The view at the top of the trail was well worth the effort of getting there. Beyond a stand of imposing stone monoliths, the path culminated at a rocky clearing that provided a breathtaking panoramic view for miles on this clear day. Jagged rock outcroppings jutted out over the sheer drop to the valley below, and a couple of daring college-aged boys posed recklessly on the edge for photos. Two young men who looked to be the same age hung back a bit, snapping pictures but staying well clear of the drop-off. A middle-aged couple hovered nearby, the man surveying the spreading vista through binoculars, the woman shaking her head in nervous disapproval of the younger hikers’ antics.
Alexis had muted the ringer on her cell phone so it wouldn’t disturb the peacefulness of the hike and had let the few calls she’d received go straight to voice mail to deal with later. Gretchen Holder, her administrative assistant, was handling calls at the office that morning and would text her if anything cropped up that Alexis had to handle personally. She couldn’t resist lifting the camera-equipped phone to snap a couple of photos of Logan as he stood silhouetted against the deep blue sky, his profile turned to her.
As beautiful as the view was, she found her gaze turning to Logan more than to the distant mountains or the sprawling valley. Only when he pointed out a few landmarks did she force herself to focus on the scenery—Catawba Valley to the west, Tinker Cliffs to the north, the Roanoke Valley to the east. She imagined that the view would be stunning in the fall, with the brightly colored leaves spread like a patchwork quilt below, or in a few weeks in the spring when the mountain laurels bloomed, or in midsummer when all the shades of green draped the trees. Even now, with nature’s colors still muted at the end of winter and just before the spring, the scene was stunning.
She raised the phone again, though she knew the camera lens could hardly begin to capture the beauty below. She heard a click and glanced around to realize that Logan had taken a photo of her in profile against the scenery. She smiled and he snapped again before lowering his phone.
“I wouldn’t have pegged you as a phone photographer,” she teased him.
He motioned vaguely to the camera-phones lifted around them. “Just trying to fit in.”
She laughed softly, well aware that Logan couldn’t care less if he “fit in.” He was simply teasing her.
“Would you like me to take your picture together?” the woman Alexis had noted earlier asked a bit shyly from behind them.
Alexis and Logan shared a quick glance, then he shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
He draped his arm loosely around her shoulders after Alexis gave the woman her phone, and responded to the photographer’s cheery command to “say cheese” with a silent smile. Photo taken, Alexis returned the favor and used the woman’s phone to take a picture of the couple posed with the valley spreading behind them.
“You don’t want to stand out on the edge of the point for a photo?” she teased when she returned the phone.
The woman rolled her eyes. “No, thank you! Those kids were scaring me half to death,” she added, nodding toward the path down which the college boys had just disappeared.
A few minutes later, the other couple moved on, and Alexis was alone with Logan, though she doubted their solitude would last long. Relishing the soothing sounds of rustling breeze and calling birds, she drew a deep breath of the clean, fresh air as she watched a hawk circle lazily in the distance. “Beautiful,” she murmured.
He reached out to tuck back a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail, his fingertips lingering against her cheek. “Agreed.”
Her pulse jumped, but she thought she managed to keep her expression serene as she said, “I needed this.” She slipped her phone into her pocket. “A day out in nature, away from appointments and paperwork and unrealistic brides.”
Logan shook his head. “How could they have this for inspiration—” he waved a hand toward the horizon “?and still decide to turn our grounds into faux Japan or Jamaica or Italy?”
She laughed softly and shook her head. “Maybe the ones who’ve grown up with this view tend to take it for granted. Though I grew up in Roanoke, I moved away straight out of high school for college in Maryland and then to New York City. I’ve only been back in the state for a year and a half, so it’s all still fresh for me again. I’d almost forgotten how beautiful Virginia is.”
She’d mentioned to him before that she’d lived in Maryland and New York, though they hadn’t talked much about the years before they’d met.
“I grew up in the hills of Tennessee,” he reminded her. “Beautiful countryside. Still, I don’t take scenery like this for granted, no matter how often I see it.”
No, she thought, he wouldn’t. Logan was the type to appreciate what he had, without wasting time wishing it were something else. Wasn’t that pretty much the way he seemed to feel about their no-strings affair?
He drew out his water bottle again and took a drink, then opened a zippered storage bag of trail mix and tossed a handful into his mouth. She shook her head with a smile when he offered the bag to her, but she pulled out her water bottle and sipped, taking advantage of the respite before the four-mile trek back down to the car.
She couldn’t resist sitting on a ledge and dangling her feet over, though she chose a spot that looked a bit sturdier than the most outwardly jutting point. Logan sat cross-legged beside her, keeping his feet beneath him as he ate some more trail mix. “Sure you don’t want some of this? I didn’t take time for much breakfast this morning.”
She smiled and held out her hand in surrender to temptation. He tipped a small pile of nuts and seeds into her palm and she munched as she swung her feet lazily below her. “That’s a good mix. Do I taste a little cayenne pepper?”
He nodded. “Bonnie makes it for me. She knows I like things spicy.”
He winked at her and a little laugh escaped her. Good grief, had Logan’s sexy wink brought out her inner giggly schoolgirl?
“How hard are you going to have to work this afternoon to make up for taking the morning off?” she asked him after finishing her snack.
He chuckled. “I’ll catch up. I left a list for Curtis to handle this morning. His retired brother-in-law is helping us out until Zach’s cleared for work again after his appendectomy. How about you? Will you pay for taking a break?”
“I have a few calls to make this afternoon, and a six-o’clock meeting with clients, but other than that, it was a rare slow day for me. My calendar is packed full for the rest of the week, though.”
“Big event this weekend?”
“Small shindig Saturday evening. Before that, on Friday evening, I have to drive to Roanoke to endure another dinner party with my mother, my stepfath