Lakeside Love (A Mill Creek Crossing Romance) (8 page)

“Wow…” she said in complete awe of the beauty around her. The sun was starting to make its descent in the sky, and the flowers were all in bloom around them. She could hardly take it all in. For a city girl, this was a sight that was unusual and rare, and she planned to savor it.

“Beautiful, huh?” he asked smiling as he watched her reaction.

“Stunning. How did you find this place?”

“When my wife died, I did a lot of hiking to clear my head. Eventually, I stumbled upon this oddity out in the woods. You haven’t seen anything yet. Come on…” he said taking her hand and pulling her toward the cave. It occurred to her she was going into a remote cave with a man she’d only known a couple of days, but her gut told her it was okay and she decided to go with it.

They walked into the darkened cave, and Erica kept a tight hold on Dylan’s hand. “It’s okay…” he said soothingly. She believed him.

A few moments later, they were standing in the middle of one of the most beautiful places she’d ever seen. Light was coming through the top of the cave along with a small waterfall that ran from the rocks above into a pool of light blue water in the middle. Around the lake of water were huge rocks where they settled with the picnic basket.

“Lay down,” he said after laying out a blanket for her on one of the large rocks.

“Excuse me?” she said smiling with her hand on her hip.

“I want to show you something,” he said. She wondered what that meant, but she was willing to find out. They laid down side by side on the rock and he pointed up at the ceiling of the cave. There were all kinds of Indian markings lining the top of the cave.

“Amazing!” she said as she stared at the years of history lining the walls of the rocky cave. She was so thankful for that moment in time and sharing it with Dylan.

“I’m part Cherokee, so this was an unbelievable find for me,” he said.

“I’m Cherokee too!” she said.

“Jeez, I hope we’re not related,” Dylan said laughing. “That would be my luck.”

“I think we’re safe,” she said nuzzling ever closer to him as they stared into the blue skies above the cave. They talked for an hour or so until the sun started to set in the sky. The darkness started to overtake the cave, and Erica got a little antsy being way out in the woods in the dark on such a steep incline. “Should we go since it’s getting dark?” she asked sitting up.

“Of course not. We haven’t had dinner yet,” he said standing up and walking to the picnic basket. Before she knew it, he had a small fire going near the pond and a whole picnic set up for her.

“Did you make all of this?” she asked looking around as she surveyed the selections.

“Of course. We have a nice grilled chicken salad here. Hope you like Caesar dressing. Over here, we have fresh baked yeast rolls, sweet tea and a little peach cobbler for dessert. How’d I do?”

Erica’s stomach did a flip flop when she realized he’d made her favorite meal. But she never told him that, so how did he know?

“I don’t understand. How’d you know those were my favorites?” she asked cocking her head.

“They’re your favorites?” he asked just as shocked.

“Yes…”

“Well, come eat then!” he said patting the ground beside him. For the next hour, they ate and laughed more than Erica had in years. Dylan cleaned up the food as Erica walked around the cave inspecting every part of it.

“Whatcha doing?” he asked as he walked up behind her.

“Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“How I would have missed out on ever seeing a place like this: if Max hadn’t stood me up at the altar.”

“He never took you places like this?”

“No. He was more of a four-star restaurant, museum, business meeting kind of guy. He never took me on vacations much either. He said his business was thriving and there would always be time to do things together later.” She ran her hand across the wall of the cave feeling droplets of water running from the waterfalls above.

“One day he’s going to realize what he let go,” Dylan said.

“I don’t think so. He picked a younger, hotter, perkier blond haired goddess. I am a distant memory,” she said biting her bottom lip.

“He’s a fool then. Seriously, Erica, women like you don’t come along everyday.”

“Thanks. But, it’s okay. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’m grateful he stood me up because being in this place, at this moment, is just about as perfect as I could ever imagine,” she said surprising herself.

“Really? So I did good?” he asked grinning like a school boy.

“You did great…” she said turning to him. “I’ve never had anyone really think about where they were taking me. It wasn’t just your typical dinner date. You really put some thought into this,” she said reaching out and taking his hands. “Dylan, I know I was kind of a hard case about going out with you, but this has been so worth it.”

“I’m glad. This has been amazing for me too.”

“I spent so many years with Max but I am having a hard time understanding how I could let him go so easily…” she said letting go of his hands and walking toward the waterfall in the center of the cave.

“Because he was the wrong one, and your heart knew it.”

“Maybe. Can I ask you something?” she said sitting down on a rock across from the water.

“Sure.”
 

“How did you know Amelia was the one?” He looked down at his hands.

“Do you really want me to talk about my late wife on our first date, Erica?” he asked.

