He’d lowered the tailgate of the truck when he came around, and Renie saw he had blankets and pillows in the back, along with two glasses and a bottle of wine.
“Ooh, romantic.”
“That was the plan.” He lifted her up so she could easily scoot back on the blankets. He opened the wine and poured her a glass first, then one for himself.
“Are you hungry?”
“No, I’m fine.” She snuggled into him and watched as the sky turned different colors.
“Good.” He turned his head toward hers and kissed her. It was heaven, being here with her, kissing her. Heaven. He took her wine glass and set it down along with his, so he could kiss her harder, and hold her, feel her against him.
“We’re missing the sunset,” she whispered.
He tucked her back against him and turned to watch it.
“Billy, I was kidding.”
“I know you were. But we’re here for a reason. So you’re right, let’s watch it.”
He brought her in closer, and she tucked one of her legs between his. “Are you cold?” He grabbed another blanket and threw it over them.
“No, I’m fine,” she said again.
“Renie?”
“Yeah?”
“I think I figured out what you’re afraid of.” He heard the catch in her breath, and felt her body tense up. “And there are some promises I want to make you. Important promises.”
She didn’t say anything, but he hadn’t expected her to.
“The first thing I want to promise you is that I’ll never, ever stop paying attention to you. I mean it. Forever, Renie—I promise.”
He handed her glass of wine back to her, and touched it with his.
“That’s the first promise.”
“Okay.”
He didn’t say anything else for a few minutes. He wanted each promise he made to sink in.
“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” he said as the sun sank further behind the mountain.
“It is. I never knew about this place. I’ve never driven past the ski area on this road.”
“Most people don’t. That’s part of what makes it special. If you keep going, you eventually come to Gothic Valley. We’ll come out here and hike sometime.”
“I’d like that.”
He waited a few more minutes.
“There’s another promise I want to make you, Renie.”
“Okay.”
“I promise that we will always have special moments, just like these. Time we set aside for us. Just the two of us. Forever, Renie—I promise.”
They sat in silence until the sun tucked all the way behind the mountain. He moved the blankets.