I snort as I reach out and take them off his hands. “I’m a rodeo man. Worked it all my life before buyin’ our ranch next to Bull Mountain. More of a rancher than a cowboy though.”
“Ah. Now I get it.” He smiles between me and Mags. “So, is this a nice little romantic getaway with your lady then? Nice.”
“She’s just my?—"
“That’s the plan. Right, sugar muffin,” she croons, cuddling up to my arm and gazing up at me adoringly. I stare at her dumbfounded—though I can’t say I’m complaining about having her close, evenifit’s all for show.
“Life’s better when you’ve got someone to share it with,” George adds with a toothy grin. “Now, I wouldn’t be doin’ my duty as the town’s fire chief and police sheriff if I didn’t warn you that there’s a storm comin’ in tomorrow night”
Mags mouths “fire chief and sheriff” with a smirk before turning her smile to George. “Thanks, but we’ve been keepin’ track of the storm and have all the supplies we could need all packed up in the back of the truck. But we’ll be sure to stop by if we need anythin’ else, George.”
“Good. Good. Since you’re not from around here, I thought you might be interested in a little tourist attraction we’ve got on the way out of town.”
That gets Mags’s attention. “Definitely interested. What is it?”
“A gnome fence!” George replies excitedly. “It’s halfway along the road into Palmer at a scenic lookout. There’s a marker post but I guarantee you can’t miss it.” He waves to the wall of gnomes for sale. “That’s why I sell these. You buy one and leave it at the fence with all the others. It’s supposed to bring good luck, well that’s what people say.”
I look over at Mags who looks back at me. “What do you say, Red? Should we court good luck with a gnome?” Her lips twitch and the look on her face is so animated and carefree, I’d be willing to do almost anything to keep it there for the rest of our lives.
“Whatever you want, darlin’.”
George claps, the sound breaking through our connection. “Great! Let’s do it.”
With a cowboy-hatted, chaps-wearing gnome under my arm, we bid farewell to George, promising to leave the cabin keys in the lockbox outside when we leave before making our way out of the shop.
“Interestin’ man,” Mags murmurs as we walk back to the truck, her shoulders shaking.
“Darlin’, donotmake me laugh when the man can still see me.”
“Where’s the fun inthat," she says, hip-bumping me with a giggle before moving to the passenger side of the truck. I open it for her and help her up, my hands feeling far more comfortableon her hips now than at the start of the trip.And if I have my way, I’ll be the only man touching them from now on.
I don’t miss the pink tinge to her cheeks as I step back and grin, closing her in and moving around to the driver’s side.
She’s still giggling about the gnome and George when I hop in. I narrow my eyes her way. “If you break now, then I will, then Gnomeo’s brother in there will start thinkin’ we’re laughin’ athim.”
She covers her mouth. “Oh my gosh. He really did look like one, right? It wasn’t just me?”
“Nope. Thought I’d taken a wrong turn there for a second,” I muse.
“I was sure he was about to tell me that the shop was also the town's church, police station,andhospital too.”
“Well, hedidsay he’s the fire chiefandsheriff too, so it wouldn’t have surprised me,” I reply, edging the truck forward out toward the road again.
“This place makes me miss home,” she says.
“Yeah?” I arch a brow. “You gettin’ sick of me already?”
She rests her cheek on the seat, eyes pinned my way. “Never goin’ to happen, Red. You’re stuck with me for life.”
I reach over and grab her hand, quickly shifting my gaze to hers. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, darlin’. Because that means you’re stuck with me too.”
Another thirty minutes’ drive north along narrow, tree-lined, and fairly rough roads, we finally reach the overgrown track that eventually leads to George’s vacation rental. After Pinky's palace and our seventies throwback motel room last night, I have high hopes that this cabin will be perfect and just like its photos.
Carrying our bags and the supplies we got to see us through the storm, I step through the front door of the cabin and stop dead in my tracks, because this isnotthe same cabin I thought I’d booked online.
Maybe George got it wrong because this has got to be the most basic cabin I've ever seen. It’s all one big room–not two bedrooms and a living area like what was advertised. There's also a tiny kitchenette with a small bar fridge and a single-burner hot plate. Thankfully, there is a small fireplace and two chairs for us to sit on along with a small bathroom with a toilet, basin, and a shower that looks big enough for a gnome and that’s it.
The biggest problem though is staring me right in the face—there’s onlyonebed.
