by Vivian Wood
“ … especially this time of year,” Lily called over her shoulder.
“Sorry, what?” he asked. Get it together.
“I said I’m glad we got to take advantage of one of the few sunny days,” she said.
“Oh, yeah. It’s great,” he said.
Cade couldn’t help it. His eyes wandered from the swell of her ass, barely contained in the tight black leggings, to her shapely thighs.
She might as well be naked. It didn’t take much to imagine.
In some places, the curve of her cheeks and the flare of her hips, he could even see a touch of skin as it shone through the stretchy material. Cade searched for an outline of underwear, but found nothing.
Those gorgeous legs, he thought. Attached to a gorgeous body, and gorgeous face.
“ … think so?” Her voice broke through to him, and he realized she’d turned to him again.
Cade cleared his throat as embarrassment flooded him.
“Yeah,” he said. He didn’t know what he’d agreed to, but she smiled again.
Right answer. You got lucky, he scolded himself. Can’t you keep it together for an hour?
The path widened, and Lily moved to the edge of the trail to make room for him. Side by side, it was a little easier to avoid the distraction. But here, he could smell her, that familiar perfume or soap that she’d worn even when they’d been together that one time.
“I know I’m from here and everything, but I’m always amazed how beautiful this place is.”
“The park?”
“Oregon!” she said with a laugh. “But yeah, this particular trail, too. It’s crazy how green it is, even after the winter.”
“Evergreen,” he said. “That’s the thing about the Pacific Northwest. All the pines. It’s kind of like Montana, but a different type of green.”
He heard that he was babbling, but it was better than getting caught checking out her ass and legs over and over.
It’s okay if you want her, he told himself. Hell, it’s even okay that she knows you think she’s hot. Just don’t cross that line, he reminded himself.
That seemed simple enough. But if it’s so simple, what am I doing out here in the woods alone with her?
“I wish EJ could have come,” she said.
“Why? Am I not good company?” he asked.
Damn, and EJ. If EJ ever found out about us, or how I think about her …
“Well, your conversation skills could use a brushing up today,” she said with a smirk. “But I’ll let it slide since this whole thing was kind of sprung on you. Thanks for coming, though,” she added quickly. “I don’t want it to sound like your company is a consolation prize or something like that.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad it was sprung on me. But about EJ, how do you think he’s doing?” he asked.
“What do I think?” Lily glanced up at him. “Fine, I guess. I mean, I think we’re all handling Dad’s death in our own ways, but he seems as okay as could be expected.”
“That’s good,” Cade said. “And what about, you know, the whole love life…”
“I figured you’d know more about that than me,” she said with a shrug. “I mean, boy talk and all. It’s not like I sit around and compare notes with my brothers.”
“That’s not what I mean,” he said quickly. “Back, you know, a few years ago. He was dating this one girl—”
“You mean Courtney?” she asked sharply. “Yeah, she was a real—well, she crushed his heart for sure. Let’s just put it that way.”
“Damn, he never told me that,” Cade said. “I mean, they were together awhile. And then I left for Montana and on social media at least, one day all the photos he had of her just disappeared. I should have called him.”
“You shouldn’t have,” Lily said. “He was a mess for awhile about that, but you know how he is. Just about spent three hours in the gym every day for a few weeks, and that was it. Actually, EJ’s whole breakup wasn’t the worst of it.”
“What do you mean?”
They reached the crest of a small rolling hill and entered a patch of sunshine that broke through the tree canopies overhead.
“Well, it’s not like Aiden’s been an angel. He started getting around quite a bit when you left. Maybe he was after your local title, I dunno,” she said.
He glanced at her guiltily, but she nudged him playfully in the arm. “I’m kidding. About the title thing, but he did have two pregnancy scares in three days. With two different girls, obviously.”
“Are you serious? He never told me that!”
“Well, you were in Montana,” she said with a shrug. “And he wasn’t exactly bragging about it. He about lost half his hair from the stress.”
“And neither were, well, you know…”
“Pregnant? No,” she said. “It was actually kind of funny, the circumstances. It was hard not to laugh at him.”
“How come?” Cade heard bark chips crunch beneath their feet as ferns brushed softly against his calves.
It really is beautiful, he thought.
But he couldn’t tell if it was just that Lily had brought his attention to it, or if it was being here with her.
“Well, one of the girls was pregnant. Five months pregnant.”
“What? So wait, is Aiden—”
“No,” she said. “He’s not a dad. The girl didn’t look pregnant at all, and apparently didn’t know she was pregnant. Aiden had only been fooling around with her for about six weeks.”
“So whose baby was it?”
“No clue,” she said with a shrug. “But he’s just glad it wasn’t his.”
“Yikes.”
“Yeah. The whole thing slowed Aiden down, though. Both him and Elijah were off the market for almost a year. It was pretty great, actually,” she said. Lily raised her head skyward and let another patch of sun shine down on her skin. “A lot of brother and sister and brother time. That was two years ago.”
“I guess your father’s death probably had a pretty negative effect on their dating lives, too.”
