When we take a break at a rest stop, I notice there’s a sign with an arrow leading to a short trail meandering through a section of a scenic lava rock field just behind the facilities.

  Seeing the sign, Bettina asks, “Can we walk on that trail for a few minutes? Is there time?”

  I check my phone, and since we’re ahead of schedule, probably due to some of my fast driving, I say, “Sure.”

  After quick bathroom breaks for both of us, we hit the trail, where we snap several photos with our phones.

  It’s mostly Bettina taking the shots and calling the shots.

  That’s okay with me.

  I like letting her take the lead.

  Gesturing to a particularly craggy lava rock formation and holding her phone up high, she says, “Okay, Sebastian, stand right there so I can take a picture of you with those rocks. They’re really neat-looking.”

  “You got it.” I get into position, smiling as I make a swooping motion to draw attention to the formation and not so much me in my khaki cargo shorts and dark green tech tee.

  Bettina snaps the shot.

  “Perfect,” she murmurs as she lowers her phone.

  I catch her checking me out as I cross my arms over my chest.

  Hurriedly staring down at her phone once more, she says softly, “You look really good in this picture, Sebastian.”

  “I do?”

  “Yeah, you do.”

  She shows me the photo she took, and I guess I look okay. I think the rocks are what make it look really cool, though.

  In any case, it warms me that Bettina is impressed by my home state and its scenery.

  It warms me even more that she seems a little impressed by me too.

  Cozy Cabin

  I enjoy the ride up to the cabin, more so than I thought I would.

  That’s saying a lot, since my expectations were pretty high.

  The scenery is amazing, but spending time with Sebastian is even better.

  He really is a great guy.

  Not only is he stunning to look at, which I do a lot of in sneaky ways, but he’s really put me at ease with his easygoing, laid-back demeanor, just like he did at dinner.

  My decision to ask him to take me with him is turning out to be one of the best impulsive acts of my life.

  I clearly need to continue this trend of doing more wild and crazy things.

  Snickering at that thought and sinking down into my seat, I watch the setting sun paint the sky in shades of purple and orange.

  Damn, it is gorgeous up here.

  When Sebastian catches me smiling to myself, he remarks, “You look really happy over there.”

  “I am.” I shift to face him. “I’m having a really good time.”

  “Yeah.” He sighs contentedly, glancing over at me. “I am too.”

  Just to be sure, I ask, “Still not regretting that you brought me along?”

  Softly, he says, “Of course not. And stop asking that. I’m more than happy I said yes.”

  My smile grows wider, and he starts grinning too.

  The rest of the ride goes smoothly. We talk a little more, but mostly we listen to music. I think we’re both tired from the long trip.

  I perk up immediately, though, when we exit the interstate and start traveling along a steep, curvy two-lane road surrounded by lush forest. I can tell we’re ascending when my ears pop a few times.

  “This scenery is stunning,” I gush as, even though it’s dusk, I take in towering pines, acres and acres of other trees, and a clear stream along the side of the road.

  “It really is,” Sebastian agrees, “though it’s getting kind of dark now. Wait until you can see everything in bright daylight.”

  “I can’t wait.” I blow out a breath. “Even though it’s getting dark, I can tell why you like it up here.”

  “Man, I do, that’s true. It’s just so picturesque everywhere you turn. Like, see that stream over there?”

  He points to the rushing water running alongside the road, and I say, “Yes.”

  “That stream goes right through my property. The fishing there is amazing. Speaking of which, I think I’ll get up early tomorrow and catch us something for lunch. Do you like fish?”

  He looks over, and I nod. “I love it,” I say.

  “Great.” His eyes return to the road. “Then it’s a plan.”

  Hmm, Sebastian braving the wild lands—or rather the wild waters, in this case—to rustle us up some food feels primal, like we’re getting back to basic hunter-gatherer roles.

