When Love's Gone Country - By Merri Hiatt Page 0,7
so why hide it.”
“It’s amazingly beautiful. What’s it like when the moon comes out?” Meg asked.
“Stunning. There are four tree houses by the waterfall. You feel almost like you’re part of it.”
“I can’t believe we’ve never heard of this place,” Purity said.
“We don’t advertise much. There’s a sacred beauty to the area, we don’t want to disturb that. If it became a tourist trap, we’d lose part of the essence of who and what this place was meant to be.”
“Are the tree houses always booked?” Court asked.
“Most of the time. We may have one or two available, but once someone stays here, they want to come back.”
“Do you provide room service to the tree houses?” Jeremy asked.
“We do.”
“You carry food all the way up here?” Jacob said.
“Absolutely.”
“I hope you get good tips.”
Michael chuckled. “We generally do.”
“How much does a room like this go for?” Brad asked.
“Three bedrooms are around six hundred dollars a night, depending on the location. Tree houses near the waterfall are higher.”
Purity looked up through the glass ceiling, watching the sky as streams of light poured down through the trees. “I don’t think I’d ever want to leave.”
“Would you like to see the other tree house? It is a one-bedroom near the waterfall. It’s quite a bit higher.”
Purity and Alex said they’d like to stay where they were while the rest of the group followed Michael to the second tree house. They laid down on one of the beds and watched the sky above them as leaf patterns changed with the blowing of the wind.
“You want me to build you one of these?” Alex asked.
“Yeah. In the back yard.”
“It won’t be forty feet up in the air.”
“I’d settle for twenty. Can you imagine as a kid having a tree house like this?”
“I’d never want to leave.”
“I know, right?”
Alex laced his hand with Purity’s. “Maybe we should add a couple days onto our vacation and stay here on the way back.”
“I’d love that. Can you get away from The Kids’ Place?”
“We don’t have any big events going on ‘til the Back To School Carnival in September.”
“Sheila’s taking the lead on that, so I’m not responsible for much. Let’s do it. Should we get rooms for everyone else, too?”
“I love our friends, but I was hoping to have you all to myself.”
“I like the sound of that.”
Alex ran his thumb across her cheek. “I love you so much. I can’t imagine my life without you.”
“I don’t want to imagine my life without you.”
“Oh, pardon me, I didn’t realize anyone was in here,” a young man who appeared to be fresh out of high school was at the door. “I need to show this tree house.”
“We were just leaving,” Alex said, rolling off the bed and reaching for Purity’s hand to help her up.
Purity straightened the bedspread and fluffed the pillows. “Sorry.”
“No problem.” Again, white teeth flashed against dark skin.
As they headed down the stairs, Purity said, “Are my teeth white?”
“Um, yeah, everyone’s teeth are white.”
“No, I mean are they really white or are they more off-white.”
“What are you talking about?”
“My teeth. All the people we’ve met today have these brilliantly white teeth. They’re gorgeous. I want those kind of teeth.”
“Maybe it’s hereditary.”
“I was thinking it might be their skin tone against the white, making them seem brighter and whiter. What do you think?”
“I think your teeth are fine and if you’re really spending your time thinking about the color of your teeth, we need to give you more work to do at The Kids’ Place.”
“Alex! I’m serious.”
“I know, that’s what scares me. Women think about the most—”
“Watch it.”
“Women think about stuff guys would never even dream of thinking about.”
“You do the same thing, just in reverse. Can you imagine Meg and me having a long conversation about football or cars or what kind of oil is the best to use?”
“No, I can’t. But I can tell you that I have never had a conversation with a man about how white his teeth are.”
“You just don’t get it.”
“No, I don’t. This is just one of those things that I scratch my head about and say, ‘Women!’”
When they were back under the lodge’s roof, they made themselves comfortable and waited for the rest of the group. They arrived in about fifteen minutes.
“You should have come!” Jeremy said, jumping up and down. “The waterfall was all around us.”
“Really beautiful,” Meg said. “You’d have loved it.”
“Second honeymoon, Brad?” Court asked.
“You ponying up the six hundred bucks?”
“That one was nine hundred and fifty bucks.”
“But