to check on Dad.” I run my hand along the comforter beneath me. “Is he there? Can I talk to him?”
There’s a beat of silence before my mom speaks again. “Actually, honey, he just fell asleep. I don’t want to wake him. You know how much those treatments take out of him. He needs the rest.”
I frown at the reminder. All he does is sleep these days, but she’s right. Sleep helps his body to heal.
“Oh, okay. Well, can you tell him I called when he wakes up?”
“Of course I will. Now you go enjoy the rest of your weekend. We’ll see you Sunday evening.”
“All right. Love you.”
“Love you too, honey. Remember—grab on with both hands and don’t let go.”
She hangs up, and I sit there for a minute, taking in her words. I realize that’s what I’m doing by being here this weekend and allowing myself to fall for Garrin, and I vow to keep doing it.
Garrin steps back into the room. “The chef said dinner will be a little more than an hour. I thought maybe I could take you to the lookout and show you the view from the other side of the property.”
“That would be wonderful.” I stand.
Garrin eyes the phone in my hand. “Everything okay?”
I step into him and wrap my arms around his waist. “Perfect.”
Since Garrin’s property is so expansive, he ends up taking us over to the other side of his acreage on a snowmobile. It’s sunny, and blue skies hang overhead, the temperature hovering a little over zero, so I only wear my winter coat and boots, hat and gloves. He does the same. It still feels somewhat odd to see him dressed so casually but I’m getting used to it.
I hold on tight to his waist as he winds us through the trees, the wind whipping the ends of my hair behind me like a flag on a flagpole. He’s going fast, but I feel safe nonetheless, and I lean in and rest my cheek on his back, watching the scenery whip past us.
When he pulls the snowmobile to a stop, he allows me to get off first. Once we’re off, he takes my hand and leads me a few hundred yards to the edge of a lookout. There are some chairs there facing the view that has to be one of the best that I’ve seen in all my time in Colorado. A mountain range stretches out far in the distance and the valley below is dotted with snow and a few places where the earth below pokes through. The blue sky meets the white-topped mountains at the horizon, but it feels like I can see to the ends of the earth.
Garrin comes up behind me and pulls me back into him, resting his arms around my waist. He nuzzles the top of my head with his face, and I sink into him, breathing in the fresh air and the heavenly view. I never would have thought I’d be here, this happy and content with a man I’ve fallen in love with. And Garrin no less.
The thought runs through my mind and I don’t panic at the realization that I love Garrin, much to my own surprise. Instead I bask in it. In the feel of his strong arms wrapped around me, in the knowledge that he knows and empathizes with what I’m going through with my dad, in the understanding that though he’s not perfect, I fully believe that he would never intentionally hurt me like he did in the past.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful,” I say.
“I have.” I look over my shoulder to see him gazing down at me, his eyes full of emotion.
I knock him with my shoulder behind me. “Stop.”
“I’m serious.” He drops his arms and stands at my side, taking my hands in his and turning me so we’re facing each other. “Isla, the time I’ve spent with you has been the best of my life. I know I wasn’t exactly thrilled when you returned, but if I’d known then what I know now, I would have welcomed you with open arms. You are the most beautiful person I’ve ever known—both inside and out. Your intelligence, your compassion, your strength, your body… it all turns me on. You make me want to be a better person.” He squeezes my hands in his.
“Garrin…” I trail off because I don’t know what to say. There are too many emotions swimming through my