Page 54 of The One With the Mountain Man

She shrugged, looking out over the mountains. "Much less sunlight, a lot of water, trees, nature. The water is moving but sometimes it looks like it isn't, so that's a big difference. And there's no mountains or boulders."

That was a strange comparison, but I could see where she was coming from.

"And this," she kept going, "is like being out on the boat. Sunshine, fresh air, and wide-open spaces. The island and this mountain are nothing alike and they're everything alike. I like it here."

I watched her wander around the bald while I dozed. We could have been there ten minutes or a couple of hours when she dropped back onto the blanket beside me. I made it a habit not to check the time if I didn't need to make camp for the night so that I could focus on being present. "You ready to head back?" I sat back up and stretched.

Her eyes darted up to my hat. "I have one more question."

"Shoot."

"What's up with your hats?"

I looked up like I could see what she saw, then pulled off my old Bigfoot ball cap and handed it to her.

She examined it with a laugh. "It's your high school mascot?"

"Sure is. Lost Creek High, home of Bigfoot. But don't tell anyone."

She pulled her ponytail through the back and tried it on. It was too big, but I loved seeing it on her.

"That's so cool. My high school mascot was a knight. What is up with that? We don't even have knights in our history. I'd much rather be the manatees or the dolphins. Something with a Florida tie to it. Bigfoot is cool."

"You could be the Skunk Apes."

She wrinkled her nose. "The what-now?"

I tapped the bill of the hat. "The Bigfoot of the Everglades."

"How do you know that?"

I shrugged. "Everyone around here knows their cryptids."

"Mysterious beings?"

"Basically. Does that answer your question?"

She pulled my hat off and handed it back to me. "Half of it. When we met you had on a cowboy hat. What happened to that?"

I didn't miss the way her pupils dilated just a little thinking about it. Maybe I needed to wear it more often if she reacted like that to a hat. "Depends on the environment. Lost Creek doesn't get much sun down in the gorge." I spun my hat forward. "Good for the times it's actually sunny." Then I spun it backward. "Covers up my hair when it's not."

She nodded slowly. "So you wear the cowboy hat when you're going to get a lot of sun. Makes sense."

Oh yeah. She definitely thought that hat was sexy. I needed a reason to wear it. As soon as humanly possible. "Have dinner with me."

She fought back a laugh. "We just ate lunch."

"And I'm already looking ahead."

Her eyes softened. "I did promise you today. I'm pretty sure that includes dinner."

The Still was busierthan usual thanks to the band playing, which was another of Scottie's updates to the old family saloon. Most Friday nights a local band played. Saturdays he tried to get in groups from outside of Lost Creek. This Friday was no exception, but it was my first time seeing it for myself.

"It's packed!" Marley breathed, eyes wide. She looked more stunned than afraid, so I didn't worry.

She had on a sexy as fuck sundress with a sweater. Her hair was slightly more tamed than normal, and she'd put on the barest of makeup.

She was gorgeous.

---