Wash

“Is everything okay?”

I reached for the drink she handed me. “I just can’t sit next to this gentleman for such a long flight…and calling him a gentleman is putting it nicely.”

She smiled widely. “Okay. If you’d like to move, it’s no problem.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Ashly…” Jake started.

My gaze narrowed. “Listen, my mother’s will doesn’t require me to ride next to you on the plane.”

He flashed a smile. “Right, but it does stipulate that we have to share a one-bedroom whenever that’s a possibility.”

I shot sharp daggers at him with my eyes. “The room, maybe, but not the bed. Wherever we have to stay, I hope the floor is as cold and hard for you as you were to me!”

With that, I turned and headed for the front seat, not even bothering to look back to see his expression. I was still too mad and bitter to be out on some personal Amazing Race with him. I’d never considered myself an ice-cold bitch, and I didn’t want to be, but around him, I just couldn’t help it. The truth was, I would need years of therapy to get over what Jake had done to me, if I could ever get over it at all. In some way, shape, or form, I knew I’d always think about him and would forever wonder where we’d be if he hadn’t left me high and dry. Where would five years of love have taken us? Would we have children? Would they have looked like me or him? He’d destroyed the future we were supposed to have, and I’d gotten burned in the process. Jake, the man I’d once loved and trusted, had thrown our love away and made a joke out of it, and I was still furious at him for that. Whoever said, “Time heals all wounds” was a liar—or at least that was what my heart was screaming.

Chapter 6

We checked into a historic hotel located at the Grand Canyon National Park, El Tovar Hotel, situated directly on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. As we approached the lodge, I noticed elk grazing on the grass in front of the lodge; I couldn’t resist taking out my camera and snapping a few pictures.

The lobby was behind a broad entry veranda and extended up to four stories topped with a turret, pyramidal roof. I loved the rustic ambience as I peered up at the chandeliers and dark-stained wood. The ranch-style furniture was done in wine-red fabric, and Indian rugs adorned the floors. The architecture and décor reminded me of a fancy hunting lodge; there were even mounted deer, elk, moose, and one snarling wild boar. As I watched a woman load piles of firewood into the lobby fireplace, a memory flooded my mind of Jake holding me in front of a blazing inferno at a ski lodge where we’d vacationed. His lips had crashed against mine as we made mad, passionate love by the fire. My cheeks blushed as I basked in the nostalgia of happier times.

“Ashly,” he said, interrupting my thoughts of a version of him I liked a lot better, “our reservation isn’t ready yet. Didn’t you hear me calling your name?”

My mouth dropped, and it took a minute for my brain to function. “I was just thinking of how much this place reminds me of that ski lodge we used to visit with the gang.”

He grinned. “Yeah. Lots of good memories there.”

I looked away and bit my lip hard, wondering if he was thinking the same thing I was. From the wide smile on his face, I was pretty sure he had the same sexy memory on his mind.

“The hotel clerk said we can relax here, get some breakfast, or sit on the porch that overlooks the canyon while they work all this out,” Jake said.

My heart spiked. “I’d love to see the canyon.” I’d dreamt about seeing the Grand Canyon for my entire life, and now I was there, at a lodge that overlooked the scenic landscape.

He touched my back and smiled even more widely. “This way.”

The natural splendor of the place was so amazing that I couldn’t possibly stop snapping photographs. The hotel offered a perfect, panoramic, mind-blowing view, just 100 yards from the rim. It was absolutely exhilarating to be able to stare straight down into the canyon.

“It’s gorgeous,” Jake said, always one to state the obvious.

“I knew it would be beautiful, but I never expected a view like this,” I said in awe. It was so magnificent that my heart was pounding a million miles a minute.

“And to think, this is just the beginning of the wonders we’re going to see together on this little field trip your mother planned for us,” Jake said.

I met his gaze and shot him a half-smile, then went back to taking pictures. A few minutes passed, and I moved to sit down in a rocking chair on the porch.

Jake walked over and handed me a tall, frosty glass of lemonade.

“Thanks,” I said.

He took a long sip, then smiled.

“What?” I asked curiously.

“Remember that lemonade stand we made for

the fair at school?” he asked.