Page 48 of Love Unexpected
“Oh. Right. Of course. Actually, where did you go to school? Maybe you’ve met her.”
“I don’t think so,” Rosie said quickly, her eyes focused on her phone. “Her name doesn’t sound familiar. So, um, do you want to play some Red Renegade for me?” She lifted a shoulder. “Maybe I’ll like it.”
“Yes. Absolutely,” I said, anxious to stop talking—stopthinking—and give my brain a second to chill. “Music sounds like a great idea.”
We listened to a few songs in silence while we crossed the North Carolina border and started climbing. The Appalachian Mountains were a bright spring green, a stark contrast to the blue skies behind them. I rolled the window down for a brief moment, long enough to feel the chill in the air as we climbed in elevation.
Rosie leaned toward the window, her eyes locked at the looming mountains before us. “This is amazing,” she whispered.
“Have you never been here?” I asked. As kids, our parents had taken Dani and me up to the mountains a few times a year to hike and splash in the cool highland creeks. As an adult, Asheville was still one of my favorite getaways. It was different enough from the Lowcountry for me to feel like I’d really gotten away, but it was only a four-hour drive up the highway. It was too easy not to make the trip regularly.
“I’ve been to the Outer Banks,” Rosie said, “But that’s nothing like this.”
“You’ll have to drive back up when you can stay awhile,” I said. “Asheville is amazing. Great food. Amazing hiking. Crazy views. The Biltmore House.”
“You had me at great food,” Rosie said.
We made it into Asheville an hour ahead of schedule, which was impressive, and completely out of character for me. Knowing that Alex had arranged for us to eat at an eclectic taco place that was weeks away from opening three new franchise locations across the Southeast, and that they had scheduled some kind of promotion in conjunction with our stop, I didn’t want to show up early. They were expecting us, planning for us. Showing up an hour early would throw them off their game. Instead, I opted to drive up to the Blue Ridge Parkway that crossed through Asheville and give Rosie a view of the mountains. We didn’t have enough time to go far, but we could at least get high enough for her to see the view of Mount Pisgah.
We pulled off the parkway onto an overlook and I stopped the car.
Rosie immediately climbed out, her eyes wide as she took in the expansive view.
I couldn’t blame her. I never got tired of seeing the mountains. The way they rolled into each other, their varying shades of blue and green blending until, at the edge of the horizon, you couldn’t even tell where sky started and mountains stopped.
“This is unbelievable,” Rosie said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
I put my hands on Rosie’s shoulders and gently turned her to face Mount Pisgah, looming just behind her. My hands lingered, liking the sensation of closeness, until I remembered who she was and what I was about. My hands dropped and I took a step back. “See the radio tower? On top of the closest mountain?”
She nodded.
“That’s Mount Pisgah. You can drive up to the top. There’s an inn there, the Pisgah Inn, and a trailhead for a hike you can take up to the base of the tower. It’s only a mile or so, but it’s straight up the whole way. The view from the top—it’s unbelievable. Three hundred and sixty degrees of nothing but mountains and sky.”
“That sounds amazing.”
“Yeah. Our parents brought us up here when we were kids. I used to tell Dani that whenever I got married, I’d want to honeymoon up here.” I huffed a laugh. “She always made fun of me. Said the world was so huge, why go somewhere so close to home? But...I don’t know. It seems like the perfect place, you know? It’s quiet, peaceful. Great views, great food at the inn, countless places to hike.”
“Let’s do it,” Rosie said, her voice low and breathy. She tensed and spun around, her eyes darting to mine. “That’s not...I didn’t mean...notusdo it,” she said, her cheeks flaming. She pressed her palms to her face, sliding her fingers open so that one eye peeked out. “That’s not what I meant, I swear.”
I pushed my hands into my pockets and grinned. “I mean, this is a pretty perfect location for a proposal, but honestly, your delivery was a little lacking.”
She dropped her hands from her face and swatted my shoulder. “Shut. Up.”
“Man. I know I’m charming, but four hours in the car, and you’re already ready for a honeymoon. I am better than I thought.”
She rolled her eyes and stomped back toward the car. “Oh my word, you are completely ridiculous.” When she reached the car, she shot Tyler a menacing look. “If one second of that exchange makes it into the final video, I will quit my job and move home to Kansas and never speak to either of you again.”
“That feels serious,” Tyler said.
Itdidfeel serious.
And I wasn’t sure I was ready to analyze exactly why.
Chapter Eighteen
Rosie
The restaurant was crowded.
