Page 86 of The Chances We Take

“This isn’t funny! Why were you staring at me like that?” she pressed.

“It’s hard to look away. You catch my attention. Always have,” I admitted before flicking my eyes toward her just in time to catch her look down for a moment, pink streaks already spreading up her cheeks.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we must have really been in denial if Mikey could see something between us.”

“See, the thing is, Mikey gives me so much shit, I didn’t know if I should believe him. I’ll never make that mistakeagain if it means I get to spend more time having you in my arms.”

We turned another corner, spiraling up and around the mountain to get to the top.

“Ellison gave me a lot of shit for it, too. I think I was just too scared of being wrong. Ironic, considering she was in the same position two years ago.”

I reached over the center console to hold her hand. “The only way now is forward. Like I said, I can’t change the past year and a half, but I’m going to make the most of the time we do have.”

She gave my hand a gentle squeeze, and I knew this was right where I wanted to be.

The remainder of the drive up was uneventful and consisted of us listening to music and taking in the scenic views. We didn’t talk much after the first part of the drive, but I was okay with that. I wanted Isa to soak in all of the views, and I wanted to lock this day into my memories for the rest of my life.

Once we reached the Logan Pass visitor center, I pulled the car over and we hopped out.

“This is the highest point of the drive,” I told her as we walked closer to the lookout.

“It’s incredible…” she trailed off. “Look! I think there’s a mountain goat or something over there!” She pointed ahead of us. Sure enough there was a small, white mountain goat munching on grass.

“Have you never seen one before?”

“Nope. I’ve never even seen a bison,” she breathed out.

I smiled, thinking about all of Isa’s firsts I was getting to experience with her. I may not have been part of her life for a lot of the important firsts, but at that moment, I hoped I would have her in my life long enough to experience many more.Together.

We stood there for a while longer, taking in the scenery. Straight ahead was a mountainous valley, the peaks dotted with snow and the green of trees. Down the mountains, pink wildflowers bloomed in front of a body of water that sparkled in the sun.

My phone buzzed again in my pocket, but I didn’t dare look to see what the notification was as Isa took out her phone, pointing it toward the landscape.

“Come here.” She beckoned me toward her.

I moved into the camera frame, standing slightly behind her and leaning down to rest my head on her shoulder.

She snapped a few photos as she smiled the entire time. But I was sure there were a few photos of me looking straight at her instead of the camera. Isa had her way of capturing this moment, and I had mine. There was no way I was going to forget this.

“Are you ready?” Her voice cut me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, yeah I am.” I nodded, and we started to walk back to the car to take the drive back down.

“Should we stop for pie on the way back to the cabin?” Isa asked with a grin as she buckled herself in.

“Pie sounds amazing.”

“I’ll take a slice of huckleberry pie, please!” Isa pointed at the display case in the restaurant we ate breakfast at.

“I’ll take a slice of peach,” I added.

“Would you like any whipped cream or ice cream?”

“Ooh, ice cream for me.” Isa put her hands together in anticipation and then looked at me.

“Ice cream for me as well, please. Thank you.” I thanked the employee as they nodded and dished up our pies to go.

“Here you are.” Our boxes were handed to us, and we went outside to sit on the benches. The sun was shining, but it wasn’t too hot.

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