“What is that?”
“Gen had some stuff she’s been working on. She wanted us to taste test it today and let her know which ones she should keep.”
“And she had them ready to go?” Eden opened the fridge and pulled out four bottles of water, handing them to him.
“Yeah, she was going to bring them upstairs, so I asked if we could make a picnic out of them. Grab that bottle of wine, too, would you?”
“You don’t like white wine.” She pulled the bottle out anyway and handed it to him.
“True, but you do, and Gen said there were a couple dishes that paired well with white wine.” He flipped the basket shut. “Ready?”
She laughed at him. “Where’s the fire?”
He grabbed the basket and opened the door for her. “No fire, I’m just looking forward to having uninterrupted alone time with my woman. Come on.” She watched him as he jogged down the stairs with the basket.
She made sure the apartment door was closed before she walked down the stairs. Jeremiah opened the passenger side door and helped her step up into his truck. He’d special-ordered a bench seat for the front. She slid over to the middle and he got into the truck. She’d barely strapped on her seatbelt before they were on the interstate.
Talks of the plans for the house they were building consumed most of the drive down to the Hills. Remi pulled off the main road near Horse Thief Lake. The towering ponderosa mixed with densely populated lodgepole pines, crowding the road as they wound through what was obviously an unimproved gravel trail into the national forest.
Eden leaned forward to look up at the sky. “Where are we going?”
“I found this spot the day after the bar fight.” Jeremiah pointed. “About another half mile up is a nice place for a picnic.”
“God, that seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it?” Eden leaned against his arm and rested her head on his shoulder.
“Sometimes it seems like years, sometimes like yesterday.”
She hummed in agreement. “Life can be that way, can’t it? Funny how time, consistent and precise, can be perceived as slow or fast.”
“The human condition is such that one is always reaching toward something. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs dictates when the basics of life are provided for a person will move toward love, esteem, and self-actualization. We move up and down that scale all the time. I guess our perception of how hard the route is to the next goal could skew our remembrance of how quickly we get it.”
She turned and stared at him. “You know, sometimes I forget how brilliant you are.”
He snorted a laugh as he put the truck in park. “I’m not sure if that is a compliment or not.”
She laughed too and shook her head. “It was a compliment. Most of the time I feel like your equal and then you pop off with something deep and utterly compelling and I have to take a step back and realize that you’re extraordinary.”
He twisted in his seat and smiled at her. “You are my equal in all things. Never forget that.”
She smiled and glanced out at where they’d stopped. “Oh, this is lovely.”
He grinned from ear to ear and opened his door after taking off his seatbelt. “Come see.” He jumped down from the truck and offered his hand. She took it and scooted out to where he could put his hands on her waist and help her down.
She walked a few steps from the truck and stared at the massive granite boulder to her right. Soft, wild grasses bowed in subjugation to the whispers of wind that wound through the trees. The pines provided enough shade that the heat of the summer day was muted. “Beautiful.”
“I agree.”
She turned. Jeremiah stood watching her with two blankets in one hand and the picnic basket in the other. She reached for the blankets. “You are very good for my ego, sir.”
“I only speak the truth.” He nodded in the direction he wanted them to go, and she fell into step with him. They walked behind the boulder and he put down the basket to help her spread the blankets.
She slipped off her sandals and walked to the center of the throw, waiting for him. He toed out of his boots and carried the basket to where she was kneeling.
They emptied the basket of the small white containers and he reached for the bottle of wine. “There’s one more.” Eden reached for the small white box