CHAPTER 21
LIAM
“You know, I’ve never been to a resort before,” I said.
“Really?” Whitney asked.
“Yeah. My family and I couldn’t afford vacations like that. There was one vacation where my father borrowed a tent from a friend of his and we all packed up like we were going camping. Only we walked a mile back into the woods and found a clearing before we set up.”
“That actually doesn’t sound so bad,” she said.
“It was so much fun as a kid. We watched the stars and ran around. There was a creek not too far away that I’d swim in and throw rocks into.”
“Is that where you get your love of the outdoors?” she asked.
“Yep. Because we were so poor, I spent all my time outside. My father was a farmer and my mother raised the animals on our farm, but it wasn’t anything that raked in any good money. We had enough to keep rice and biscuits in the house. Then, we ate the produce we couldn’t sell. Any of the animals we couldn’t unload, my mother butchered for meat and, at any given moment, something was being shut off in our house. We only ever had enough money to keep one thing on at a time.”
I could feel Whitney’s gaze on me while we slowly diverted onto the back road that would drive us right up to the resort.
Right up to the stop sign where I’d first seen her crossing the road.
“It’s odd that I still enjoy the outdoors, honestly,” I said.
“Why’s that?” she asked.
“On one of our vacations, I fell out of a tree and hurt myself pretty bad. Dislocated my shoulder and had one of the limbs of the tree drive right through my side.”
“Oh my gosh, Liam.”
“It would have been a lot worse had it not been for the doctor that was on call that night,” I said. “Our town didn’t even have a hospital but our regular doctor was out of town for some conference and he had a friend of his filling in whose expertise was actually in trauma. He was able to get me stable in the doctor’s office until an ambulance could get to us.”
“I can’t believe you still want to be surrounded by trees,” she said.
“That’s actually the memory that came to my mind when I was enlisting in the Navy. When they first asked me if being a medic was something I was interested in, I laughed at them. Until I remembered that doctor. That man saved my life that night. He helped me in ways I didn’t understand at the time and that’s all I wanted to do. I wanted to help people.”
I drew in a deep breath before I flicked my gaze over to Whitney, who was smiling brightly and studying my face closely.
“What?” I asked.
“I know I haven’t known you for long,” she said. “But I’ve never seen you light up like that.”
“What do you mean?”
“That little moment there when you were talking about becoming a medic and all of that stuff. Your eyes were just sparkling. Were you even aware that you were smiling?”
I furrowed my brow and turned my sights back to the road.
“Have you ever considered getting back into the practice now that you’re no longer in the military?” she asked.
“I won’t,” I said.
“Why not?” she asked. “It’s obviously something you’re passionate about. Why not continue to help people on the other side?”
The other side. The other side. I felt my hands grip the steering wheel tightly as we slowly approached the stop sign. I rolled to a stop before I got onto the freshly-plowed roads of the resort but I could feel Whitney’s stare, hard on the side of my face.
That was what I’d done in the fucking Navy. Helped the other damn side.
I was a traitor and she had no fucking clue.
“Where should I go from here?” I asked.
I heard her sigh before she turned her gaze out toward the road in front of us.
“Keep going straight,” she said. “We need to get to the main lodge so we can get you a parking pass.”
All I could do was take in the sights around me. This place was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. The cabins were luxurious and the main lodge was massive. I studied the chandelier hanging from the ceiling as I walked in with Whitney. Then she took my hand as we walked up to the front desk.
“Miss Hollis, we are so glad you are okay,” the front desk woman said.
“That’s very kind of you to say, thank you,” she said.
“That employee should’ve never let you go out with that impending storm looming over our heads. She should’ve directed you straight back to your cabin.”
“Trust me, you wouldn’t have been able to control what she did,” I said.
Whitney snickered and shook her head while the front desk woman continued to look at us with worried looks.
“Nonetheless, please accept our complimentary upgrade in your stay,” the woman said. “We took the liberty of moving all of your food and your suitcases into your new cabin suite.”
“I promise you, that’s not necessary,” Whitney said.
“Plus, there will be a complimentary dinner waiting for you this evening in our five-star restaurant, right here in the main lodge. Please accept our deepest apologies.”
I watched Whitney take the two dinner vouchers, as well as the new key to her cabin before she threw me a surprised smile. I could tell she was trying to stifle a bit of laughter as the woman continued to rattle off things about the new cabin, but neither of us was listening.
“Do you have any questions?” the woman asked.
“Nope,” I said. “I think we’re all set.”
“Wonderful. We hope you enjoy your stay, Miss Hollis.”
We walked back out to my truck and Whitney couldn’t stop giggling. She was holding my hand tight within hers and all I could focus on was the warmth radiating from her body. Now, she was in her element and she was visibly relaxing. There was a sparkle of joy in her eyes while we climbed into the truck.
“They actually thought they could’ve stopped me from hiking,” she said
“I almost laughed out loud,” I said.
“Come on,” she said. “I’ll show you where to go from here as best as I know how.”
There were massive two-and-three story lodges that were dotted all around the sprawling countryside. We wound our way through them all as we continued back into the resort property and I was absolutely stunned. The trees that lined this little valley were blanketed with snow and all of the chimneys were pouring smoke into the sky. I’d only ever seen this resort once and only from the outside.
Never in my life could I have imagined the beauty that existed within it.
We wound through cobblestoned streets until we finally found the cabin number we were looking for. It was a ranch-style cabin with a beautiful darkened finish on the outside. I pulled my truck up to it before Whitney got out and, the moment we stepped into the place, it took our breath away.
The decadent furniture was all handmade. The cushions were soft and the fireplace was already prepared for starting a fire. Crystal glasses and posh china sat on the kitchen table and, as Whitney looked around the room, I could see her eyes sparkling.
Her entire existence lit up when she was in her element.
We ventured down the hallway and pushed open all the doors. The bathroom was extravagant, with a massive walk-in shower, as well as a jet bathtub. There were two separate bedrooms, each boasting a king-sized four-poster bed. Whitney walked into one of the rooms and pulled the curtains back, squealing as she took in the view from the room she’d picked out for us.
I walked up behind her and took in the forest while the snow glistened underneath the sunlight in the sky.
“This is beautiful,” she said. “Look at this view. I can’t imagine how much this would’ve cost someone otherwise.”
I took in the landscape out the window as Whitney turned to face me. She craned her neck back while my eyes danced along the hillside, taking in the rolling, snowy hills of the resort. It was picturesque, like something you’d find on a postcard in a gift shop.
But I was ripped from the view when Whitney placed her hands on my chest and pushed me back toward the bed.