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She wasn’t sure how long they rode, but soon they came to another wooded area, and Trace significantly slowed their pace as they made their way through the trees.
Within a few minutes they came to a stream and just when Chrissie braced herself for the splash sure to come as he drove right through the foot or so of moving water, he brought the ATV to a stop and killed the engine.
“Out of gas?” she teased as he undid his chin strap, and pulled the helmet from his head. He hung it on the handlebar by the strap, then climbed off the four-wheeler, and reached for her hand.
“I hope not. That would be a long walk back.”
She let him help her off the ATV and undo her chin strap, pulling the helmet from her head.
Figuring her hair was a mess from the helmet, heat, and sweat, she ran her fingers through it while he hung up the helmet.
“Don’t. You look beautiful.”
“You sure you had your visor pulled down? I think you may have gotten bugs in your eyes during our ride.”
He laughed. “Not hardly.”
Removing a rolled-up blanket that had been strapped to the back of the ATV, Trace spread it out a few feet from the stream.
“This is beautiful,” she told him, looking around. It really was. The area wasn’t heavily wooded, but enough so that it made her feel as if she were in some private enchanted forest, especially with the few sprigs of purple flowers that grew around the grassy area where he had spread the blanket. “Are we going to be in trouble for being here?”
He shook his head.
“You’re sure?”
“Yep. I know the owner.”
Something in the way he answered had her asking, “Bud?”
He shook his head again. “No, my father.”
His father? She glanced around the gorgeous scenery again, taking in the gurgling stream, the green trees, the thick, grassy areas, the blue sky peeking in around the leaves.
“It’s a beautiful piece of property.”
“Yeah, he bought it several years back with plans to modernize it into an upscale suburb and golf course, but hasn’t done so yet.”
“Why not?”
“Mostly, because Bud and Agnes need the section they use for the event. Still, there’s several hundred more acres beyond what the event uses, so I guess he could develop and not affect the event.”
Sunshine danced on the water and where it hit the ground beneath the leaf cover above.
“It would be a shame for this to be destroyed to make a subdivision,” she mused.
“I agree. Can I have the bag, please?”
She removed the backpack and handed it to him.
“Have a seat and I’ll serve you lunch.”
“A picnic?” she asked, sitting down near him on the blanket.
He grinned. “Yes.”
He pulled out two plastic-wrapped sandwiches, a couple bags of baby carrots, fruit, and the two bottled waters. “If you’re a good girl and eat all your food, I have dessert for you.”
She just bet he did and he looked pretty scrumptious. “Oh, really?”
