“Connection?” I ask, throwing the truck in park because we are literally going nowhere.
“Your business card at the hotel that night. It literally said Snowcap Summit. Proprietor. I guess my head was just a little flighty that day,” she says.
“In your defense, you did just have a life-altering night with me…” I say. She rolls her eyes and playfully smacks my arm. I laugh and she blushes. I don’t care if we ever make it to the resort. I am perfectly content sitting here in traffic, telling our life stories while Al Green serenades us.
“So my family had a lot of money. Like…a lotof money. I don’t have any cousins; both of my parents were only children. So my parents split the money between my brother Elias and me. Then we pooled it back together and invested in the resort. I love business management and hospitality. Allie loved skiing and Elias loves beer, hence the brewery. We have other peoplemanaging a lot of it now, but it’s a dream that has really taken off. I can’t imagine anything better.”
“I love that,” she says.
“Yeah, I could never leave Colorado,” I say. “Even with the ski traffic.”
“I couldn’t leave either,” she says. “But my parents moved to Phoenix a while back.”
“What’s in Phoenix?” I ask, trying not to look disgusted.
“Beats me,” she says, and I smile.
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t move,” I say. “If that’s not too bold.”
“It’s not. I’m glad too. All that heat would dry my skin out,” she smiles and I laugh.
“I’m also glad we ran into each other again,” I admit. “Even if you do have a lot of zany ideas when it comes to weddings.”
She gives me a look, and I laugh again. After that, I’m not sure which one of us leans in. All I know is that our mouths meet in a soft kiss. That seems to jinx everything because a split second into it, the car behind me honks and traffic starts to move again.
Chapter 24
Charlotte
“Let’sget more chairs around each fire pit,” I point with my pen as I walk through the courtyard. “The Adirondacks, not the white ones. We’re saving those for the event hall where we will have the bulk of the engagement party and most likely the reception.”
After arriving at the resort, Gavin and I went separate ways. He had a string of phone calls and I got started on all the moving parts as soon as I got out of his truck. It’s also given me time to work on what I needed. It’s like my brain and my heart seem to be a little conflicted right now.
“You don’t think your partner in crime will want to move the whole party outside?” Josie asks. “With the turkey legs and live band, which I heard has a fiddle, it’ll be a real hoedown.”
“You know, I think he might trust my judgement on this one,” I say as we walk towards the brewery for something to drink. A mocktail for me, of course.
“Oh, really?” she asks. “Was there a truce?”
“You could say that,” I tell her. I look around before going on. “He kissed me.”
“Who kissed you?” she asks, and I roll my eyes, mouthing his name.
“Gavin. On the way here.”
“Okay? I don’t get it. You guys have kissed before. You’ve done a lot of other things before from what you’ve told me. Why is a kiss a big deal?” she asks. I wait until the bartender takes our drink order and walks away before going on. Everyone here works for Gavin, which means every ear could be bugged, so to speak.
“It was different. At least I think it was? I don’t know. I’m still trying to figure that out,” I say, plopping down on a barstool.
Josie follows suit. She really is a true best friend. “So what about it was different?”
“I don’t know. Usually when things get heated between us, it’s like a side effect of, you know, things being heated between us. We are either teasing each other or arguing or getting in each other’s way, and all that pent-up tension and friction leads to?—”
“Another kind of friction.” Josie smiles and nods.
“Right,” I say, grabbing one of the coaster napkins and tearing it in half. My hands need something to do because my brain feels like it’s full of bees right now. “But it wasn’t like that this time. We were talking about music and life and marriage,” I say and then I elaborate on the last part. “In general. Marriage in general. And we just…kissed.”
“Did it lead to anything else?” she asks, too engrossed in the romance arc of the story to care about the plot.
