“Yeah.” He nudged Trudy forward and headed for the rocks and the spring hidden behind them. “Someday, I’ll bring you back here when the weather is warmer, and we can swim in the springs.”
She instantly regretted that she hadn’t known that was a possibility before they’d left the house. Although, with it being cold enough that she could see her breath freezing in front of her as they rode, it was probably silly to regret swimming or soaking in the hot spring was off the table. But she wouldn’t have objected to seeing Caleb in a swimsuit. Not even a little bit.
You won’t be here for someday, so make the most of today.
As she followed Caleb’s horse, she shook off the reminder. Leaving and dealing with it was a tomorrow problem.
“Woah, boy.” She tugged gently on the reins and the well-trained horse stopped. She patted his neck to give herself a few seconds before she had to figure out how to get down. “Good boy.”
“Want some help getting down?” Caleb grinned up at her.
Saved once again.
“Please.”
He steadied Bluey. “Swing your leg over and slide down. I’ll make sure you don’t fall.”
Swing my leg over, as if it’s an easy feat when it’s not something you are used to.
But they couldn’t picnic if she stayed on the horse. It took a couple of movements, but she managed it, and slid free of the saddle. Caleb caught her in his arms, and she slid down his front. Rose’s hands grabbed his waist, and she peered up at him. “Thank you.” Her gaze locked onto his, and she swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. This need to suck in air must be what authors wrote about in the books she enjoyed so much. She’d never known this feeling was a thing. She’d never side-eye those scenes again.
Caleb’s fingers flexed on her arms before he cleared his throat, released her, and stepped back. “Can you lay out the blanket while I take care of the horses?”
“Sure.” She took the rucksack from him and followed his finger to where a firepit sat close to the steaming pool. The snow on the ground wasn’t as deep as she feared, but she still had to lift her feet higher than normal to reach the firepit.
By the time she’d fished out the blanket and spread it on the ground, wax side down, Caleb was finished with the horses. She watched him curiously as he walked to the rocks and toed something on the ground. Thankfully, he was turned away from her when he bent down, because damn, that man could fill out a pair of jeans like nobody’s business. He caught something in his fingers and tugged. Snow flew as the tarp rose to reveal some chopped wood.
Rose huddled into her coat as she watched him do his thing. “Smart.”
He gathered some logs. “I like to come here, but I don’t always want to go in the water to warm up.” He dumped the logs into the firepit and fished into the rucksack for matches. “I built the pit because it’s easier to light the fire with the blocks as a wind break.” It didn’t take long for a spiral of smoke to rise from the center of the firepit.
Being here with him, surrounded by the quietness of the mountains, she couldn’t help but feel like they were the only people on the planet. “This must be what it was like years ago, before the west was settled.”
“Yeah.” He settled onto his haunches as he babied the fire. “I wouldn’t be lighting a fire right here though or some wild warrior would carry you off to his teepee.”
“They’d send me back pretty quick. I can be rather annoying if I want to be.”
“Nah, Rosey-Posey, you’re too much of a prize. A smart warrior would make sure you fell in love with him and never wanted to leave.” He fed another piece of wood into the fire. “I know I would.”
She blinked at him for a second, trying to figure out if there was double meaning in his words. Because she wasn’t able to figure out if she wanted his words to mean something, she reached for the ruck. “I—um—food?”
“Yeah, I’ve been smelling those cookies all the way up the trail.”
They worked together to put the food in the center of the blanket, then settled in to have their picnic. There was something about the simplicity of the silence between them that brought a peacefulness she hadn’t known she craved. For every moment, every cookie and muffin she and Caleb shared, tension drained out of her.
After filling their mugs with hot chocolate, Caleb produced a pack of cards and held them up. “You game?”
“As long as it’s not strip poker or strip anything, I am.”
“We don’t want anything important to freeze off.” Caleb leaned close to her and whispered into her ear, “I could always keep you warm.”
“Nope. Back up, cowboy,” she teased. “You have more dangly parts that can fall off than I do.”
“Hah. If strip poker is off the table,” he grinned as he sat across from her and shuffled the cards, “what are we playing for?”
She cocked her head to one side, and inspiration struck. “Information.”
“I’m game.” He nodded. “What are we playing?”
