Page 19 of Rescue
“That water was colder than it looked!”
“I believe it! It wasn’t exactly hot that day to begin with.”
“Anyways, it was all in fun. Adam’s got one heck of an arm on him, unfortunately,” he says with a good natured smile. I like that he can have fun at his own expense. Spencer hated to be teased.
At that moment, Amy walks up and catches us flirting, “Hey lady, got the kayaks?”
“Right,” I say turning towards Miles, “we’d like to rent two kayaks for the afternoon.”
“Oh, come on, I can’t let two beautiful women pay for kayaks, especially after you did me the honor of coming to tell me before you take them this time.” He smiled while delivering that clear jab at our teenage indiscretions. “It’s on the house. Is there anything else I can get you ladies?” He hands us the keys to unlock the kayaks down at the marina.
“Thanks, Miles,” Amy says with excitement, “I hate to break up the chat you guys were having, but if we don’t get out there now, we’re not going to have any time.”
“You’re right, we should get going.” I’m not really feeling the conviction of my words, but I know she’s right. The sun sets fast on this side of the mountain so if we want to get out there we really need to go now.
“Maybe you should just go ahead and ask her out, Miles, that way you guys can continue this conversation another time,” Amy says. My face reddens and I can’t remember a time when I’ve been this embarrassed in a long time.
“I mean, I was sort of working my way up to that, but I wasn’t sure if Penelope would be up for it.” His words are for Amy, but he’s looking at me, gauging my reaction.
I can tell just from the look in his eyes that everything is hinging on my answer right now. I know that sounds dramatic, but that’s how it feels to me, too. Time seems to slow down for a moment as I really think this through. I just got out of a relationship with Spencer and I swore I wouldn’t get involved with someone right now, but I have the distinct feeling that I’m going to regret it if I say no. My face heats under his stare and something deep inside me starts to stir.
“I think I would really like that,” I find myself responding before I even have time to think it over. Something in my gut is telling me that this is a really good decision. If Amy is trying to push us together, Miles can’t be all that bad. I know she’s always got my back.
“Are you free tomorrow evening?” I can hear the anxiety coming through in his voice which somehow makes me like him more. His eyes look wary but determined and that somehow makes him more human to me. Our eyes connect and it seems like everything else fades into the background. It's just me and him, and all I want to do is ease his anxiety.
“Yeah, tomorrow is great for me.” I smile for encouragement even though my heart is pounding and I’m a little worried I might faint right here. “The cafe is closed so that won’t be an issue.” I don’t know why I blurted that out, everyone in a 50-mile radius probably knows that, but there's no pulling it back in now. For some reason I can’t put an interesting sentence together around this man.
The smile I get in return makes this whole awkward conversation worth it. It’s like he lights up from within and I get a little thrill that it was me that made this gorgeous man act like that. This guy is really good for my confidence.
“Alright, great! Why don’t I pick you up at 6 at the cafe and we can go from there? Don’t worry about dressing too fancy. Just something casual will be fine.”
“Ok then kids! It's time for us to go now,” Amy interrupts. I startle a little, completely forgetting she was standing here. My face heats a little from embarrassment realizing that she just witnessed all of that. She grabs my hand and pulls me out of the store, saving me from further embarrassment. I awkwardly wave goodbye, my face reddening again, and let her lead me out the door while my head is already in the clouds.
We spend the rest of the afternoon on the water, and I spend most of it thinking about Miles. If Amy notices I’m distracted she doesn’t say anything, though she did tease me relentlessly on our walk down to the lake. We both had crushes on both the older Carter brothers, of course, but they were so rarely around that we never really knew them that well. Enough for them to mess with their little brothers and that was about it. I didn’t even know Miles knew who I was when I was little.
Floating through the water, I’m enjoying just letting my mind drift, not obsessing over any one thing, but rather mulling over everything that’s going on in my life. Suddenly I gasp and my eyes widen. I sit up, instantly alert. Amy must hear me, because when I look over at her I see her looking at me with question in her eyes.
“I just remembered Miles’ accident. We were so young, it never even occurred to me when I saw him again.”
Amy nods and grows somber, her face falling a bit. “Yeah, poor guy. Miles barely survived the avalanche. I heard he spent weeks in rehab recovering. And . . . well . . . Caroline. I can’t even imagine what he went through. I remember the whole town was really shaken after that. I heard he hasn’t skied since that day.”
My heart breaks even more for him. “No, really? Skiing was his life. I remember the twins talking about it when we were kids.”
“I know for sure that he hasn’t dated. He’s been known to ‘hang out’ with the occasional tourist, but he definitely hasn’t taken out anyone local. Not since he’s been home from college. The man is almost worse than Mason.”
“No, he’s not,” I say feeling confused. “He comes by the cafe almost every day.”
“Yeah, well, let’s just say several of the ladies in town are wondering what you have that they don’t. Miles is hot, and about to own the family business. He’s definitely one of Piney Grove’s most eligible bachelors, not that he knows it. That man walked around town like he didn’t know females exist, until you came back to town that is.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me with a silly grin.
“Oh, come on, that can’t be true. The man is sex on a stick. His biceps are huge and if what I saw that evening in the cafe is any indication, he has more abs than most of the women in the town can count. Why wouldn’t someone have snatched him up by now?”
“It’s not for lack of trying, girl. I’m telling you, he said more to you today than he has said to any woman in town. He’s been back for almost 6 years, and believe me, if he had taken someone on a date, I would know.”
I mull that over for a few minutes as we glide through the water. It’s so peaceful out here today. There are only a few other people on the water, a couple fishermen here and there, but for the most part the water is undisturbed. As we paddle through the water, I wonder why Miles has chosen me. It’s not like he knows much about me, except that based on recent events, I’m an exceptional klutz. I don’t really feel like there’s anything super special about me that sets me apart from all the other women in this town.
I push those thoughts away. I can’t think like that anymore. It doesn’t matter why Miles likes me, all that matters is that he wants to spend time with me. That works out well, since every time I see him, all I can think about is spending more time with him.
