Her heart warmed and then began to melt. “Cash.”
“Remember how we used to talk about the freedom we’d have when this bike was running? How we’d take off and see the country, going wherever the wind blew?”
She laughed. “We were so young.”
He chuckled. “And dumb. But I couldn’t ever get the image of the two of us against the world out of my head. Ride with me, please.”
She gulped. So that’s what this was—a chance to fulfill an old wish left over from their high school romance. Well, she couldn’t say that she hadn’t had the same fantasy now and again. Living with no regrets seemed a lot better than setting herself up to wonderwhat if.
“Do you have a helmet for me?” she asked.
His eyes widened slightly, and he pressed a kiss to her lips so fast she barely had time to register that he’d done so. “You bet I do.” He reached over to the other handlebar and took the sleek, shiny silver helmet off, handing it to her.
She lifted an eyebrow. “Subtle, aren’t we?”
He chuckled. “It reminded me of the fancy stove you had to have.”
She hugged it to her chest, loving it even more because that’s why he picked it out. The way to a man’s heart might be through his stomach, but the way to her heart was through appliances.
She strapped it on, climbed onto the motorcycle behind Cash, and wrapped her arms around his firm middle. She’d been close to him on several occasions over the last couple of days—sharing kisses and holding tight before heading their separate ways to catch some sleep. Neither of them wanted to push things too far physically. For Maggie, it was a matter of survival. If she gave Cash her whole heart now, she’d be devastated when they parted ways.
Cash started up the engine, the roar filling their clearing and making it impossible to talk. That was just fine with Maggie. She wanted to bounce back and forth between her high school dreams and the actual moment.
They made their way out to the highway, and Cash turned them away from town. The sun was on their backs, making its way around the world to start a new day somewhere unseen and chasing the last of the chill out of Maggie’s bones.
Cash was warm against her front, his breathing steady and peaceful. Slowly, as they wound through the hills, the tension in her body began to release. She breathed in the summer scents of flowers, grass, woods, and trees imprinting the smells in her soul. When she was old and gray, she’d come back to this moment, to the safety and love that was another passenger on the motorcycle.
After about twenty minutes, Cash pulled off the road and into a small park. It was a historical marker of sorts with a monument to one side and an open field.
She got off to stretch her legs, wishing the ride had been longer, but they’d have to go back, right?
“What’d ya think?” asked Cash.
“That was … everything I’d ever thought it would be.” She hugged herself. The night was warm, but she was vulnerable in her love for him—both past and present. While she didn’t think Cash would leave like he had before, they’d made a deal and she’d learned that he was an honorable man. He’d stick to his end of the bargain.
Her stomach gurgled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten since noon and it was twilight.
Cash chuckled as he lifted the seat. “Great stomachs think alike.” He pulled out a heavy blanket and an insulated lunch sack.
Maggie reached for the food. “What did you bring?”
He pulled it out of her reach. “Don’t get your hopes up. It’s not as fancy as what you make.”
She rolled her eyes. “Right now I’d eat saltines and think they were gourmet.”
He grinned and handed her the bag. They set up right there next to the motorcycle and dug into the hoagie sandwiches he’d had delivered while she’d been torturing her scalp with freezing water. The scene was so like all the times they’d hung out together in his garage. Only back then they’d sat on an army tarp and had been surrounded by the depression that seemed to hang about his house like a spiderweb.
They ate in silence, both of them too hungry to care about making conversation and too comfortable with each other to feel bad about it.
When her sandwich and chips were gone, Maggie lay back on the blanket and spread her arms wide, taking in the stars that seemed to twinkle into existence. Cash joined her, head to head and bodies going opposite directions. His fingers tangled into her hair and lulled her into a pleasant state between asleep and awake.
“I’m not sorry I married you,” he said low.
She giggled, remembering what it’d been like at sleepovers when everything was funny as she’d lain in her sleeping bag trying to stop laughing. “You just throw compliments out like they’re burnt biscuits, don’t you?”
He chuckled, turning his head.
She turned hers too, and he stole a kiss. “I’m not sorry I married you either, Cash. Thank you for the ride tonight. I will cherish this memory.”