  That makes me blurt out, “Maybe I should contribute and go berry-picking. I imagine there are a lot of wild berry bushes up here, right?”

  “There are,” he confirms. “But I better show you which ones are edible before you pick any.”

  I blow out a breath and concede, “Crap, I didn’t even think about that. I’m definitely no expert. I guess I won’t be going berry-picking tomorrow, after all.”

  Sebastian says, “Yeah, let’s hold off on that for now.” He pauses for a beat, then adds, “Tell you what. After I’m done fishing tomorrow, I’ll stop by the local market and grab a bunch of stuff, including some fresh berries.”

  “That works for me.” Peering over at him, I say slowly, “Now, about this fishing…”

  “Yes?”

  “Can you take me with you sometime?”

  He looks surprised, but pleased, that I’m asking to go.

  “Sure,” he says.

  I blow out a breath. “I have to admit I’ve never gone fishing, Sebastian, not once in my life.”

  “That’s okay,” he says. “I can teach you.”

  Sebastian instructing me on anything is cool with me. I’m already picturing him standing behind me, his strong arms encircling my body as he teaches me how to cast a line out into the water.

  Yeah, learning to fish is going to be yet another thing to look forward to on this trip.

  By the time we reach the gravelly drive leading up to the cabin, it’s completely dark outside. And when I say dark, I mean freaking pitch black, like you can barely see your hand in front of your face.

  Thank goodness the car has bright headlights.

  “This is so different from the city,” I remark as we trundle down the narrow lane.

  When we pull up to the cabin, only the headlights illuminate the big wooden structure with a giant wraparound porch in front of us. If it wasn’t for the light the car is providing, the cabin would be almost indistinguishable from the surrounding thick forest.

  “It definitely gets really dark up here,” Sebastian says when he notices me glancing around furtively, biting my lip. “Good thing there’s electricity.”

  “You’re not kidding,” I murmur.

  “I also have a backup generator in case the power goes out.”

  “Thank God.” I swallow hard, imagining just pure utter darkness, and ask, “That doesn’t happen often, does it?”

  “No, not at all.” He sighs. “Except if it storms really bad, then all bets are off.”

  “Yikes. In that case, I hope you have lots of candles.”

  “I do,” he assures me. “But don’t worry about that. I’m sure we’ll be fine. For now…” He pops open the car door. “…let me run in and turn on the porch light so we can see our way in.”

  “Okay.”

  With the headlights illuminating the dirt path leading up to a set of wooden steps, Sebastian makes his way to the cabin door.

  Once he’s inside, an outside porch light flickers on, bathing everything in a neat yellow glow.

  Padding back down to the car, Sebastian slides into the driver seat, murmuring, “There, that’s better, huh?”

  “It is.”

  He cuts the ignition, but the headlights remain on, adding to the illumination. “Are you ready to go in?” he asks.

  I nod. “Absolutely. But what about the headlights? They’re still on. Won’t your battery die?”

  I’m clearly focused on that subject, thanks to my crappy car.

  Chuckling, Sebastian replies, “No, the lights go off on their own after a minute or two.”

  “Ah, got it.”

  I get out of the car, stretching this way and that. As fun as the ride up has been, I’m ready to go inside. I’m excited to see the cabin’s interior. The outside is really nice, very rustic, yet still modern. I imagine the inside will be more of the same.

  As I start up the wooden steps, Sebastian follows me, our suitcases in hand.

  Once I’m in the cabin, he reaches past me and switches on a lamp.

  “Wow.” I spin around. “This is really freaking nice.”

  The interior is amazing, super cozy. It’s all very rustic, like the exterior, but, again, modern too.

  The central part of the first floor is like a great room, or main living area. There’s a high wood-beamed ceiling, a plush tartan plaid sofa, and a huge-ass stone fireplace taking up half of one wall.

  There’s also a cool wooden staircase spiraling up to an open second-floor balcony.

  “Are the bedrooms up there?” I ask, pointing upward.