“If you’re not comfortable…” she started to say.

“No, I’m always comfortable talking about Amelia. I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable or thinking you have to compete with her.”

“Dylan, your wife is a big part of who you are. And I like who you are so far,” she said poking him in the side. “It’s okay to talk about her because I know she will always hold a special part of your heart. I’m sure she influenced the wonderful man you’ve become, so anyone who dates you will have her to thank for that, right?”

“Wow.”

“What?”

“You are truly amazing…”

“Nah…” she said waving her hand. “So tell me how you knew you loved her.”

“Well, we were young, so you have to remember it was puppy love at first. We grew up together, and we were lucky that love came easy to us, I guess. Once we were older and married, we talked a lot about how we wouldn’t have gotten together if we ha-d met as adults.”

“Really? Why?”

“We were very different. I love the outdoors, she loved to shop at the mall. I love to read and play my guitar. She liked to play video games. But we made it work. And it wasn’t always easy, but we made a commitment.”

“Video games?” Erica asked laughing.

“She grew up with four brothers, so…”

“Ah, I see,” she said smiling.

Erica got up and walked closer to the water, removing her shoes along the way. She wanted to feel the cool stream of water up close, so she walked straight into the water, which wasn’t very deep since it ran out the other side of the cave wall. She rolled up the bottom of her jeans, and the water barely touched her mid calf area, but it was enough to cool her off. She reached her hands out as the water splattered across her palms sending droplets of water all over her shirt.

“What are you doing?” Dylan asked laughing as he removed his shoes and rolled up his pants.

“Having fun!” she yelled over the loudness of the water dropping around her. He climbed into the water with her and reached his hands under the stream coming from above. They joined their hands together and laughed like kids as they got soaking wet. Before she knew it, Erica had managed to get her perfectly coiffed hair wet too. “Oh, man! I messed up my hair!”

“You look beautiful,” he said smiling at her with a heated look in his eyes. His hands reached up to frame her face as he stared at her for a moment before leaning in to kiss her gently on her lips. When he pulled back, keeping his hands in place, he looked into her eyes again as if searching for permission.

“Do that again,” she whispered as he covered her mouth with his in the most passionate kiss of her life. Never had she felt so overcome from a simple kiss. He pulled her closer as if he couldn’t get her close enough. A tangle of lips and tongues, they kissed under the waterfall until both were breathless.

“Wow…” he said as he pulled back and looked at her.

“Yeah. Wow…” she said back with a smile. “That was…”

“Amazing,” he said finishing her sentence.

“Then, let’s do it again,” she said giggling as she pulled him in closer for another lengthy kiss.

For the next week, Dylan and Erica spent a lot of time together getting to know each other better. There were more kisses, of course, along with more dates to interesting places. As the end of her trip started to approach, Erica worried about going back to her normal routine. Being with Dylan was so easy and effortless she didn’t know if she could go back to the monotony of her job and her life. It had kept her up all night as she went over every bit of her trip and every possible ending to their week-long love affair.

“Good morning!” she heard him say as he walked through the back door and into her kitchen holding grocery bags. He came and went as he pleased, and it was a comfortable feeling for her.

“Did you bring those over in the kayak?” she asked laughing as she looked out the back window.

“I sure did,” he said as he started to unload them onto the counter.

“Whatcha got there?” she asked smiling as she saw a bunch of ingredients.

“Well, I’ve got the makings of a fantastic pot roast meal here. And, I’ve got a pair of lips waiting right here,” he said pointing to the full, luscious lips she’d become so accustomed to kissing each day.

Erica wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a passionate kiss as he pushed her back against the counter. Lifting her up for better access, he pulled her in for another deep kiss. Erica’s mind started to race as she thought about how fast her feelings were developing for Dylan. Getting spooked by her own confused thoughts, she pulled back and jumped down from the counter leaving Dylan breathless and confused.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as she walked a few feet away.

“I’m sorry,” she said looking down and feeling bad for breaking the mood.

“Did I do something?” he asked walking toward her.

“Oh, yeah. You did something alright. You got me all flustered,” she said with a slight smile.

“I don’t understand…”

“Look, Dylan, I really like you. I mean I’m starting to like you a little too much, if you know what I mean.”

“How can you like me too much? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“No, because I have to go back to my regular life in a few days, and I can’t get attached to a man who lives two hours away. You might as well be a world away.” The whining in her voice took her by surprise.

“Erica, it’s okay. We’ll make it work somehow. Let’s not ruin the rest of your time here over silly fears,” he said taking both of her hands and kissing them gently.

“You don’t know me very well, but I can’t just fly by the seat of my pants. I have to know what’s happening next.”