“Yeah,” she said softly. “It certainly hasn’t been a priority, that’s for sure.”
He thought she blushed slightly, but couldn’t tell.
“I didn’t mean you,” he said quickly.
“I know,” she said with a small smile. “But it seems like dating really isn’t our family’s thing. Although, I did see Aiden with a girl a few days ago, and I swear Elijah has to be seeing someone. So maybe they’re back on the prowl.”
She hitched her backpack up higher and rested her hands on either strap.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because he’s never home. And when I call him, nine times out of ten he sounds like… like his voice is muffled. You know?”
“Huh,” Cade said. Neither Elijah or Aiden had said anything at all about that at the firehouse.
Not like you’ve really asked, he reminded himself.
He’d been so caught up in his own situation, getting stuck with a shrink instead of actually fighting fires, that he’d taken his friends’ support for granted. Cade felt shame wash over him as he thought back over the past couple of weeks.
Why did I think I could come back and everything would be just like it was when I left? They rounded a bend in comfortable silence, and Cade heard a bubbling trickle.
“Hey, you hear that?”
“Oh! We’re almost to my favorite waterfall,” Lily said. She picked up her pace. “I wasn’t sure if it would be active, since we’ve had such a dry spring. Come on!”
She grabbed his hand and pulled him off the main trail toward a deserted path. Cade held his breath and willed himself not to think about her skin on his. Or how it made his heart start to beat something wild through his entire body.
Lily stopped short at a ledge and sucked in her breath. She rested her hands on a low, stony wall that looked like it hadn’t been maintained in decades.
“Look,” she whispered, and nodded down. Twenty feet below
was a cove framed in moss. Water poured into it from rocks and fallen logs to pool together in a natural swimming hole.
“You aren’t scared of getting wet, are you?” Lily asked with a grin.
“Wait, what?” he asked. “Are you crazy? It’s—”
“Don’t be a baby,” she said as she slipped off her backpack. Lily dropped the bag and began to inch her way down the slope with a hand on the ledge.
Cade took off his own pack and followed close behind. Sprays of water to the face were reminders to keep his eyes on where he was going—not on Lily’s body that was even easier to admire without the backpack.
“Jesus,” he said as he felt a foot slip beneath him. He regained traction and steadied himself.
How was she doing this?
A dozen steps later he reached the bottom, but she was nowhere in sight.
“Lily?” he called. “Come on, this isn’t funny.”
“I’m in here,” she said, and he squinted. The outline of her body was barely visible in the alcove.
“What is this?” he asked.
Inside, it was surprisingly dry. Quaint, even. The stone wall ended in a bench with room for maybe four people.
“My secret place,” she said with a smile. Lily ran her hands through her damp hair, but the short locks had already started to dry. She patted the seat next to her. “Cool, huh?”
As he sat, he realized her white t-shirt was almost transparent. Through a pink bra, her nipples were hard.
“Oh,” she said, and crossed her arms, embarrassed.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
“Jean-Michel got these t-shirts as a joke for everyone at the bakery one year. It’s stupid.”
“It’s fine,” he said with a smile. He hadn’t even seen what the shirt said, but at least she didn’t realize what he’d really been staring at. “And yeah, this place is awesome.”
She laughed and relaxed. Lily scooted closer and Cade felt himself sit up straighter.
“See there?” she asked, and pointed to the exit of the cave. “In the summer, you can see …”
Cade tried to listen, but all he could focus on was her. How close she was, how the dampness of her skin made her glow. That she smelled like strawberries, and how she had an adorable cowlick that stuck up on one side.
Before he could stop himself, he reached out to touch the tendril. Lily grew quiet, but she didn’t move away.
What will one taste hurt?
Cade bent toward her and she lifted her mouth to his, an offering. Lily’s arms wrapped around his waist, pulled him closer. Close enough that he felt her breasts press against his chest and those nipples rub against him. He hardened instantly as a growl erupted from deep within his chest.
As one of his hands cradled her head, the other wandered to her waist. The dampness of her t-shirt clung tight to her skin. As he inched his hand underneath, he was shocked by how warm her stomach was. He made his way to her breasts, grazed a thumb across her nipple through the thin satin fabric.
“Fucking waterfall, dude.” The voices of approaching hikers made them both freeze.
In the darkness of the alcove, he couldn’t tell if the look in Lily’s eyes was fear, embarrassment, or intrigue.
Maybe all three.
“Shit,” she said, and tugged down her shirt.
As she scrambled to make it look like nothing had happened, he couldn’t figure out if the hikers had just ruined his hookup, or saved him from making a terrible mistake.
Another terrible mistake, he reminded himself.
What the hell is wrong with me? Usually after he’d had a girl, all interest was lost. So what’s the deal? Why does Lily have this hold on me?
Lily led the way out of the alcove, and he squinted into the sunlight. As they passed the hikers, a group of teenagers, he gave a cursory nod to the one who made eye contact.
The silence lasted fifteen minutes before Lily broke it. “So about what happened back there—”
“Forget it,” he said and cut her off.
Something in his voice must have warned her to listen. Neither said a word all the way back to the car.