  Setting the suitcases down on the hunter green area rug covering the cedar plank floor, Sebastian says, “Yes. There are four up there, each with their own bathroom.”

  “Wow, nice.”

  “You can choose whichever bedroom you like. And…” He points over to the left side of the room. “That doorway over there leads into the kitchen. There’s also a small laundry area in there, and a door that leads out to the back of the property.”

  “Great, got it. And what’s over there?” I gesture to the right, to what appears to be a set of sliding glass doors covered by thick hunter green drapes.

  “That leads out to the deck,” Sebastian says. “The garage is underneath. Oh, and that hot tub I told you about is out there too.”

  I nod approvingly.

  “Again, though,” he says, “like I mentioned earlier, it’ll be much easier to see everything once it’s daylight. You can check things out more thoroughly then. And, Bettina, let me tell you, you’re going to love the view from that deck.”

  Curious, I ask, “Will we be able to see the mountains from out there?”

  “Hell, yeah.” Sebastian chuckles. “We’re actually on a mountain right now, about halfway up. But you’ll see much higher ones off in the distance. Some are even snowcapped ”

  “Would those be the Grand Tetons?” I ask.

  Sebastian looks impressed that I know that.

  “Yes,” he tells me.

  “Damn, I’m excited. I can’t wait till tomorrow.”

  “Same here,” he replies. “It’ll feel good settling in.”

  We then both yawn at the exact same time.

  That makes us laugh.

  “What a day,” he says.

  “For sure.”

  “Are you sleepy?”

  “Very.”

  Since we’re both tired, we decide to take the bags upstairs and just go to sleep.

  Before we do, I choose one of the smaller bedrooms for my own. It’s the one next to Sebastian’s master bedroom. He told me I could have his, but I didn’t want to take his space from him. I also really like the bedroom I picked. It’s decorated in a soothing maroon color scheme and has big cedar furniture.

  After saying good night to Sebastian out in the hall, I step into my bedroom, where I kick off my sneakers and collapse onto the full-sized bed.

  Sighing, I curl up in the puffy gingham-print comforter.

  Unpacking can wait.

  This bed feels too damn good.

  Those are my final thoughts before I fall fast asleep.

  An Excellent Catch

  I wake up bright and early the next morning, the sun blasting through my bedroom window since I forgot to close the blinds last night. I unpacked a little prior to crashing, but I was too fucking exhausted for much more than that.

  I feel refreshed now, though.

  And amped.

  I’m ready to grab a quick breakfast and go fishing.

  After stretching and yawning, I roll out of my nice king-sized bed and pad over to the attached bathroom, where I proceed to take a long, hot shower.

  Damn, that feels good.

  The warm torrent of water soothes my achy muscles from yesterday’s long drive.

  Once I’m done, I dry off and tug on long cargo pants, thick socks, waterproof boots, and a snug white tee. I also grab a box of protein bars from my bag, before I jog downstairs.

  “Ah, the breakfast of champions,” I mutter jokingly as I reach the kitchen and take two bars from the box.

  I leave the rest on the table for Bettina.

  Until I can get to the market, she too will have to make do with this simple sustenance.

  Next up in my morning, I swap out my Lamborghini for my much more practical work truck. While I’m in the garage, I gather my fishing gear, then head down to the stream.

  Luckily, I still have lures and some leftover fish egg bait in my old metal tackling box. It’s not the best, but it’ll have to do until I can procure live bait.

  Turns out my concern is for naught, the fish are biting like crazy. I easily reel in several rainbow trout, even with the outdated bait.

  “We are more than set for lunch,” I proclaim on my way back up to the cabin, my bounty contained in the small cooler I’m carrying. “What an excellent catch.”

  I think about what I’d like to pick up at the market to grill along with the fish. Fresh vegetables and my famous butter-laden garlic bread would go nicely. Bettina is in for a real treat, one that’ll hopefully make up for the boring, plain breakfast bars.

