“Girl, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Are you cold?” he asked, casting a glance in my direction.
“You’re not?”
“Nah, it feels comfy to me.”
“You do know when we get higher in the mountains that it’s going to be colder? You can’t turn on the air in the cabin, or I’ll be sick,” I declared as he started rapping to D-Nice’s title anthem.
“I’m not interested in making you sick this weekend, baby. Trust me, I’ve waited far too long to have some quality time with you to think about getting you sick.”
Bryson reached over and linked our fingers together. I glanced down at them before I looked back up at him. I wondered if we would be successful at what we were trying to do.
A little over twenty minutes later, we arrived at Grace Gardens Bed & Breakfast. It was a little resort that had several log cabins all over the property and one main hotel. Bryson parked in front of the B&B, and we climbed out.
“The leaves are so colorful up here, Bryse. They look more vibrant than the autumn leaves in the city,” I declared, looking overhead at the trees that boasted radiant and glossy gold, bronze, and red leaves. They were magnificent.
“They do appear to be more colorful here than back home. But I’m sure that’s just because we’re so caught up there that we seldom pay attention to things like that anymore. We’re too busy rushing here and there.”
I smiled and replied, “I’m sure you’re right.”
“Aye, check it out, baby. There’s a lake down there.” He pointed behind me.
I spun around to see the silvery surface of the lake glimmering in the midday sun. It was eerily beautiful in a way that I had never seen before in a lake. I wanted to go check it out. There were already a few guests down there who were onboats and fishing. “Do you think you’ll do any fishing while we’re here?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t done that since my father passed,” he replied sadly with a thoughtful expression on his face.
“The air is amazing up here,” I marveled, stretching my arms and inhaling the fresh mountain air.
“It’s crisp and clean. If I could bottle this shit up and take it back to the city, I would.”
“Or we could move here,” I suggested, wiggling my eyebrows teasingly.
“No hell, your ass wouldn’t. You’re too much of a city girl, Kenni. You’d go stir crazy after a couple of weeks.”
I turned my lips down and nodded. “You’re probably right.”
“But it would be nice to have a vacation home up here that we could escape to now and then.”
“I like that idea. Are you proposing that we should?”
“It’s something to consider. Come on. Let’s head inside and see what this weekend brings. If we still feel the same way next weekend, then we’ll do it. After all, you were just about to leave my ass,” he replied snidely, taking my hand in his.
“And you were about to murder someone over me,” I replied.
He stopped and faced me. “Can we please agree to put that behind us and not have that conversation again?”
“Why? You feel differently now?”
“Hell nah. I still feel the same way. I’d do that shit a thousand times over, but I ain’t trying to have it broadcast to the world either.”
I nodded my agreement, and we headed inside just as his phone rang.
“Can you take care of the reservations while I get this?” he asked, frowning at his phone.
“Okay,” I replied as he stopped just inside the doorway to take the call.
“Hello, thank you for visiting Grace Gardens.”
“Hi, we have a reservation under Kennedi Barre,” I explained, handing the desk attendant my license and credit card.
