“I was thinking about how I’ve been to Toplin’s Green before, at least, but not to the lodge.”
That was where her train of thought had been goingbeforeit had derailed into being All About Case, so she figured it was good enough.
“Sure,” Case said, nodding. “You probably don’t usually need a hotel this close to home.”
That made her feel a little better. It was true that she couldn’t think of a time before now when she would’ve needed to stay somewhere else.
“Besides,” he added, “they say most people who are native New Yorkers never go see the Statue of Liberty. Tourists flock there the first chance they get, but if you’ve lived there your whole life, it’s nothing but background noise.”
Lydia wasn’t sure that was exactly the same situation, but she loved him for trying so hard to make her feel better.
“So what brought you to Toplin’s Green?” Case asked.
That was an easy one to answer. “Oh, the waterfall.”
Case lit up. “There’s a waterfall? I love waterfalls.”
“This is the only one I’ve ever seen, so I’m biased, but I think it’s a pretty good one. We should go check it out in the morning before we drive back to Mountainview.”
That last part made giddiness and heaviness fight for space in her stomach, like butterflies were dodging out of the way of catapulted medicine balls.
By tomorrow morning, their marriage would be consummated, and their mate bond—something the whole pack would recognize—would be in place. Lydia had heard that for true, fated mates, there was even a new sense of soul-deep togetherness and belonging, but that was probably a myth. Even ordinary mate bonds affirmed a connection to each other in a relationship even stronger than the pack-bond, and that would be new and strange enough.
But honestly, a fledgling mate bond was far down on Lydia’s list of things to be preoccupied by right now. It was more like a bystander to the butterflies vs. medicine balls fight. Therealforces at play here were:
I’m going to have sex with Case, who is my husband now. I’m going to have a night of torrid, romantic sex with the man I love, who might actually be falling in love with me too. Ahh! Butterflies!
and
Then we have to wake up from that nice dream and go back home, where my grandmother is dying, someone is coming to kill us, and everyone expects me to have all the answers.
Thinking about thatabsolutelyfelt like taking a medicine ball to the gut. So ... she wasn’t going to think about it. Not tonight.
From now until they got back in the truck after seeing the Toplin’s Green waterfall, she was going to be selfish. She was going to enjoy herself. If you couldn’t do that on your wedding night, when could you?
“Well, I’d say I can’t wait for you to show me your waterfall,” Case said, “but actually ... there are a few things I’m glad we’re going to get to first.”
Both the butterflies and the medicine balls vanished, replaced with something warm and unfurling, like a flower finally getting to bloom.
“I’m glad we’re getting to those first too.”
It only took about twenty more minutes for them to get to Toplin’s Green, and since the lodge was on the far edge of town, they reached it first, right as the sun was going down.
The log building managed the difficult trick of looking both huge and cozy, and it certainly looked like where you wanted to go with the night now creeping in. Some of the enormous windows reflected the deep pink and orange of the setting sun, and others let you glimpse the flickering firelight inside. It looked like an oasis of warmth and color. When they got out of the truck, Lydia took a deep breath of fresh, clean air, relishing the mingling scents of wildflowers, cedar, and even distant mountaintop snow.
She wondered if they had skiing near here. Was that how the lodge could stay in business? Toplin’s Green wasn’t much bigger than Mountainview.
They checked in, and to her surprise, the desk clerk offered them a later checkout time since they were arriving in the evening. Lydia felt guilty about accepting it, but—
Selfish, she reminded herself.I’m allowed to think about me and Case right now.
“Thanks, that would be fantastic,” she said, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Case smile. Any doubt about her decision instantly vanished.
He deserved this. Maybe she even deserved it too.
Either way, for tonight, she was going to have it, and they were going to have each other.
Their room was on the top floor, but the lodge was low-slung, so that still made for a short elevator ride. Lydia couldn’t help thinking that was a shame. Her mind had strayed into the very intriguing fantasy of Case pinning her against the elevator wall and kissing her until they both forgot where they were. She would love to lose herself completely like that.