  Back up in the cabin, I don’t bother my pretty housemate. It’s real quiet, so I figure she’s still sleeping. We had a long drive yesterday. I’m sure she can use the extra rest.

  When I step into the kitchen, I see that the protein bars remain untouched, thus confirming my suspicion that Bettina isn’t up yet.

  Quietly, I place the fish in the fridge. I’ll clean and prep it later.

  With nothing to do in the house for now, I drive down to the local market.

  Shopping takes a little more time than I anticipate. There’s a lot we need in order to get up and running. I’d like to have a sufficient variety of food for at least this week and into the next.

  Before all is said and done, maybe Bettina will join me on one of these shopping excursions?

  I kind of hope she does.

  Two of us picking out stuff would be better than one.

  But today, it is just one—me.

  I go for a variety of items, choosing lots of fruits and vegetables, spices, sodas, steaks, chicken, eggs, and many other food and living essentials, like paper towels and the like.

  All in all, I end up leaving the market with twelve bags.

  I feel good about providing. We may be out in the wilderness, but I plan to make sure Bettina doesn’t want for anything.

  I’d like for her to have a super summer and a great time.

  I think again about how I really am glad I agreed to let her come with me. It’s already much nicer than spending time alone, and it’s only the beginning of day one.

  An added benefit is I haven’t thought once about hockey and our dismal playoff loss.

  Nor do I plan to.

  Not when I have a beautiful and fun woman waiting for me back at the cabin.

  And So the Fun Begins

  I sleep soundly throughout the night. It’s so peaceful and quiet out here in the wilderness. And then there’s the fact the full-sized bed in the room I chose has the absolute softest and fluffiest bedding ever.

  I could stay in bed all day.

  But I know I can’t.

  I actually don’t want to. I’m too excited to see what Sebastian has in store for us. I’m also wondering how his fishing outing went this morning.

  I’m sure he’s back by now.

  After showering and dressing in jean shorts, sneakers, and a purple tank top, I bop down to the kitchen.

  Sebastian’s not around, though.

  But I know he was here.

  When I pop open the refrigerator door, I’m greeted with what appears to be a batch of freshly caught trout.

  “Wow,” I marvel. “That man is quite the fisherman.”

  I add “fishing prowess” to my ever-growing list of “More Reasons to Like Sebastian.”

  Closing the fridge door with a smile on my face, I decide not to eat heavily. Not that there’s much else besides fish. But now I’m looking forward to lunch.

  Nevertheless, my stomach is grumbling, demanding something.

  Lucky for me, there’s a box of protein bars on the table.

  Plopping down in one of the wooden kitchen chairs, I rip open a bar.

  “Not bad,” I murmur around a bite of chewy, chocolate-y chip goodness.

  After I’m done eating, I chug down a glass of water, and then make my way to the back deck.

  When I step outside, I’m struck by how large the area is. Not only is there the hot tub Sebastian told me about, snugged up in a back corner, but there’s also a wrought iron table with matching chairs, and two comfy-looking wooden Adirondack chairs facing the view.

  And what a view it is.

  The mountains are just…wow!

  Sebastian was not kidding. The scenery from out here on the deck is astounding.

  Against the backdrop of a robin’s-egg blue sky, and nestled among acres and acres of towering pines and other assorted trees in full late spring-green foliage, the most majestic snowcapped mountains stand like sentinels in the distance.

  I slide down onto one of the Adirondack chairs and place my sneakered feet up on the wooden railing.

  Softly, I murmur, “I don’t think I’m ever going to want to leave this little slice of heaven.”

  A deep voice from behind me says gruffly, “I hear you. I feel exactly the same way.”

  I quickly put my feet down and twist to find Sebastian leaning against the sliding glass doorframe, arms crossed, with a big grin on his face.

  “Oh my word.” I cover my heart. “I had no idea you were back.”

 

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