“I’m texting you my address,” he says, his voice all business. “Pick me up tomorrow, and I won’t tell Miles what you’re doing.” He opens the door to get out but then pauses to look back at me. “I have to hand it to you, sparky. This sounds like the worst plan I’ve ever heard, but you’re committed, and I kind of like you more for it.”
Caught On The Hook
“Hey, where ya going?” Kate asks, catching me at the front door as I’m gingerly slipping my feet into my Sorel wedge boots.
I plant a smile on my face as I glance down at her bare legs sticking out of my brother’s giant T-shirt. Kate moved into Miles’s fixer-upper in Jamestown a few months ago, but this is the first time I’ve witnessed them cohabitating. It’s pretty damn cute if I’m being honest. I’ve only been here a day, but I already watched them argue over Kate’s short dress last night with big, goofy smiles on their faces the entire time. If that’s how most of their fights go, then I’m pretty sure I’ll be calling Kate a sister sooner rather than later.
I’m just glad Miles found someone worthy of him. Miles had brought Kate back to Utah with him a few months ago so she could meet my parents before they moved in together, and it was love at first sight for all of us. Though admittedly, his ex, Jocelyn, was so vile, Miles could have brought home a blow-up doll, and we would have been over the moon with the step up.
But Kate is creative, funny, kind, and just the right amount of crazy for him. She takes on his overbearing nature like a champ. I wish I had just an ounce of her moxie.
“I’m…um…just going for a drive,” I stammer and shove my foot into my other boot as Kate pads barefoot over to me.
She eyes me curiously and crosses her arms over her chest. “A drive to where?”
“The mountains?” I reply, and my face screws up in horror. Why did I say mountains? “I mean…shopping. I was going to go shopping.”
“The shops around here don’t open until noon on Sundays, and you have mountains in Utah,” Kate states with a suspicious twinkle to her eye. “Where are you really going?”
I roll my eyes and exhale heavily. “Somewhere that Miles would not approve of.”
A Cheshire cat grin spreads across her face as she leans against the wall. “Miles is overprotective, overbearing, and possessive—believe me, I know it,” she replies with the chastising click of her teeth. “As his girlfriend, it just so happens to be my favorite parts about him…but I totally understand how having a big brother like that would be hard on a single little sister.”
“What are you talking about? I’m not single!” I exclaim, my voice rising in pitch as I lie through my teeth.
Kate’s chin drops. “Meg, on Christmas day, you ate an entire bowl of cookie dough without even pausing for a drink of milk. That type of Olympic-style binge-eating can only be the result of a broken heart.”
I groan and press my back to the front door, chewing my lip nervously. “Are you going to tell Miles?”
Her eyes flash with interest. “Not as long as you tell me who you’re going on a date with.”
“What makes you think I’m going on a date?”
“You have a date look,” she replies, looking me up and down. “I mean, c’mon, your hair is even curled.”
I glance down at my appearance for a moment. My cream sweater has a lace underlayer that drapes over my stretchy faux-leather leggings. Obviously, all of this will be going under the snowsuit currently stashed in my trunk, but I do admit I’m probably a tad overdressed for ice climbing. Maybe I need to invest in some outdoorsy activewear?
I look up and give Kate a serious look. “It’s not a date but an outing that Sam has agreed to take me on.”
“Sam? I knew it!” Kate exclaims, and I quickly put my hand over her mouth to shush her. “Sorry…but I did know it,” she mumbles against my palm.
“There’s nothing to know!” I reply, shaking my head and pulling my hand away from Kate’s face. “Sam is just being friendly.”
“No way,” she retorts with narrowed eyes. “I saw how he watched you last night.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, flipping my hair casually and ignoring the butterflies taking flight in my belly.
Kate shakes her head knowingly. “He watched you like a man watches a filet on the grill.”
My mouth waters with that analogy, and a strange tingling begins in my fingertips. “I don’t think that’s true. He was probably looking at me like Miles does. In a brotherly fashion. He’s protective just like Miles.”
“Think what you want, but I know romance, girl. And that man wasn’t looking at you like his little sister.”
“We’re just friends,” I state, knowing I can’t give that thought too much headspace or I’ll be a total idiot with him today. I reach past Kate and grab my coat off the hook. “Will you tell Miles I went to work out or something? Cover for me…on…all of it? The ex and everything?”
She nods, the grin basically permanent on her face right now. “I will, but eventually, you’re going to have to spill the details on the ex, okay?”
“Fine,” I reply, rolling my eyes and opening the front door. “I’ll see you later.”
“Later, loverrrr,” she coos, hanging her head out the front door and waving at me coyly.
And with a nervous feeling in my belly, I punch in Sam’s address on my phone and head toward Boulder.
It’s a sunny morning, but the road is still covered in frost as my GPS takes me west on Boulder Canyon Drive, a curvy blacktop that winds through the mountains. This area reminds me of Salt Lake City, so I can see why Miles feels so at home here. It’s an outdoor lover’s paradise—if you’re the adventure type. I never really was, but I seem to be changing now, which is good.
In high school, I was the girl who did everything but loved nothing. I was class president, captain of the cheer team, and an active member in the drama club. I was even a mathlete for a while because I had a huge crush on a guy in my geometry class. I was never labeled one thing because I did everything.
Miles, on the other hand, was a gearhead through and through. He was always working on cars and motorcycles. He was stir-crazy if he didn’t have his hands on something, whereas I was perfectly happy curling up with a book and letting the written word take me on a journey.
But I have to admit, putting myself out there—even with just ice fishing these past couple of weekends—has brought me a sense of pride and accomplishment that I never expected. I can’t imagine how I’ll feel after climbing a frozen silo.
I turn onto Sam’s narrow gravel road that has sharp curves and seems to only go uphill. This has to be dangerous during a storm or in heavy snow. Maybe that’s why Sam has a snowmobile? Regardless, it is beautiful back here. The farther I drive in, the more and more stunning the area becomes. It’s heavily wooded and full of fresh, untouched snow as far as the eye can see.
I drive uphill a while longer until a small log cabin finally comes into view. It has a high-pitched roof and a large wraparound porch with Adirondack chairs positioned on either side of the bright green double doors. Smoke billows out of the chimney above, which I can only assume is from a wood burning fireplace inside. Talk about rustic. The entire cabin looks like a scenic painting topped with fresh snow and sweeping views of the mountains on all sides. It reminds me of a much larger version of the fish hut I saw out on the lake—secluded, quiet, peaceful.
I pull up alongside the house and get out, eager to take in the sights when I hear the front door open. My gaze swings over to Sam’s broad frame as he turns to lock the deadbolt. I swallow slowly as I unabashedly zero in on his ass. Has it always been that…full? I don’t remember ever noticing it before. Maybe because he’s wearing different pants now? He’s wearing some sort of special mountain trek trousers by the looks of the label, and they are tight! His ass looks like two footballs stuffed under a blanket. I sincerely hope there’s some stretch in them, or he most certainly isn’t going to be climbing any sort of silo today.