10
Lily
Lily opened the doors of the European pastry shop and was welcomed with the scent of the familiar comfort foods.
“Lily!” Renee called from a little table against the window.
“Oh my God, you’re so tan!” Lily said as she squeezed her best friend tight.
Renee felt slimmer, tauter. She carried the glow of Italy with her, the hairs on her arm bleached blonde from the foreign sun.
“I can’t believe you’re back,” she said as she released Renee.
“Well, kind of,” Renee said with a small smile.
“What do you mean?”
“Two strudels,” the waitress said as she slipped the desserts onto their table.
“I mean…” Renee said as they sat down and whipped open the thick white linen napkins, “I’m going back.”
“But I thought it was just one term,” Lily said.
She slid the hot spiced dessert between her lips and nearly moaned out loud. Jean-Michel refused to have anything other than authentic French pastries in his shop.
Meeting for strudels was her tradition with Renee, and even after months of not having one it seemed the dessert would always have a hold on her.
“It was,” Renee said. “But I met someone.”
“What? Are you serious?” Lily leaned forward. “Who? Someone in the program? Or—”
“Ew, no,” Renee said. “A local, but acqua in bocca, okay?”
“And what does that mean?”
“Keep it to yourself. I’m not telling anyone here.”
“Why not?”
“I just don’t want all the gossip.” Renee neatly put down the fork after just two bites and gingerly sipped at her espresso.
“Since when do you drink espresso?” Lily asked. She noticed that Renee had ordered the usual almond milk latte for her.
Renee shrugged. “Too much fat in lattes.”
“It’s almond milk.”
“Still. Besides, the coffee here is terrible. I didn’t realize it until Italy.”
“Here, as in this shop? Or Salem?”
“As in America,” Renee said. “You should travel, Lily. It’s so incredibly eye opening.”
“I’d like to think I have a decent palate,” Lily said, feeling defensive. “After all, I went to culinary school.”
“Yeah, in Portland,” Renee said. “One of the guys I dated in Italy? He learned how to make pasta at this nonna’s home in Ravenna—that’s a town in Italy—”
Lily did her best to keep her eye rolls internal.
If this is what traveling does to you, I think I’ll pass, she thought.
Renee had always had a penchant toward snobbishness since they’d met in sixth grade. Lily wasn’t sure if it was spending so much time apart with Renee traveling in grad school, or if she’d always been that way and Lily hadn’t noticed.
“What?” Renee asked suddenly.
“Nothing,” Lily said quickly. She grabbed the latte and took a purposeful long swallow.
“You don’t seem very interested in hearing about my trip. Or the new person I’m dating.” Renee cocked her head to the side.
“You just told me you didn’t want gossip around this mysterious new boyfriend of yours. So how am I supposed to know how much you want to talk about him?”
“Who said it was a boy?”
Lily almost spit out the borderline too-sweet latte, but she held it together.
“Sorry,” she said. “I just assumed—”
“People in America are so closed-minded,” Renee said. She gave a sad shake of her head. “I mean, who cares? Chiodo scaccia chiodo, right?”
“I don’t know what that means,” Lily said pointedly.
Renee sighed. “It means you’ll get over it, okay?”
“I don’t have anything to get over. But when your best fri
end of almost fifteen years has always dated guys, and she casually mentions that she now has a girlfriend, you have to expect some kind of reaction.”
And I think a reaction is exactly what you were going for.
“Marco is a guy. Okay?” Renee asked. “I just don’t like when people automatically assume that you’re straight. In Italy, nobody cares. Love is love. There aren’t all these games, people will say non posso vivere senza di te on the day they meet.”
Lily rolled her eyes, unable to control it anymore.
“Maybe it’s for the best that I don’t visit Italy,” she said. “Because what you’re saying really isn’t impressing me.”
Renee crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair. “That’s fine,” she said bluntly. “Because you’re too much of a prude for European tastes anyway.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Lily was aware of how the coffee had coated her tongue.
She leaned forward and stared into Renee’s light blue eyes. Her best friend looked simultaneously like a total stranger and like the girl she’d ceremoniously buried her Barbies with in seventh grade to declare themselves official teenagers.
“Forget I said anything,” Renee said. She uncrossed her arms and became enchanted with her espresso.
“No,” Lily said. “You brought it up, I want to know.”
“Non sei capace di tenerti un cece in bocca—fine. Look, I just meant that you’ve never been with anyone. You know? Sexually, I mean. You dated Tim forever, and you haven’t even bothered to look for anyone since then.”
“That’s not true!” Lily said.
She was flustered. How long was Renee going to throw that in her face?
“I have been looking, but you don’t know how the dating scene is in Salem. If you can even call it that—”
“You were in Portland for culinary school. Probably absolutely surrounded by men. And not just men, but future chefs who probably had the exact same interests as you. And nothing? For two years?”
“Do you know what patisserie school is like?” Lily asked. She shook her head.
Of course you don’t, because for those two years you didn’t even bother to ask. You just loved having a free apartment in downtown to stay at on the weekends.
