Determination fills me. For what, I’m not sure.
I want to make this a special night for him, though. I want to lift his spirits.
“Ready to take that walk?” I ask.
He looks at my plate. “You haven’t finished your salmon. You need those nutrients.”
“What if I take it with me?”
He shakes his head. “Salmon doesn’t reheat well. Just finish that little bit for me, and then we’ll head out.”
I squeeze his hand before I go back to finishing my plate, and before I know it, he’s gathering our plates up. My belly is full, that relaxation of needing to digest is rushing through my veins, and Walker’s scent brings me a certain type of calm I’ve never been able to find for myself. Where his dinner was hearty and filling, his scent is sweet and earthy, like a healthy dessert.
I wouldn’t mind having him for dessert.
“Whenever you’re ready,” he says as he offers me his hand.
I smile up at him as I take it, and soon our arms are linked. He leads me out of the restaurant, heading not toward the main doors of the building, but to a side exit. He opens it up for me,because I think these guys have a vendetta against me touching doors, and the cool spring air smacks me right in the face.
I draw in a deep breath, relishing the way the breeze cascades over my heated skin.
“Dinner was amazing,” I say as Walker guides me toward the rows of vines. “Thank you so much.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. We can walk down our food a little bit as we weave throughout the vines.”
“Do you walk the vineyard a lot at night?”
“Almost every night.”
That turns my attention up to him. “Will you walk me through your favorite pathway?”
He smiles down at me, and with the moonlight etched across his face, he almost looks like an angel. “It would be my pleasure, beautiful. Let me know if I’m walking too fast.”
When we enter the rows of vines, it’s like the world transforms. I’m not sure how high I thought these vines were, but I can barely see over the tops of them. The vines crawl along stakes and fencing that has to be almost five-and-a-half feet tall into the air. And they’re all covered with blossoming yellowish-green buds.
It’s like we’ve stepped into a completely different world.
“It’s magic out here at night,” I say as I tilt my head back and look up at the full moon gracing us with its presence. “I can see why you enjoy taking walks at night. It’s very quiet.”
“The silence is what draws me to it,” Walker says as we take a right and navigate further into the vines. “Helps me decompress after my long workdays.”
“I bet it does.”
Silence falls between us again, like a soft blanket tucking us in. The walk helps me to not feel so full, and as I turn around to see just how far into the vines we’ve walked, I realize I can’t see the main building of the vineyard.
Not through the slats in the fencing and stakes that hold up the vines. Not over the tops of them, since I can’t quite see that high, anyway.
I’m surrounded by the smell of my favorite fruit, and it’s intoxicating in a way that relaxes my jaw.
“There it is,” Walker murmurs.
“What?”
He points. “That.”
When I look where he’s pointing, I see a clearing in the middle of the vines. There’s a gazebo that sits off-center to the clearing, and I realize this must be where they do weddings and special occasion sort of things. I smile as he walks me toward it. He leads me up the three steps of the gazebo until we’re under the pitched ceiling.
And when I turn, I realize I’m up high enough in the gazebo to see across the entire vineyard.
