Page 74 of Risk It All
I slid my phone into my bag and grabbed my picnic blanket. I left my apartment the same time Leo was leaving his, and we met at the stairwell to head to the parking garage.
“Ready?” he asked, a lightness to his tone and expression that I appreciated. Maybe we both wanted to forget what happened a few nights ago.
I nodded eagerly, my eyes going to the backpack he had on. “What food did you make?” I asked curiously.
“You’ll have to wait and see, Trouble.” He winked and gestured for me to follow. “Gotta have some reassurance you won’t ditch me on this hike.”
I let out a laugh. “What’s going to keep me from ditching youafterwe eat lunch?”
His eyes drank me in from head to toe, landing on the sliver of skin between my frayed shorts and tank top before meeting my gaze. “Oh, trust me. I have my own plans for today.”
My body heated from the look in his eyes and the rasp to hisvoice. With the way my body reacted, you’d think it’d been weeks not days since we had sex.
I might’ve broken my curse, but I worried that I’d gotten myself into a whole different problem with how much I craved Leo’s touch.
The trailhead was about a fifteen-minute drive west from the center of town. We were still in Golden Falls but on the very edge of city limits.
While this trail had become more known over the years, it wasn’t nearly as popular as some of the others surrounding Lake Golden. It was one of those spots you had to find through word of mouth since it didn’t show up on maps when you searched.
Leo’s was the only car in the small dirt parking lot.
“What makes the spot we’re going to one of your favorites?” Leo asked as we began walking on the dirt trail. He took the picnic blanket from me, tucking it under his arm.
We were surrounded by a forest of all sorts of trees, largely balsam, red and white pine, maple, and white birch and had to walk carefully to avoid tripping over any exposed tree roots.
“Coming to this trailhead is one of the clearer memories I have of my parents,” I admitted. “Most of what I know about them is from what other people have told me. It’s hard to know what’s one of my actual memories and what’s something Ithinkremember based on what I’ve heard. My dad was a park ranger, so he knew most the trails here like the back of his hand. This was one of his favorite spots.”
“Cooper’s a park ranger, too, right?”
I nodded. “That’s what he wanted to do for as long as I can remember. I think the passion for the job only increased once our parents died.”
Leo’s hand brushed against mine, and while my head was telling me to pull away, I kept my hand right where it was, letting him intertwine our fingers together.
“You’re obviously still close with your mom, but what about your dad? Do you see him often?” I asked. I’d only met him once when I was dating Colin, and while Celine had been warm and inviting from the start, Colin and Leo’s father was a little more aloof—or at least gave that initial impression. I didn’t want to judge the man from one meeting.
“Not really. We talk on the phone every now and again, but I stopped visiting him when I turned eighteen. Our relationship isn’t bad, and I love him. I mean, he’s my dad, but I hate how he treated my mom before and during the divorce. All the yelling and belittling. I know it’s between them, and he never treated Colin or me that way, but I just…haven’t been able to forget it. I get that things happen and people fall out of love, but I don’t understand treating someone that way who you loved and built a life with. Or just treating a person that way in general. Colin’s closer to him than me, and I don’t fault him for it, but there’s so much he didn’t see. I still think it’s a good thing, but…” Leo trailed off. He shook his head before continuing, “I don’t know. On one hand, I’m glad he was shielded from it, but on the other, I don’t think he’d have such rose-colored glasses when it came to our dad if he remembered a little more from that time.”
“You protected him from a lot of it.”
“I did, yeah. And from what came after. I don’t regret it. He’s my brother—I would do anything for him—even if we’re not exactly friends.”
The last part of the sentence Leo said under his breath, but I still caught it. We’d both gone through our own respective family troubles during our childhoods, but while Cooper and I got closer because of it, it seemed like it pulled Leo and Colin apart.
“It’s his loss that he’s not friends with you, and it says a lot that despite everything, you would still be there for him no questions asked.” It didn’t take spending much time with Leo to learn that was the kind of man he was. He showed up for those he cared about when they needed him. I hoped that the people in his life who he cared so deeply for showed up for him, too.
And while I didn’t say it, I related to the idea of seeing someone with rose-colored glasses more than I wanted to admit. My view of Colin when we’d been together had been pretty rosy.
The hike to the spot I had in mind was just over a mile, and we spent majority of time talking about our families, work, and everything in between.
It was like we were starting from the beginning, in a way, and I liked that. I liked getting to know him in this phase of our lives.
Our view of the lake had largely been obscured by the trees until we reached the clearing. While the path was overgrown, we managed to get through.
The view was even more spectacular than I’d remembered it.
A line of trees surrounded Lake Golden, and the clear, blue water sparkled in front of us. The bright-blue sky was filled with fluffy white clouds, and it was a picture-perfect view that would fit on a postcard.
But what made this spot especially beautiful to me was the field of wildflowers.
