The next day at lunch Emmy asked the group what all our plans were for that Saturday.

“I have to work,” was Tom’s reply and Courtney said she had to babysit her sister. Allie had plans to go shopping with her mom, so I was the only one who said that I had nothing going on.

“Would you like to go on a day trip with me?” Emmy asked, eyes wide with excitement.

“Um, sure. Where are you thinking?” I asked in response.

“Do you mind if I keep a surprise? I am not certain I can get it arranged yet…”

“Sure, whatever. Just let me know as soon as you get it figured out,” I replied, and that was the last I heard about it until Friday’s drive home.

“Leah, about tomorrow,” Emmy began, but the blank look on my face must have made it clear I had no idea what she was talking about so Emmy reminded me. “The day trip? Do you still want to go?”

“Oh, yeah! That’s right. Did you ever get it sorted out?”

“Yes, I did, everything is arranged. I will pick you up at a quarter to eight in the morning!” Emmy chirped, excited.

After receiving the usual little goodbye cheek kiss, I walked up the step to our apartment, wondering what Emmy had up her sleeve. It seemed pretty intentional that she hadn’t told me where we were going, so I figured she wanted it to be a surprise, which I was O.K. with. Hey, if it made her happy, right?

Emmy arrived right on time the next morning, but it was Edouard driving the big sedan, not Emmy behind the wheel of her Mini Cooper.

“Do you have any luggage, Miss Farmer?” asked Edouard.

“What?” I asked, not expecting the question. “Should I?”

“No, you need bring nothing,” Emmy said. “Everything is being taken care of.”

Puzzled, I climbed into the cocoon-like interior of the BMW. Emmy was wearing a lightweight long-sleeved top and Levis and had a big hat and dark sunglasses sitting on the seat next to her. It was the kind of wide-brimmed hat you see the French models wear on the fashion runway, the kind I always associate with relaxing in lounge chairs by the pool in Monaco. This was my first clue that we were going to spend the day out in the sunshine, which surprised me. Emmy generally did whatever she could to avoid the direct sun, so seeing that she was prepared for a day outside was unusual, to say the least.

The drive only lasted a few minutes, and soon we were at the local community airport, pulling up to a twin-engine eight-seater airplane.

“You’re kidding me!” I said, stunned. Emmy just smiled like the cat that ate the canary as she slid out of the car, her hat and sunglasses in her hand. I followed her out and towards the small plane, surprised at how loud the noise from the props was. There was a guy in a pilot’s uniform standing by the open door, waiting to help us in. We settled into the plush leather seats, right up behind the pilots so we’d get the best view. I was thrilled, I will admit, and Emmy was grinning from ear to ear, pleased at my reaction to her surprise.

A few minutes later we were in the air, flying out over the small town I’d lived in all my life. It was something else to look down and see the familiar landmarks from such an unusual perspective. Soon, though, we were winging west towards the coast and away from Fallbrook. As we passed over the towns of coastal Orange County and continued west out over the ocean I finally realized where we were headed.

“Catalina?” I asked as it dawned on me.

“Have you ever been there before?” Emmy asked.

“No, never. I’ve always wanted to check it out, though.”

“Then I am glad that we are going there. It will be my first time as well. We shall discover it together.”

The plane circled once around the island to give us a good view, then landed on the little runway on top of the mountain. We taxied to a good parking spot and after the pilots shut the plane’s motors off and opened the door for us I got a good look at “The Airport In The Sky” as the sign proudly proclaimed it.

‘Airport’ was a generous description, but it did have a little gift shop and café. A young woman greeted us as we got off the plane, introducing herself as Sarah, our tour guide for the day. She tried to herd us to a waiting Suburban, but Emmy resisted. Emmy wanted to make sure I wasn’t hungry and didn’t want to buy anything from the shop before she relented and let us be led to the car.

The drive to Avalon (the only real town on Catalina) from the airport was a long, narrow and twisty road made mainly of potholes and patches. The views were amazing, though, and we did see a few buffaloes grazing in the chaparral, which was cool. I had no idea those things were so freaking huge!

As we descended to Avalon, Emmy asked about some structures that looked like patio decks projecting out from the steep canyon walls. When Sarah explained those were platforms for the new zip lines and I explained to Emmy what zip lines were, Emmy said “I could never do that.”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “It looks like fun to me.”

“If you want to do it, Leah, I would be happy to watch.”

“Come on,” I urged. “If I do, you have to do it,” I said, hoping I could talk her into it.

Sarah broke in at that point, informing us that she thought they had tandem harnesses so we could do it together, and that really lit a fire under me.

“Please?” I begged. “I want to do it, but only if you do it with me,” I pleaded.

Chewing on her lip, Emmy looked thoughtful. “We could ride it together?”

“Absolutely. I’d be right there with you,” I said, sensing victory.

“O.K. I will do it, but only if we can ride together. Can you get us tickets?” Emmy asked Sarah, who said “No problem. How soon?”

We agreed that it should be the first thing we do in town, so she got on the phone and had us reservations before we even pulled into the tiny little town of Avalon.

