Tav liked his life to run a certain way, and lucky for me I fit naturally inside of that.
Neither of us liked to cook, so we ate out often.
We jokingly called ourselves spiritual but not religious for the irony of it, and preferred dancing around the house on Saturday evening with wine before making slow, sweet love every Sunday morning.
Rituals mean everything.
“Babe—if we’re going to make it to the chalet by dark we need to get on the road. Did you load all of your stuff into the car?" Tav finally paused, taking me in with a concerned look. "Do you want my help?”
“I’m ready. I was just thinking about something my mom used to say about—”
Just then his phone vibrated loudly and he held a finger up to me as he hit the answer button on the bluetooth that fit snugly in his ear. He mouthed:"Tell me in the car, okay?”
I nodded, swiping the hardcover that’d collected dust on our coffee table for the last year. I never made time to read, maybe this long weekend would be my chance. Self-imposed isolation at a winter chalet—the perfect getaway to reconnect—Tav had breathed at my ear as he told me about it.
He’d come home with the slim pamphlet a few weeks ago.A smart house in the mountains with all of the modern amenities and none of the headachesread its tagline.
“I can’t wait for the next three days." Tav appeared at the door then, car keys dangling from one finger. "Eight hours and counting.”
“Eight hours...would you kill me if I napped?”
“Not in the slightest." He pulled me against his chest and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. "I want you fully refreshed for the weekend I have planned.”
I let my heartbeat match his as I inhaled his comforting scent. The last two years with Tav had been the best of my life. He’d taught me how to laugh more and worry less. He took care of me in a way no one had ever before. So why did it feel like the distance had grown between us these last few months? We were both overworked, but happily so. He spent more nights in the city at the office, but I didn’t mind. Being together only three or four nights a week kept our relationship fresh. I always looked forward to seeing Tav. Every moment was priceless.
Always the gentleman, he held my hand as we left our suburban Lancaster bungalow. Opening the passenger door of the car, he snuggled me inside with the fuzzy blanket he’d packed for me, then nestled the book in my lap and strapped me in securely with the seat belt.
“Good night, sleep tight, Princess," he teased. "By the time you wake up we’ll be in the mountains.”
A thrill of excitement coursed through me. "I can’t wait.”
“You and me both."
Two
“Hope you like to snowshoe.”
My eyes fluttered open and I yawned, the book I’d fallen asleep reading still open in my lap.
“Have a good nap?" Tav asked. I nodded, back aching despite the heated leather seats.
“It’s only October, how does this place have so much snow?" I hummed as shadowy snowdrifts streaked past my window.
I turned the heat up on the thermostat instinctively.
Tav chuckled. “Welcome to the mountains."
“How much farther?"
“Not long now. Maybe another hour, less if it weren’t for the snow.”
I watched the whirling snowflakes before they met their end on the windshield. We didn’t pass many cars, and before I could blink again another small town was fading in the rearview. Tav slowed as we slid through a four-way intersection. He cussed under his breath, then eased into a driveway and turned around. "That was our turn.”
I didn’t reply, only watched him navigate this new landscape.
We rarely saw snow this deep at our home in Lancaster, and he saw even less as he worked in Virginia Beach.
The elevation started to climb as soon as we passed beneath an old-fashioned covered bridge. It looked eerie in the snowy darkness, like something out of a cheap horror film. "These woods are giving me intense Blair Witch vibes.”
