He quickly goes back into the house, and I sneak a chunk of lobster before he returns with a bottle of champagne and two glasses.
“Wow. What are we celebrating?”
Ethan vibrates as he pulls the foil from the bottle. His cheeks, still flushed from sex, seem to flush more with excitement.
“Remember when we did the Yellowstone hike with the new boots from Fin, Feather, and Fur?”
“I do. Great boots.”
Ethan hums as he works the cork out of the champagne. The cork sails into the tiny garden, and he releases a satisfied sigh. “I love doing that.” He pours us each a glass, and after another breath, he raises his toward me. “Since youremember the hike, you’ll also remember how we reached the point where the bison surprised us, and I spent at least thirty minutes taking an awfully large number of photos.”
“I remember that, too. It was breathtaking.” Our hike brought us close to several smaller hot springs off the main tourist paths. Nothing suitable for humans, but still, the steam from the small areas was almost ethereal. Closer than I thought we’d get in the area. It was well marked for safety, though. Snow still lingered on the ground from an early fall snowfall. I’d been nervous about grizzly bears, but the park wardens said they hadn’t seen any for several weeks and the area should be safe. I carried a weapon just in case, but didn’t tell Ethan.
We didn’t expect to be alongside a group of bison enjoying a warm-up before making their way toward the river. Ethan had the presence of mind to photograph what we were witnessing, while I simply stared in awe. The biggest wildlife I’d seen was a mountain lion and a black bear. The black bear wasn’t even big.
Being that close to bison was nerve-racking, and thankfully, Ethan kept a safe distance and used his zoom lens.
“I submitted one of those photos to National Geographic magazine, Colt.”
“Are you…” My heart hammers against my ribs.
Ethan nods with a giant grin. “They’re publishing my photo, Colt! It’s been named one of the top five wildlife photographs of the year!”
I can’t toast him. Instead, I jump up with a whoop. My towel falls from my hips as I grab Ethan’s face between my hands and kiss him. “I’m so proud of you. You did it.”
“Wedid it, Colt. I never would have done this without you.”
“Snow Creek people are gonna want photos from a guy published in National Geographic. That’s an amazing thing to say. I went on a fly-fishingtour, and an award-winning photographer from National Geographic took photos for us. Baby, you’re doing what you’ve always wanted.”
Ethan steps out of my arms to gulp his champagne. His gaze runs down my body, still naked, since my towel dropped to the ground.
“Doing what and who I want. We should probably eat this food because I won’t be sleeping tonight.”
Wrapping the towel back in place, I sit next to him at the table and pour him more champagne. “Why’s that? Too excited about all this?”
“Excited, and I bought you a new cigar today when I was out.”
“Is that so?”
“Yep,” he pops the ‘p’ before dunking a piece of lobster in the butter. “You, a cigar, and the rest of this champagne. No clothes and a gorgeous night with stars.”
“I thought we needed to plan the next trip and your magazine articles tonight?”
“Tomorrow is a new day, Colt. Work can wait. Tonight is for us.”
“Forever is for us.”
His expression softens. “You’re right. It is.”
The End
***