The car dropped us off at a cute little hotel a block from the waterfront. I followed Emmy as she checked us in, wondering why we were getting a room if we were only going to be there for the day. When I asked, she explained that we may wish to have a place to relax and rest for a bit during the day, which made sense. We checked the room (which had a nice balcony with a view of the harbor), then went back down to the front desk where Sarah was waiting for us. She led us the few blocks to the zip line company’s office, then we boarded a van to drive back up the road we entered town on. The athletic-looking young guys who worked for the company all seemed to know Sarah, which made sense, I guess. As small a town as Fallbrook is, it’s huge in comparison to Avalon.

One of the guys explained the rules to us as he handed us a pair of harnesses.

“Uh, we want to go tandem,” I said, which surprised him, but he brought out the two-up rig as we asked.

“Usually this is for a parent and kid,” he explained as he readjusted the straps so Emmy could fit in the front section, her back to my front. He got us buckled in without taking the opportunity for a quick feel, which I appreciated. Emmy handed her hat to Sarah to carry back in the van and we clipped in and were off. Emmy’s hands were clamped on the straps that held us to the cables, so I just wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly to me. She was so tense it was almost comical, pushing her body against mine hard as she could while the wind whipped past us as we sailed out across the deep canyon.

The rush was incredible, flying through the air like that. Soon we were slowing, approaching the first of several decks where we would change cables as we zig-zagged down to town. I extended my legs for the landing, but Emmy’s remained wrapped around mine. I craned my neck forward to see, and sure enough, Emmy’s eyes were clamped shut.

“Em,” I said into her ear. “Open your eyes!”

Just about then we touched down and another of the guys caught and steadied us, while I bore all the weight of the two of us. Emmy finally relaxed and lowered her legs. I could feel her trembling with the same adrenalin that was pumping through my system.

Emmy reached around and gave me a backwards hug, saying “That was amazing!”

“And you didn’t even see any of it!” I teased as we were buckled to the next cable. “Keep your eyes open this time.”

Moments later we were off, flying across the canyon again, Emmy again as tense as the first time. I checked, and she did keep her eyes open, though. She still didn’t extend her legs for the landing, relying on me to bear the impact again. A third guy unclipped us from the cable and onto the last one of the three, and again we were soaring. Emmy still pushed against me and I still had my arms wrapped around her slender body, but Emmy didn’t feel as stressed as the first two runs. She did still keep her legs wrapped around mine as we landed on the last platform, though.

Once we were unclipped and unbuckled, Emmy could finally speak. “Do you want to do that again?” she asked, breathless with excitement.

“Do you?” I asked back, enjoying the look on her face.

“Only if we can do it together again,” Emmy agreed, so we went back to the office and Emmy paid for another run. I’m pretty sure that she paid extra, because I don’t think they had another run planned soon and we were the only passengers in the van this time.

The second time down the canyon I wrapped my arms around Emmy again, but she held her arms tightly around mine instead of holding on to the support straps in a death grip. This time down she was laughing with the thrill of speeding though the air, making me laugh too with the sound.

After our second run Sarah walked us a few blocks to our next adventure, smiling at our giddiness. She led us to a big canvas-topped Hummer for an off-road tour of the island. Over the next couple of hours we bumped along dirt roads ranging from high up on the ridge tops with amazing views of the mainland to narrow canyons leading to isolated coves. We stopped for a lunch back at the airport, which had a better café than I had any right to expect. From there it was a roundabout way back to Avalon, where Emmy suggested we rest a bit before doing anything else.

Telling Sarah we’d meet her at the front desk in an hour and a half, we went upstairs to relax. Emmy, exhausted from the morning, stripped down to her undies and climbed into bed for a nap. I told her I’d be back in an hour and went out for a walk, just checking out the cute little town.

I walked around the tiny little town, eventually finding myself sitting on the little sea wall by the harbor’s beach. Wondering which was the “noisy bar” mentioned in the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song, I had to laugh at myself and my ‘classic rock’ upbringing. It had been what my parents had listened to all my life, so I’d grown up hearing songs like “Southern Cross” from the time I was born. Most of my friends and schoolmates listened to Katy Perry and Far East Movement, but for me it was Hendrix and Led Zeppelin.

My thoughts wandering watching the boats moored there in the little bay, I lost track of time and before I knew it my phone’s alarm reminded me it was time to wake Emmy up.

Slipping quietly into the room back at the tiny hotel, I almost didn’t have the heart to wake her. She was resting so peacefully, a slight smile on her midnight black face. I sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at her for a moment. It had been a while since I’d really just looked at her, and once again I was struck by how incredibly different she was than anybody I’d ever met before. Her inky black skin looked like velvet in the light filtering through the curtains, and her hair so stark white it looked as if it glowed. I tucked a strand of that startlingly white hair back behind her ear and said softly “Em, it’s time to get up. We have to be at the Casino in a little bit.”

She slowly opened her big, expressive vivid green eyes and smiled up at me. “Did you have a nice walk?”

