like dark shadows on the beautiful countryside. If they weren’t her entire world, she would have thought that they should have never been there in the first place. In a way, they marred the nature surrounding them, darkened the natural beauty.
Then she remembered all the wonderful times she’d had within those walls. How so many in town counted on the income from the resort. How they relied on her.
“It’s stunning, isn’t it?” Cade asked, wrapping his arms around her.
“It looks so small from up here.”
He chuckled. “I haven’t been up here in years.” He glanced all around. “I’d forgotten you can see the town from here. It’s strange, I never really think about the mountain being almost between the resort and town.”
“Me neither.” She turned in a compete circle and then her eyes landed on the hillside where they’d found her. Where she’d hidden in a cave and waited out the fire. Where she’d met Reggie that fateful night.
The last place she’d been happy. Genuinely happy. Carefree. Unhindered by guilt. Sorrow. Loss.
The once-charred hillside was now completely covered in short, green, lush trees, the last remnants of the damage caused ten years ago long gone.
“How about some lunch?” Cade asked, breaking into her thoughts.
Tearing her eyes from the park, she turned towards Cade and nodded.
“Are you okay?” Cade asked her.
“Yes,” she smiled, remembering everything she had now. How she’d spent a wonderful night wrapped in Cade’s arms.
Focusing on the good instead of the bad caused her heart to swell and lift.
She moved over and sat back to watch Cade pull out a perfect summer picnic. She knew there were a few more weeks before this hillside was covered in fresh snow and flooded with vacationers. The earliest she could remember getting snow was the first day of October back when she was ten.
“Maybe next summer we can get up here more often,” Cade said, handing her a bottled water.
“I’d like that. With everything going on this year, it’s been difficult for me to just breathe.”
“You really have done an amazing job.” He glanced down the hillside towards the resort. “I’m sure you’re going to be packed to the rafters soon enough.”
“They’ve finished installing the new system in the west building.” She smiled. “I just got word after you left.”
“That’s good news,” Cade responded.
“You may have to come in for another inspection,” she suggested. “I rather liked working with you. Seeing you in that sexy uniform.”
He laughed. “So do I. Like working with you. Everything you wear is sexy,” he added, causing her to smile.
Sitting on the hillside eating lunch with Cade was easily one of the best days she’d had in years. She’d never laughed or flirted as much as she did with him on the top of the mountain, overlooking everything she’d worked hard for.
“So, what happens now?” she asked him once the sandwiches, cheese, and fruit he’d packed were all gone.
“Dessert?” he asked, pulling out a bag of cookies.
She laughed. “I mean with my uncle and aunt.”
“Oh.” He sighed and handed her a couple of cookies. “Now they’ll have to post bail. Hopefully, they have learned a lesson to leave you alone.”
“They wanted some sort of policy.” She remembered her uncle’s words right before Cade and Sean walked in. “I thought they were talking about the insurance policy on the resort that my uncle had taken out. The moment I found out about it, I called the company and cancelled it. Since he technically wasn’t owner, it hadn’t been that hard.”
“Seriously? He took a policy out on the place?” Cade asked.
“Yeah, with him and Morgan Roche as beneficiaries.”
“Seriously?” Cade asked again. “How stupid could the man be?”
“My aunt wasn’t too pleased to find out about that,” she said with a smile. “I think that was the last nail in the coffin of their marriage.”
“You would think. Something tells me those two idiots love to be miserable together.” Cade shook his head, and he ate his cookie.
“So, I’m not sure what policy they were talking about. They kept insisting that there was a different one,” she said.
“What kind of policy?”
“I’m not sure.” She shook her head. “But something tells me I need to call and ask around.”
“I can help if you need,” Cade offered.
“Thanks.” She relaxed back as he wrapped his arms around her. “This was almost a perfect day,” she said with a sigh.
“Almost,” he agreed. “We still have to get down the hillside.”
She laughed. “I have a thought about that.” She glanced over at him. “I’ve arranged