Page 65 of Pucker Up
ACE
That cottage was soldthe moment I woke up to fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky and Goldie breathing lightly beside me. Sometime during the night, Morton had made himself comfortable on the foot of the bed, and the damn thing was so big that neither of us had noticed.
“Come on, Morty.” I got out of bed, pulled my jeans over my morning wood, and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast for Goldie. The malamute took one look out the window and posted himself at the door until I let him out. He dropped into the deep snow, rolled onto his back, and shimmied back and forth as though the snow was scratching an itch. “Are you done?” I interrupted. “Come on, let’s get you some breakfast.” He shook and then followed me into the kitchen.
I put an old-fashioned percolator on the gas stove and started frying up some bacon. The country playlist I’d selected played quietly in the background.
“That smells amazing.” I hadn’t even heard her get up. She was wearing my T-shirt and nothing else.
“Together, we almost have an outfit,” I joked.
Goldie took an apron from a hook and slipped it over my head. “Don’t you know you can’t cook bacon unless you have a shirt on? It’s a rule.” She tied the strings behind me, and then kissed the space between my shoulder blades.
“Careful. I might have to take you upstairs and I’d hate for this bacon to burn.” I flipped over some pieces with the tongs. “How do you like your eggs?”
“Easy over,” she replied.
“Don’t you mean over easy?” I chuckled.
She laughed. “Sorry, that’s something my mom used to say when I was little. It’s one of those things that confuses me now. I never know which is the right version.”
After breakfast, I gave Goldie the clothes I’d packed and I put on the stuff I’d worn yesterday. “Come on, I want to check out the boathouse.”
We got two steps away from the main cottage before we realized that the snow was way too deep. “I think I saw some snowshoes in the garage.” I returned with two sets of modern snowshoes. “Have you ever done this before?” I asked.
“Never,” she said.
“It’s easy.” I helped her clip the snowshoes on over her boots. “You just walk.”
We held hands and Goldie picked it up pretty quickly. Morton bounded in the deep snow next to us. “This is the boathouse?” It looked like the cottage, but just a bit smaller and over water. She tried the knob. “Do you have the keys?”
“It doesn’t have a key code?” I took my phone out of my pocket and realized we didn’t have access to the building. “I guess we’re going to have to come back and book an official showing with the real estate agent. That is, if you like it.” I held on to her mittened hand as the two of us ventured onto the frozen lake.
“Ace, it doesn’t matter if I like it. It will be your ‘cabin.’” She let go of my hands to do air quotes with her striped mitts.
“Maybe one day you’ll be spending time here too. I want to make sure I buy a place where you feel comfortable.”
Her cheeks turned pink. “We’re both reading the same book, Ace, but I think you might be a couple chapters ahead.”
I grabbed her hand. “I’m crazy about you, Goldie. I know when something is good, and this is fucking awesome.” I kissed the back of her mitt, and then picked a piece of fuzz from my lips. “Look, Morton seems right at home.” He had bounded way ahead of us.
“Do you think the ice is safe?”
There were at least ten ice huts in the bay. “Those locals wouldn’t be out here if it wasn’t. I bet some of those guys have even driven their cars out here. They did it all the time in Michigan.” I whistled for Morton anyway. “Come here, Morty,” I shouted. There would still be holes from the ice fisherman, and I had fallen for Goldie and her dog. I’d be devastated if something happened to him.
We trekked along the shoreline, admiring the neighboring cabins from the lake side. “It sure is peaceful up here.” Goldie leaned her head back and let snowflakes fall onto her tongue.
“When do you have to be at work?” I asked. We were easily two hours from the city.
“I really don’t have to be back until tomorrow.”
“Perfect.” I picked up some snow in my hands and formed it into a ball. “I still have time to snow you.”
“Does that have something to do with that ice ball in your hand?”
“This?” I pretended to be surprised at the snowball. “No, it’s for Morty, so he doesn’t see me do this to you.” I tossed the snowball towards land and Morton bounded after it. ThenI pushed Goldie into the snowbank and fell on top of her. “We used to do this to girls in high school when we liked them.”
Her smile was perfect, and the dimples that dented her cheeks were adorable. She gave me both in that moment. “Did this work with the high school girls?”
