I was a lot of things, but subservient wasn’t one of them. Never in my life had I felt submissive, or even the desire to be. I’d always thought those kinds of girls were weak, naïve, easily manipulated. Until now. Until Drew Wheeler. Until I experienced blind trust and an almost instinctual yearning to follow him. I had an incomprehensible connection to him, and oddly enough, it just felt right.
So instead of arguing or leaving without him, I remained by his side and waited for the fog wall to reach us. Which, thankfully, didn’t take long. One second, we were watching it move toward us, and the next, it consumed us, disappearing from sight.
I could see Drew perfectly fine, but the fog hid everything else. The waterfall. The rocks surrounding us, the river. I couldn’t see a single tree while the haze cloaked me. It was majestic, tranquil. The temperature seemed to have dropped a few degrees, and breathing felt different. Not easier. Not harder. Just different.
I must’ve been deep in concentration, because my thoughts were interrupted by Drew’s lips. I continued to hold onto the rock, as did he, the only parts of our bodies touching were our lips. The kiss was soft and slow, almost a gentle laziness about it. And just as quickly as it started, it ended.
The cloud had moved past, allowing the rest of the world to return to view. I was simply in awe; I felt as if I had witnessed something no one else had, as if Mother Nature had specifically picked us, declaring us as special.
“Ready to head back?” Drew asked, acting as though we hadn’t just kissed.
But I didn’t say anything, assuming the obvious—he was worried about the storm and wanted to make it back to the resort before it reached us. Instead, I nodded and then followed him up the trail to the gravel parking lot.
“How did you know what that was?” I asked once we settled in the truck with the heater on full blast.
He glanced at me and chuckled to himself; apparently, seeing me bundled up in a towel while shivering in the passenger seat amused him.
“My dad always had the news on every night during supper. We’d talk about anything and everything until the meteorologist came on. That’s when he’d turn to watch the TV and all conversation would stop. When the forecast ended, we’d finish our meal, discussing the weather. It was kind of our thing.” He managed to perform an entire three-point turn while explaining that to me.
“I’m having a hard time imagining how that conversation would go.”
A soft, beautiful smile lined his lips as he turned his head both ways, checking for traffic, before pulling out onto the main road. “It was always very organic. We’d start by discussing our local weather, which prompted questions about things like hurricanes, the Gulf Stream, blizzards. Anyway, some he could answer, others he told me to look up. I would, and then we’d talk about what I learned the next night.”
“Is that what you’re interested in—meteorology?”
“Once upon a time, that’s what I wanted to do in life. It’s basically the only job in the world where you can be wrong ninety-nine percent of the time and not get fired. But then I learned how many years of college that took, so I decided against it.”
Even though he wasn’t looking my way, I rolled my eyes. I never could understand that mentality. Several of my friends from school thought the same. If it was a passion, a genuine interest, then the amount of schooling shouldn’t matter.
“What about you? What are your career plans or goals?”
“A rehab counselor.”
He quickly gawked at me before returning his eyes to the road. “Like, for substance abuse? Or physical rehab?”
“The first one. After my grandfather came to live with us, I struggled for a while to understand addiction. I couldn’t wrap my mind around why he didn’t just quit drinking, and instead, ended up losing his family. Keep in mind, I was thirteen,” I reminded him. “So I looked into it, and ever since then, it’s been something I feel really passionate about.”
“Wow. That’s impressive.”
Thank God he was busy navigating the dirt road back to the office; otherwise, he would’ve seen my face light up as bright as Rudolph’s nose. Apparently, impressing Drew filled me with excitement. It made me wonder what else would have that same effect.
He backed into the carport attached to the side of the office, and then we quickly