Chapter Twenty-Two
“I can’t believe there’s snow at the Grand Canyon,” I gushed, holding Lady close.
I was so worried she was going to jump out of my arms and fly through the canyon never to be seen again. The fences were basically nonexistent, and I couldn’t believe how many people ignored the warnings and walked right to the edge. One little oops and life would be over.
No, thanks. Life was too good.
“Well, it’s mid-December, and we’re in the mountains.” Billy laughed and wrapped his arms around me.
“Smarty-pants,” I muttered, and Lady panted in agreement.
“So, you really think we’ll be able to make it back to Silver Ridge for my parents’ anniversary party?”
“I promise.” He grinned. “We’ve got a week.”
“You’re right.” A shiver ran down my spine, and he brought Lady and me closer as Lucky sat by our side. “I don’t want to miss the party I’ve spent months planning.”
“That does sound about right, doesn’t it?” He laughed.
I shivered again, and he held me tighter. “You’re freezing.”
“Kind of.”
“So, should we get a picture?” I asked.
“Probably.” He caught a couple’s attention and asked them to take a couple of photos of us with the expansive canyon behind us. We smiled, we hugged, we kissed, and we thanked the kind couple for the help.
We returned to staring out over the great open space, and I could tell we were both thinking the same thing.
How long was long enough?
“It’s pretty big.” I glanced over at Billy.
“Yup. Pretty darn big out there.”
I bit my lip and glanced at Lucky. How long were we supposed to stare at it?
“Have you had enough?” Billy asked, turning in my direction. “Or should we try another vantage point.”
“I mean…I guess we could.”
“But it probably looks pretty much the same.” He brought up a valid point.
“Probably.”
A coy smile spread across Billy’s lips. “Do we just do this sightseeing thing wrong or what? How are we in and out of these places in a matter of hours.”
“I’m not really sure.” I giggled and wondered the same thing. So far, we’d managed to drive through the beautiful redwood forests of northern California, toured Yosemite, spent a couple days at Disneyland, stared at the Hoover Dam, drove all around Sedona, and now here we stood at the Grand Canyon ready to go back home.
We’d spent weeks and weeks wandering from one destination to the next. Neither of us had wanted to kill one another on the road trip, which I think says a lot about our compatibility. It’s not every day two people can spend day and night with two dogs in an RV for weeks at a time.
Granted, this wasn’t a typical trailer. We even had satellite television, and with Billy around, we never went hungry.
I was even mobile again. It felt so good to be in the walking cast.
“I feel like the luckiest guy alive.” Billy turned around and placed his arms along my shoulders. “I never imagined that I’d get to spend my vacation with two beautiful women.”
“Who love you very much,” I added, looking into his beautiful eyes. There was so much kindness behind them it made my heart fill with even more love for this man.
He’d been through so much in his life and rather than close off his heart forever, he opened it back up again for me.
I’d actually had him take me to Sabrina’s grave. He hadn’t been for years and it was something I think we both needed to do. I wanted to make a promise to the woman who’d let him down that I’d try my hardest to never do the same. To see how young she had been when she died made me weep that much more for Billy.
He’d had so much loss in his life and no one would ever know it. He was always so happy, carefree and giving, yet he’d lost so much and blamed himself for most of it.
“Tiffany Bailey, I love you more than you can even imagine.” His green eyes settled on mine and the familiar flutters arose in my belly. I could never get enough of this man.
“I have a pretty good imagination,” I whispered. “And I bet I love you more.”
“Impossible,” he murmured, bringing his lips to mine.
Right when he was about to kiss me, a tiny tongue crept up on both of our chins and I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Aw, Lady loves you most.” I laughed, watching Lady give kisses to Billy’s chin. He’d just started growing out his beard, and Lady was in love with it.
Truth be told, so was I.
“Let’s get inside,” I said, slipping my hand into his. “Unlike Lady and Lucky, I don’t have a fur coat.”
We made the somewhat long trek back to the RV parking and went inside. He’d had the heater on so I immediately felt the chill leave my body.
“This is the way to camp.” I laughed, putting Lady on the couch.
“So should we take off tonight for home or start in the morning. We rented the spot for overnight camping so it doesn’t matter either way.”
“We could make the best of the night and get a fresh start in the morning.”
He was looking at the weather maps. “I don’t see any crazy winter storms coming in, so we should be okay to stay.”
I unzipped my jacket and tossed it on the couch next to Lady and began shutting some of the blinds.
“What’s on your mind?” Billy asked, his voice lowering to that sexy timbre I loved so much.
“A little of this and that.” I smiled, reaching for the blinds over the kitchen sink. “Didn’t we make a pact about each state we visited?”
Billy came up behind me and brought me into him, kissing the delicate skin at the nape of my neck. Shivers ran down my spine and I closed my eyes feeling his soft lips slide across my skin.
“Was it this pact you’re talking about?”
He didn’t even wait for my response before scooping me into his arms and kissing me ever so gently. I was relishing every second of his lips pressed to mine as he moved me to the bedroom. The thought of missing out on a lifetime of this made my heart ache, and I felt so grateful that we’d both come to our senses.
“I love you, Billy,” I said between kisses, as he slid the bedroom door closed.
I backed up to the bed, slowly bringing him with me as he pulled his sweater over his head and unbuttoned his pants, kicking them off, before fumbling with the buttons on my plaid shirt. I wiggled out of my clothes as his mouth began tracing down my bare skin, licking the most sensitive parts of me as my mind slipped closer to heaven.
“Love you more,” he whispered, his lips still pressed against me.
As he teased and taunted me, I tangled my fingers through his hair, slowly teasing him up to me where his mouth crashed down to mine. Never breaking our kiss, he slid into me, his hands moving along my thighs, sending a deeper shiver of need through me.
Our bodies worked in a beautiful rhythm as our worlds became one, his body shuddering into mine.
After we caught our breath, he rolled over and I slowly traced my hands along some of his tattoos. Every day, I learned a little bit more about each one. They were all so well planned and full of meaning that getting to hear what they each were was endlessly fascinating to me.
“And this one?” I asked, running my finger along one that looked like a tiny cabin.
“Where I was born.” His breathing was still ragged. “I was born in a cabin, but I have a feeling if I saw it now, I’d think it was a shed.”
“Wow. You weren’t born in a hospital?”
“No.” He shook his head, resting his hand on my belly.
My finger ran down to a fish that somehow looked like a dragon. “And this one?”
“One of the best memories I had was my grandfather taking me out fishing. On our last trip out, he told me this fantastical story about how whenever times got tough in his life, he imagined himself a dragon. He died only a few weeks later when he’d found out my mom had stolen from him. I’m sure he died of heartache.” He sighed. “But after that, no matter how hard it got at home or in foster care, I imagined myself a dragon, able to fly above it all.”
“That’s beautiful, Billy. Really beautiful.” I laid my head on his chest, hearing the perfect rhythm of his heartbeat, and I thanked the man upstairs for allowing me to find such a wonderful man who had more compassion than anyone I’d ever met. He was the one I wouldn’t let get away.
A small whimper from the other side of the door made Billy chuckle and grab our clothes, which we quickly slipped on.
“Parenthood calls,” Billy joked.
He slid open the door and there were Lady and Lucky patiently waiting for us to invite them in so they could come to bed, and I knew life couldn’t get any better than this.
Well, there might be one way…