Page 124 of Huckleberry Hill

---

“Never?” I asked, coming up next to him.

He slowed his pace.

“Never,” he said.

“You grew up in Bonner’s Ferry and never saw it? How is that possible?”

“Never worked out that way I guess.”

“Well, tonight will be your lucky night.”

“In more ways than one.” He winked.

Fifteen minutes later, I saw the old red farm truck parked near the hot spring.

“What’s that doing here?” I asked in surprise.

“I’ll show you,” he said. He brought Merlin to a halt and dismounted. “I had to bring hay and water for the horses. Plus . . .”

I descended Goldie and walked over to the bed of the truck and saw a mattress, along with a huge sleeping bag and two pillows.

“This is glamping,” I stated.

“Yeah.”

I laughed. “I love it.”

“Let’s tend to the horses and then I’ll tend to you,” Declan said huskily.

My insides quivered.

We got the horses comfortable and settled. Declan took off his hat and opened the passenger side door and stuck it on the dashboard.

“Not to make you swoon,” he said. “But I also packed us a charcuterie dinner.”

“Stop.”

He lifted the picnic basket that rested on the seat. “Yep. Got us a nice bottle of local cider to split.”

“Perfect.”

“Not yet, but it will be.” He placed the picnic basket back on the seat and then closed the door.

The sun was halfway gone, and the moon was starting to make its appearance. Soon, the stars would be out.

I went for my jacket and tossed it onto the hood of the truck. “Last one in . . .”

We began to strip, and Declan almost fell over in his haste to get his boots off. I was already thigh deep in the water by the time he came in. He pressed his chest against my back and wrapped his arms around me.

“There’s a makeshift bench,” I told him. “On the other side.”

We waded farther into the pool that was only about ten feet wide. Declan sat down on the bench and then pulled me onto his lap to face him.

I draped my arms around his neck and stared at him.

“So I asked the other ranch hands about the hot spring and they had no idea about it,” Declan said. “Why is that?”

“Because this place is special.”

---