“Yeah, I did,” I answered. “This town is so small you could do a lap around the outside in fifteen minutes.”

Yawning and stretching slowly like a cat, Emmy pushed the covers off and climbed out of bed. I couldn’t help but watch as she pulled her pants on and slipped into her white button-front shirt. Luckily she was facing away, so she didn’t see me stare at how elegant she managed to make these simple actions look.

A few minutes later we were at the front door of the Casino, which was now mostly a movie theater. We got the V.I.P. behind the scenes tour and I learned a whole lot more about the history of the place than I ever wanted, but it was cool, too. The Art Deco (again, I know a whole lot more about it now than before) murals were amazing and the views from the upper balcony took my breath away.

“Could you imagine living here?” Emmy asked idly as we looked at the tiny town of Avalon across the snug little harbor. The sun had gone behind the mountains so the air was cooling off, but it was still a pleasant late afternoon.

“Maybe,” I answered, thinking about it. “I’m not sure what job opportunities there are, though. It seems like an expensive place to live, too.”

We stood like that, not talking, for maybe fifteen minutes, just enjoying the breeze and the fresh air that smelled like the sea.

Eventually Emmy asked “What time do you need to be home?”

“No particular time,” I replied, feeling relaxed and lazy. “Why? What time does the plane take off?”

“The plane? It takes off whenever we get to the airport,” she replied. A few moments later Emmy asked “Should we see a movie?”

“I think they’re showing Due Date downstairs,” I replied. “I’m not in any hurry to see it,” I admitted. “Why don’t we just have dinner and then head back home?”

Strolling back to the hotel, enjoying the evening, I wasn’t sure I wanted to head back home any time soon. This was one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ days, and I didn’t want it to end.

The restaurant that the lady at the hotel had recommended was good, but I’m not that much of a seafood eater, so I couldn’t tell you if it was great or not. I mean, the lobster tasted good to me, but what do I know?

Returning to the airport with us in the big Suburban, the pilot and copilot looked ready to head back home, too. The sunburned copilot admitted that he’d fallen asleep at the beach after a big lunch, and the pilot just shook his head at his younger colleague’s bonehead move.

Emmy called Edouard when we got close enough to the coast to get a cell phone signal so he could meet us as the plane taxied to a stop back in Fallbrook. I noticed the plane roll back to the runway as we drove off, and Emmy explained that the charter was actually from Carlsbad.

“Em, this whole thing must have cost you a fortune,” I said. “Can I help contribute at all?”

“There is no need,” Emmy said, waving it off. “It was my pleasure. Thank you very much for accompanying me to Catalina, Leah. It was fun discovering the island with you.”

“You make it sound as if I were doing you a favor,” I said. “Really, it’s me who should be thanking you.”

After Emmy kissed me goodbye I stumbled up the stairs to our apartment and wearily stepped inside. Mom was grading papers at the table, so I poured myself a glass of orange juice and sat down.

“Did you two have a good day today, honey?” Mom asked.

“You wouldn’t believe it,” I said. “It was incredible. Emmy chartered a plane and we flew to Catalina Island.”

“What?” asked Mom, momentarily stunned. “You flew to Catalina?”

“Yeah, in a small eight-seater plane. We mostly spent the day in Avalon, but we took a jeep tour of the island, too, and we did some zip lines, too. Mom, you should have seen the look on Emmy’s face after the first zip line. She couldn’t decide if she was terrified or having the time of her life,” I said. “And the casino, we took a tour, and-” I stopped, realizing I was babbling because I was so tired. “Uh, how about I tell you all about it tomorrow? I’m just gonna brush my teeth and go to bed,” I said.

Mom nodded, so I stood up and rinsed my glass, putting it on the drying rack. “G’night,” I said, and mom responded in kind.

“Good night, Lee. I’m glad you got to see Avalon. Your dad and I went there for our honeymoon, you know.”

I guess maybe I’d been told that, but I hadn’t remembered. Lying in bed, thinking about the day as I drifted off to sleep, I could still smell Emmy’s jasmine perfume and feel her clinging to me for dear life on the zip line.

Telling Mom all about it the next morning I felt kind of awkward about some of what had happened on Catalina, so I kept the description of events to a simple retelling of where we went and what we saw and did. I told Mom we went zip lining, but I omitted the detail about the tandem harness and how Emmy clung to me as if her life depended on it. I did say that Emmy was terrified at first but wanted to do it again, which got a chuckle from Mom.

I skipped the part about Emmy napping. For some reason that felt too personal, but I did tell her about the off-road tour and seeing buffaloes.

On Monday, I didn’t mention any of it at all to Courtney, Tom or Allie. Telling Mom about the trip to Catalina had made it sound ostentatious or something, like ‘look how the rich play’ and while I didn’t think that’s how Emmy meant it, I didn’t want to rub it in their faces that I got to go on this amazing little adventure and they didn’t.

Emmy didn’t say anything about our day trip to the three of them, either, so none of them ever knew about it at all.