Page 61 of A Vine Mess
I was also excited to realize there was no pain in her voice when she spoke about her ex anymore. No darkness flashed across her eyes. That relationship was simply a part of her past now, and while I still had no idea what exactly had led to their downfall, I was just grateful it led her—and us—to the here and now.
For our time in Wyoming, I’d rented a secluded Airbnb in a small town on the southern side of the park. The cabin, which was far more spacious than the one we’d just left, had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large living area consisting of kitchen, living, and dining area, presided over by vaulted, dark-beamed ceilings and a massive stone fireplace.
Through the entire wall of windows, two of which opened like sliding doors, along the backside was a deck with a few chairs,grill, and picnic table. Beyond was a field that slowly rose up into a mountain range.
There were no other homes for miles around. No one to interrupt us. No one to steal Ella’s attention.
Maybe I was crazy, but I had a good feeling about Wyoming—about this cabin, about what would happen between us here. Now that she’d seemed to fully let go of Alfie, I was holding out hope that maybe, just maybe, she was ready to give us a shot.
“This place is incredible,” Ella breathed when I unlocked the door and we stepped inside. Her bags fell unceremoniously to her feet just inside the entrance as she moved deeper into the space, reaching the center of the cavernous great room and turning in a slow circle. “Although I could do without the mounts.”
I chuckled, my eyes straying up to the deer, elk, and fish mounted on the walls.
“Just pretend they aren’t there,” I told her, walking past her to peek my head into the first of the bedrooms. “See, there aren’t any mounts in here. You want this one?”
“Is it the biggest?”
I rolled my eyes. “I have no idea, Wildflower. It’s literally the only one I’ve seen.”
She gestured for me to move down the short hall, where, from photos, I guessed the master, other bedroom, and second bath were located. “Let’s have a look then.”
All of the rooms were painted a warm, mocha color, the carpets beige and thick beneath our feet, decorated with pops of red and dark blue. Ella walked into the second bedroom and bent over, pressing her hands into the mattress, and I had to force myeyes away, lest I get any ideas about her in that position, both of us wearing a lot less clothing and her screaming my name as I made her come.
I shook my head to dispel the thought, and Ella said, “I’ll take this one.”
“You don’t want to see the master first?”
She sighed heavily, like I was greatly testing her patience. “Haven’t we had this conversation before, Wills? Big boy gets the big room.”
I frowned. “That hardly seems fair to you though.”
“You’re the one that booked and paid for all of this,” she reminded me. “You wouldn’t even let me pay you back! The least you can do for me is take the goddamn master and be happy about it.”
I shot her a grin, which was more teeth than anything, and she laughed. Shehadtried to pay me back for half by sending it through Venmo, but I’d sent it right back. I didn’t need her money.
I only neededher.
“Fine,” I huffed, turning from the smaller room, her feet padding softly behind me as we moved toward the master.
Before we even entered, Ella gasped.
“Well, I’m regretting my little tirade now,” she said.
I didn’t blame her. The view from here was incredible, the wall of the windows immediately drawing your eye outside. The glass was so crystal clear, it felt as though you were a part of nature. The four-poster, king-sized bed was positioned in a way that you woke up with the perfect view of the gently swaying grasses and snowy mountain peaks every morning, and so they were the lastthing you saw at night before falling asleep.
There were things I wanted—needed—to say to her, but the immediate thought was to invite her to share this room with me. Andthatwould’ve been crossing so many fucking lines. If the last four years watching her from afar had taught me anything, it was that I was a patient man, and I could wait for her to come to me.
She pulled me out of my thoughts by saying, “So what’s the plan for today?”
I checked my watch, noting it was barely five p.m. We’d gotten on the road early enough, and with the days steadily growing longer, we’d reached Wyoming in plenty of time to do some sight-seeing this evening if we wanted.
“What do you say we give our sunset hike another shot?”
I half expected her to shoot down my idea instantly, but I should’ve known better because she only grinned, throwing a, “Deal!” over her shoulder as she disappeared to get changed.
We’d opted for a more moderate trail, but one that would provide us with amazing views of the park. The website I’d looked at claimed this was a fairly popular hike, and I believed it considering it brought people up to the observation point for Old Faithful. I was surprised, however, when we didn’t encounter a single other soul on the entire ascent.
Almost like some invisible higher power wanted us to have this moment all to ourselves.
