Page 64 of Deck the Fire Halls

What a rush.

He took us down toward Main Street and turned left, going past the clinic and the fire station, and I wondered why I’d been so scared of this...

It was the best feeling. Exhilarating and fun.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d done something purely for the enjoyment of it.

Soren took us out on Ponderosa Road. Snow blanketed the ground, though it wasn’t banked up yet. He drove at a reasonable speed, much slower, I imagined, than he’d have gone without me.

As we passed some fields and a magnificent house below the mountains up on the left, he pointed to the sign on the gate.

Arabella Bed & Breakfast.

Was that Jayden and Cass’s bed and breakfast? Maybe that was why Soren had pointed it out.

It was a beautiful place, but then again, everything here seemed to be next level. Even the small, quaint houses in town—like mine and Soren’s—were simply lovely.

We passed some ranches, and the farther we went out, as we wound through the mountains, the tall snow-covered trees enveloped the road, and this was somethingout of a fairy tale. Tree-covered mountains on one side, river on the other.

I was smiling so hard the helmet was hurting my face.

Then Soren pointed up ahead and I saw an old sign to a scenic lookout. He slowed down and we pulled off the road and came to a stop.

I climbed off the bike, my legs still vibrating, and took off my helmet as Soren cut the engine. The silence was stark but then I registered other sounds: birds and running water.

Soren pulled his helmet off and swung his leg over. “So,” he said. “You’re smiling. Did you like it?”

I was so excited I could barely stand still. “Loved it. It’s so... freeing! And this place.” I looked up at the tree-covered mountain and then out to the view. “It’s breathtaking. Is that a waterfall I can hear?”

He nodded towards the railing on the far side of the rest stop. “Go take a look.”

I walked over and sure enough, down below was the river and a small waterfall, mostly frozen now, before the river snaked its way along tree-covered banks.

Soren was soon beside me. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“Cool?” I was dumbfounded. “Soren, this is amazing. And it’s twenty-five minutes from Hartbridge. The mountains, the trees, the water. I cannot believe that this...”

I wasn’t sure what I was about to say or if I should say it out loud.

“You can’t believe that this what?”

“That this is my life. That I’m doing this. That I’m here. With you on that bike.” I shook my head. “Where Ican feel the sun on my face, and the air is so crisp and clean it’s like a rush of oxygen.”

Soren smiled at me, squinting one eye from the sun. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Here right now? Or here in Hartbridge?”

“Both.”

“Me too. I wish I’d come here five years ago.”

He put his hand to his heart. “But then I wouldn’t have been here.”

I pretended to be struck in the chest. “Ahh, okay then maybe two years ago.”

“That’s better. Five years ago, you’d have been fighting Hamish for Ren.”

I laughed at that. “Not likely.”

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