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The wings twitched when he stepped closer, then fanned open. “Did you make a new friend?” he asked.
Lori smiled. “I think I did. Though it might be more interested in my lavender lotion than my winning personality.”
“Mmm.” Quinn stared with her for a while, then cleared his throat. “You want to come for a ride with me?”
“Sure,” she answered before she realized that a ride would entail not only chasing off the butterfly, but also getting up from her lounge chair. Crap. “Well…”
“Come on.” Quinn reached for her hand and the butterfly fluttered up, zigzagging away from her leg.
Lori sighed. There was no point staying now anyway. She shoved herself to her feet and let Quinn pull her toward his car. Once she was in the passenger seat with wind rushing through her curls, Lori found herself waking up a little.
“It’s a beautiful day,” Quinn ventured.
Lori looked around. It was a beautiful day. “Yeah,” she agreed. “This is nice, actually. Thank you.”
One deep breath seemed to open up some closed door inside her. A second breath chased out the damp, stale air that had filled her up.
She’d been grieving, she realized. Finally. For her father and for Joe, too. Maybe even for the woman she’d wanted her mother to be.
When she glanced over at Quinn, he smiled and took her hand. She smiled back. “Where are we going?”
“Up to my place. I thought maybe you’d like to vary the angle on your tan a little bit.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. “Oh, yeah? Do I still get lunch?”
“Yes, there’s lunch, too. I’m quite clear on what my duties are.”
“Good.”
His thumb trailed over the inside of her wrist, reminding Lori of the very first time he’d held her hand. A lifetime ago. Now the summer was almost over. Quinn would go back to Aspen. And Lori…Well, Lori didn’t know what she was going to do.
But Quinn seemed confident in his plans. He drove them through the tunnel of trees that was his driveway, then parked right next to the old cabin.
“Are you going to tear this down?” she asked.
“No way. I love this place.”
“I’m not sure it goes with your house.”
He shrugged and got out to open her door. “It’s my house,” he said as she took his hand and stood. “If I say it goes, it goes.”
“I guess you’re right.”
They didn’t head toward the cabin, though. Quinn tugged her toward the white lines of the foundation. She thought he was offering another tour, but they skirted the cement walls and circled to what would be the back of the house. When she looked up, she found herself facing the view she’d seen on Quinn’s computer. And in real life, it was just as breathtaking as she’d imagined it would be. As she watched, an eagle circled by before gliding out of the range of her sight.
“It’s so amazing.”
Quinn’s only response was to tuck one of her curls behind her ear. He let her look for a moment, then pulled her farther on. The rock dropped two feet lower here, so Quinn jumped down and lowered Lori by her waist. A few steps farther and the rock dropped again. This time Lori jumped on her own. Her muscles stretched with life. It felt good to move.
“Careful here,” he cautioned, gesturing toward the very edge of the rock. Beyond it, Lori could see nothing but blue sky and treetops. She followed Quinn to the right and down one more drop before she spied the quilt spread out on the rock.
A picnic. In the wilderness. Lori glanced around. “Aren’t there bears up here?”
Quinn froze and spun slowly toward her. “What is it with you and bears?”
“They’re dangerous,” she insisted.
“No more dangerous than mountain lions or rutting elk. And I swear I’ve never seen a bear on my lot. So, is it a phobia?”
