Page 31 of Losing Hope

Chapter Twelve

They spentthe rest of the morning and most of the afternoon travelling to several more covered bridges in the area, Gage taking pictures at every location. The afternoon was gorgeous, with the sun still shining brightly at three in the afternoon, keeping the temperature comfortable for late September.

“Are you covered-bridged-out yet?” Hope asked as they pulled out and away from their latest visit.

“I think I am, actually.” He smiled gratefully at her. “What do you have in mind for usnext?”

“Oh, you think you have me all figured out already, huh?” She chuckled.

“Well, you do seem to be a bit of a planner.”

“Okay, you got me there.” She shrugged sheepishly. “I can’t help it, though. It’s ingrained from myjob!”

“No complaints from me, Little Miss Type A.” He gave her a playful wink. “Someone needs to keep us inline.”

“Well, there’s this place called Top of The World that we could hike up to if you want.” She looked at him and then continued. “It’s not a real hike or anything. It’s a snowmobile trail that leads up to the top of this amazing hill that lets you see the whole valley and thelake.”

He looked over at her, grinning. “Let’s do it. It sounds gorgeous.”

She gave him the directions, and within thirty minutes, they were back in her neck of the woods and she was guiding him through some back roads to the trail head location. He pulled onto the side of the road and parked the truck, hopped out of the truck, and was opening her door before she had time to grab for her handle.

She smiled warmly at him and took his proffered hand, stepping out of the truck and directly into his arms, placing a kiss on his lips. “Thankyou.”

He smiled back and reached around her to grab his camera bag off the seat. “Okay, lead theway!”

She led them down the road only a short bit before indicating the start of the trail and walked into the woods onto the path. They were quiet most of the hike up the long, winding hill. Every once in a while, Hope would point out a pretty bird or a part of the trail that was rocky or rough. As they neared the top, the light became brighter as the tree line leveled off and allowed more sunshine through.

Hope reached over and grabbed Gage’s hand in hers as they crested the top of the hill, excited to see his reaction to the view. She looked over and smiled widely as his jaw dropped open and his gaze swept the horizon.

“Jesus! It’s beautiful up here!” His gaze stopped on her, a smile blooming wide on his face. “This is a hidden gem if ever I sawone.”

“I knew you’d like it.” She grinned back. “It’s one of my absolute favorite places to go. Don’t you feel like you are on top of the world?”

He looked out over the horizon again, and Hope watched his face as he took in the sweeping hills leading to a valley nestled below and the little houses dotting the landscape surrounding the lake. The sun was sitting lower in the sky now, and its rays were sparkling brightly on the water. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky, and without the shadows, every color seemed more alive and crisp.

“I feel closer to God here. Is that strange?” He turned towardher.

She shook her head, “No. That’s exactly how I feel when I’m here, too.”

He turned back toward the view and unconsciously unzipped his bag and had his camera in his hands and up to his face within seconds. She watched as he snapped shot after shot, mesmerized by his singular focus. He was fascinating to watch. She loved how every single thing he did seemed natural and instinctual—without thought. Nothing was preconceived with him, making him and everything he did truly real and believable.

She loved watching how his hands worked, his long fingers focusing the lens causing the muscles on his forearms to tighten. She sighed dreamily as she recalled how wonderful those same fingers always felt on her, and how those same arms had held her and made her feel so wanted and safe over the last few days. She was surprised how quickly they had become so comfortable with each other.

He looked over at her then, snapping several photos of her staring at him before she could react, throwing her hands up over her face. “Oh my God! Stop! You caught me red-handed oglingyou!”

“That was definitely a look I wanted to catch and see over and over.” He had lowered his camera and was smiling wickedly at her. “It’s nice to know you like what yousee.”

Making her way over to him, she slid her hands around his waist, tilting her head to look up at him. “I like what I see verymuch.”

“Me too.” He bent and pressed his lips to hers, one arm draping loosely over her shoulder as he brought the other one up and snapped several selfies of them before pulling away. “Turn around so I can snap us with the lake in the background.”

She did as he requested, moving to stand beside him, the gorgeous lake and hills as their backdrop. He held the camera backwards in front of them and clicked off a few pictures. Turning it back around, they looked at the pictures of them, smiling in approval at his efforts.

“Those are so good!” Hope beamed. “You are definitely going to have to send me copies of all of these.”

He put the camera back in the bag and placed it on the ground, reaching over to grab her hand and pulling her down to sit with him. “No problem.”

She leaned into him as he placed an arm around her, gathering her closer as he bent and placed a kiss on her head, tucking her under his chin. They sat in silence, both content in each other’s arms, enjoying the vista that stretched out beforethem.

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