Page 44 of Rook

“In the Death Valley mountains.”

“Why there?” I asked, thinking of the range that glowered down on Shady Valley.

“You can’t really tell from this side, but if you get in there, the rocks actually come in shades of pink, blue, green, and gold. It’s pretty as fuck. Seemed like a great place for a photo op. I bought a tripod and everything.”

“Oh, okay. Well. I’m not a hiker. So I reserve the right to complain a solid thirty percent of the time.”

To that, Rook shot me a warm smile. “Me either. So I’ll likely be bitching the other seventy. But we gotta make it look good for Nancy.”

“True,” I agreed. “So how far into the mountains are the pretty rocks?”

“My best gauge is about five to six miles in.”

I was relatively sure I didn’t walk five or six miles in a month, let alone a day. “Okay. How long does that take?”

“If it was flat, maybe only an hour or an hour and a half. But given the terrain, maybe two and a half hours.”

“Each way.”

“Yeah. Hence the big breakfast bribe,” he said, waving toward the stove.

I moved closer, seeing cheesy scrambled eggs, sausage links, and breakfast potatoes with onions.

“This… and maybe a quick stop at the clubhouse for a coffee might take my complaints down to only twenty percent of the time.”

“I think that’s more than a fair deal.” He reached up for plates, then started to load them up.

“Should I be finding something cute to wear?” Not that I really had anything.

“I think normal clothes are smart. It will make it seem like we were just engaging in our mutual hiking hobby,” he said, shooting me a smirk, “and I sprang the proposal on you.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I said, turning and making my way to the bathroom.

By the time I came back out, Rook had our plates on the dreaded couch.

“How’s your back feeling?” I asked as I sat down, careful to keep several safe inches between us.

“Better today.”

“Good enough for a hike?”

“I think so. I might pay for it tomorrow, but we need to get this step over with.”

“I’ll pick up a bunch of wedding magazines at the grocery store to throw around the apartment next time I pick up a job. That’s something a newly engaged woman would do. Oh my God,” I said, eyes closing as I finally took my first bite.

“Good?” Rook asked, shooting me a tentative smile, like maybe he was worried it was gross.

“Really good,” I told him as I forked more food to shovel into my mouth.

So good, in fact, that I forgot all about the hike for a while.

Until Rook started to clean up.

And it was time for me to get dressed for it.

About an hour later, we were in my car parked outside of the Death Valley range.

“Ready to get engaged?”

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