“I didn’t think of pillows,” he admitted with a wince.
Willow dropped to a squat and pressed her palm against the padded headrests inside the sleeping bags. “No need,” she replied with a grin. “They’re included.” She straightened, strode over to where he was rummaging through his pack, and tried topeek inside. “Is that dinner?” she asked, and he heard her stomach growl.
He produced a small pot and a box of mac and cheese, the kind with the “cheese” already in liquid form.
“Ta-da!” he proclaimed, waiting for her expression to fall, but instead she gave him an even bigger smile, if that was possible.
“My favorite,” she told him.
“You’re a terrible liar,” he replied, but she shook her head and stepped toward him, sliding her arms around his waist.
“You’ve never cooked for me before,” she said softly.
Ash sighed. “There’s a lot that I never did but should have.” Turned out he was the one having trouble maintaining a smile.
She leaned up and kissed the bottom of his chin. “Can we exist here tonight without any of our messy past joining us?”
He leaned his forehead against hers. “Are you sure? Because I feel like there is so much left to tell you or to explain about…”
He felt her clasp her hands against his back. “Did you love her?” she whispered, and he knew she meant his ex-wife.
“It’s complicated,” he admitted, his voice rough. Because even after the way things went down, he wouldn’t betray his ex-wife’s trust. “She’s a good friend.”
“You know what?” Willow shook her head. “Don’t tell me any more, okay? I don’t want to know more about that part of your life. Not tonight.”
“Okay,” he agreed. But someday he needed to tell her everything he’d tried to convey over the past four years. “There’s wine and water in the cooler pack,” he added, nodding toward a backpack that still hadn’t been opened. “You do drinks, and I’ll do food?”
“Deal,” she told him, and they got to work putting together their minimalist meal.
“Cheers,” Willow said afterward, holding up her plastic cup filled with the sparkling wine he’d remembered that she loved. “This was the best meal I’ve had in years.”
“You’re still a terrible liar,” he told her. The mac and cheese was gummy and awful, but at least they had something in their bellies to sustain them until morning.
Willow inched her chair closer to his than it already was and draped the flannel blanket over both of them. “You have goose bumps on your arms,” she added.
He clinked the bottom of his cup against hers and smiled. “Maybe it was just a ploy to get you closer to me.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. “Then it was a very successful ploy,” she replied. “But for future reference, you can just tell me you want me closer to you.”
He kissed the top of her head and inhaled the scent of her shampoo. He needed to continually fill his senses with her presence. It was the only way he could prove to himself that any of this was real, that Willow was here with him not because she had to be but because she wanted it.
“I’ve missed you, Wills,” he told her, his voice tentative. “Am I allowed to say that?”
She nodded against his shoulder. “I’ll allow it.”
He switched his cup to his right hand and slid his left one under the blanket to find hers. As soon as the tips of their fingers touched, Willow linked her fingers through his so they were completely intertwined and locked together until one of them decided to let go.
“You know I always felt like Meadow Valley was too small for me. Too intimate,” he continued. “Like I couldn’t have this big life if I was stuck in the place where I’d been since the day I was born.”
She squeezed his hand, but both of them gazed at the fire as they spoke.
“And now?” she asked.
He squeezed her back. “Now… I’m not so sure. Meadow Valley feels different with you in it.”
Willow bent her arm and brought his knuckles to her lips, pressing soft kisses to each one individually. “You know I’m only here through the festival, right? I have a few more tour stops and a record to launch before the season ends. And then,depending on sales…” She shrugged. “I don’t know what’s next after that.”
He understood what that meant. She didn’t know what would be next for them. Regardless of what happened at the end of their two months together, they had lives outside of Meadow Valley that would likely be traveling in entirely different directions.
