She nodded, and her sad smile turned into something that looked a little more hopeful.
“I’m not assuming that I’m on that list ofeverything,” he began. “But I thought you should know that whether you want me or not, you have me, Wills. All of me.”
She rose onto her toes and rewarded him with a soft kiss. “You’re on the list,” she whispered. “And I really missed you calling meWills.”
Ash grinned. He was pretty sure he’d smiled more since waking up this morning than he had in years. It still felt a little surreal.
“Come on,” he told her, holding out a hand. “We don’t have too far to go, but the terrain might be a little rough. I promise it will be worth it.”
Willow eyed him skeptically but took his hand. She trusted him at the very least to get her from point A to point B safely, but the point was…she found him worthy of her trust, and that meant everything.
The rocky path was no longer slick with morning dew, so they were able to maneuver their way from the grazing post and through the trees with ease. There wasn’t an actual need for him to hold her hand, yet neither of them made any move to let go.
The trees began to part, and they both slowed as they came to an outcropping of rock, one that overlooked a large swimming hole and across the way…a waterfall.
“Shut the front door,” Willow said softly, but he could hear the wonder in her voice.
“It’s not the biggest waterfall around,” Ash replied. “But it’s one of the prettiest. And we can swim in it too…if you want.”
She let go of his hand and then used hers to backhand him on the shoulder. “Ash Murphy…you didnottell me to pack a bathing suit.”
He waggled his brows at her and grinned. “Who said we need bathing suits when we both came equipped with our birthday suits?”
Willow’s mouth fell open. “It’s apublicswimming hole.”
He held out his arms and pivoted right and then left. “And yet I don’t see another soul other than you and me.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You can’t rent a public swimming hole and waterfall.”
“Maybe not…” He sighed. Then he pulled off the backpack he’d brought with for the day and opened it up so he could reach inside and produce the green two-piece swimsuit. “But I have this.” He smiled sheepishly as her mouth fell open yet again.
“That’s my swimsuit,” she told him.
Ash nodded. “I can’t tell if you’re the happy kindof surprised or the pissed-off kind of surprised, but I’m really hoping it’s the former.”
Willow glanced from Ash to the waterfall and back to Ash again, her jaw set. “You went through my stuff.”
It was a statement, not a question, but Ash answered it anyway. “I didn’t, actually. But Jenna maybe did. On my behalf. I just… The second I realized Colt and I weren’t going to settle our differences caveman style, I knew I wanted to take you somewhere and give us a chance to just be. I wanted to take you here. So when Jenna made it back to the house before you did, I asked her if she had a suit you could borrow, and she told me that if you brought one, it’d be in your underwear drawer and that any woman could find another woman’s underwear drawer with an error count of one or less. Is that true? Because she was in and out of the house in, like, thirty seconds, and she brought me this.”
Willow’s expression softened, and he watched the corner of her mouth begin to curl into the beginning of a grin.
“It’s always a top drawer,” she told him. “Not every woman keeps her swimsuit in the underwear drawer, but if she’s staying somewhere that’s not home and only has some of her belongings…”
“Looks like your sister-in-law knows you well,” Ash remarked.
This made her smile, which made him smile. Had he mentioned how much smiling he was doingtoday? His cheeks were starting to hurt. No. That was a lie. Nothing hurt when Willow Morgan was nearby. Not his cheeks. Not the bruise on his ribs. Not the ache in his chest he’d been nursing since the moment she walked off his tour bus and out of his life.
“Jenna is the kind of person who makes you feel like she’s known and loved you all your life. My brother is a lucky man, and I guess that makes me lucky by proxy.” She laughed. “They’re proof that it works. The whole love thing.” She shrugged. “At least for some people, right?”
She snatched the suit from his hand before he could respond. “I guess I better find a secluded spot to change. Meet you in the water?”
She headed back toward the trees and left Ash standing there to overthink her assessment of Colt and Jenna’s relationship.At least for some people.Did that mean Willow didn’t seethe whole love thingworking for her? Forthem?
Ash shook his head, effectively shaking away the thought…for now. They were still stretching the bubble of the fairy tale. As far as he knew, Cinderella or her coach or whatever still hadn’t seen the stroke of midnight, which meant Ash wasn’t going to waste time worrying about the real world. Not when Willow was somewhere in the trees shedding her clothes and putting on a swimsuit to dive into a waterfall…with him.
Ash climbed down to the small beach area that was surprisingly still empty and stripped down right there. After all, he’d snuck on his swim shorts beneath his jeans while Willow had made the hike to the campsite’snot entirely horrible—her words—public restroom to freshen up after their prolonged morning coffee.
He kicked his clothes and boots into a pile next to the backpack and stretched his arms overhead, tilting his head up and closing his eyes as he basked in the warmth of the sun.
