“If you can do it.”
Marco smiled at me. And I didn’t miss the not-so-subtle perusal either. He turned his attention back to the road. “No such thing as ‘if.’”
Of course there wasn’t. Not with Marco.
“I hope it works out,” I said. “So, what’s with the road trip?”
“I may have gotten into it a bit with my brothers. Minor disagreement about the current state of affairs. There’s a place I get away to go fishing, which is a great site to pitch a tent. Figured it would be more fun with you along.”
“No doubt,” I said sardonically. “But we haven’t exactly worked out what we’re doing here,” I said, motioning between us.
“We’ll have plenty of time to do that tonight. And I don’t mean it like that,” he motioned to the back of the truck. “Brought a two-room tent and separate air mattresses.”
Oh. Well. That was a good thing, I supposed. “You’re out of your mind.”
“Thanks,” he said, unapologetically. “So how was your weekend?”
I told him about some of the small changes I made, without Jerry’s approval. We talked about the net, which I’d determined not only we could afford but would be a good investment, mostly because I trusted Brien who said we needed it. But that one I did contact Jerry about.
I hadn’t realized how far we’d driven.
“Van Cleef Lake? We’re not far from Cayuga.”
“Not far at all. But this is our exit here,” he said, pulling onto another road. Eventually, off road. We bounced up and down in his truck, weaving through an overgrown path that couldn’t have been driven very often.
“How did you find this place?” I asked.
“My dad went back and forth from Kitchi to Seneca Falls on a regular basis. A friend of my grandfather’s owned a vineyard up here. Died a long time ago. But my dad stumbled on it and took us fishing here for years. Camped overnight at least once a summer.” He turned off the air conditioning and opened both of our windows. The sound of a waterfall gave way to the source a few minutes later.
It was spectacular. A small swatch of land just to the left of a massive waterfall seemed to be our destination. “This is a good place to fish? Does the force of the water scare fish away?”
“Just the opposite. The whitewater at the foot of the waterfall provides a protected roof and lets trout feed safely without being seen by predators.”
“Interesting.”
I was really hoping fishing wasn’t on our itinerary. I tried it a few times and honestly found it a bit boring. Although, what exactly was on our itinerary I couldn’t imagine since there was nothing out there. I pulled out my phone as Marco parked. Not even any cell service.
“Before you panic in case they need you,” he reached across me into his glove box. I inhaled his scent and closed my eyes briefly before he popped back up. Oh man, did he smell good. “This will give us WiFi,” he said, putting the small orange device on his dashboard. “The password is on the back. I’ll start unloading.”
Entering the password, I watched as my phone re-connected. Then, getting out of the truck, I stood with my hands on my hips wondering how the hell I ended up here, next to a waterfall in Seneca Falls with the very man I’d vowed to avoid like the plague not even two weeks ago.
The same one that had kissed me like I’d never been kissed in my life.
The one that, if I wasn’t careful, would break my heart.
Shaking the thought away, I went to work. Marco seemed surprised that I knew how to pitch a tent, but our family had done their fair share of camping too back in the day. I had a feeling, this overnighter would not be like any of the camping trips I’d taken before.
TWENTY-THREE
rae
“You thought of everything,”I said, cracking open a Surfside. “How did you even remember this?” I asked, lifting up the spiked iced tea. Marco had asked what I liked beer-wise on Friday night, and this happened to be my current favorite.
“You said you liked supporting local places. I actually know one of the owners.”
“That’s really cool. This stuff is the best. A friend of mine was telling me to try it. Evie knows of my love of...”
Shit.