Page 11 of vKissed By the Bartender

“Your friendship and compassion mean more to me than you will ever know,” I say as a tear trickles down my cheek. “I trust you, Joe. You say that I can tell you anything, and that works both ways.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Candice,” he says, reaching out to me but then slipping his hand into his pocket. “I was just going to tell you that if you decided to stay, you can work here if you wanted to.”

“I’m honoured. Really, I am,” I say. “When I get things figured out, you will be the first to know.”

He smiles at me before going to the back to fetch my things. He walks outside and I follow him silently. He was going to take me back to the inn. When we get into his car, we sit in there quietly for the longest time.

He’s still thinking about something but he isn’t ready to share it with me.

“Joseph…?” I turn to him questioningly after another moment of silence.

“Do you trust me?” He turns and asks me.

“You know I do,” I say.

“Then buckle up. We are going on an adventure,” he says before revving the engine.

As he sped past the inn, I fight the urge to ask him where we were going. The mystery made it even more exciting. Eventually, we end up at a cluster of storage buildings, that seem like mini garages.

Joseph jumps out of the car. I follow him as he opens the door to one of the storage rooms. He smiles at me and wheels out a motorcycle. A motorcycle that I didn't know he had.

He puts the car in the storage room, locks it back up and asks, “Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle before?” tossing me a helmet from the saddle bag.

“It’s been a long time,” I confess as I put the helmet on.

I watch as he got on and pat the seat behind him. With a little effort, I climb onto the bike behind him. My heart is racing at the excitement of this adventure.

Something told me that every day would be like this if I were with Joe. It makes me wonder what it would have been like to have been with him since high school.

I push the thought from my mind.

Wherever we were going, it is taking a great deal of time to get there. It’s getting dark, with only the moon lighting the way. There’s something about the cool wind whipping my hair and the open road that makes me feel exhilarated.

This is the kind of freedom I was talking about earlier at the bar.

I smile as we continue to drive. As the path gets narrower and more winding, I try to remember that I trust this man. Soon we pass the cliffs of the Appalachian Mountains.

I’m both scared and elated as we drive on. I fall more in love with the man that I had my arms around. I wrap them tighter around him, trying to feel his muscles and warmth. I hope he thought it was because I was scared, not because I was falling for him so hard.

I don’t know where I was going to be in a month, let alone where my life would take me. But I hope somehow that I would find my way back to this man.

Eventually, the motorcycle slows down and we come to a clearing at the top of a cliff. By the looks of it, this is one of the highest spots in that region. Sure, the mountains are much taller than where we are, but the road doesn’t seem to go much further up the path.

The clearing is stunning. The moon lights up everything. A small cabin sits at the edge of the woods, only a hundred feet or so from the cliff. I’ve never seen anything like this.

We get off the bike. I pull the helmet off and hand it to him.

“This place is amazing,” I say.

“It’s mine,” he replies. “I bought it a few years back with the money I made in New York. I wanted something I can come to when I feel stressed or when I needed a break. So,” he holds his arms out, “here she is.”

“Look at the stars out here. They shine so brightly! And the moon…” I take in a breath of fresh air. “It’s just breathtaking.”

“Now you know the appeal,” he says before running into the cabin and coming out with two blankets.

I watch as he lays the blankets out on the ground near the edge. Sitting here, I see the town in a way I never thought I would see.

In all the years I lived down there in that little town, I never took the time to see the wonders of it like this.

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