Are you sure? We could go home and come back another day. When you feel better?”

She glanced at him. He seemed sincere. “Okay then, yes please.”

“Do you trust me to drive?”

She nodded. She’d trust him to do just about anything. She was the one falling apart. Her hands still shook. She gave him the keys and kept quiet the whole way home, apart from giving him directions.

“I can wait in the car while you take a shower,” he said when they’d reached her house. “You will have to drop me back. I have curfew remember.”

She had almost forgotten. She couldn’t leave him in the car, but bringing him inside meant introducing him to her parents. So be it. Her dad would kill her if she were rude and left her date in the car.

“Come in. You can sit with my parents while I have a shower. Then I can make us something to eat before we head back, if that’s okay.”

“Sounds great.” He bounded out of the car and held the door open for her. When she let them both into the house, it seemed her parents had gone out. Walking into the kitchen, she saw the note from her dad. He and mom had gone out for dinner over to their friends who lived on the outskirts of town. They wouldn’t be home until late.

“Can you amuse yourself for a while? I need to go change.”

“Sure. Pass me the remote and I will try to understand baseball or football. Neither of them makes any sense to me at the moment.”

Laughing she headed upstairs. She looked even more of a mess than she could have imagined. How could he bear to be within a foot of her?