“I had some help from one of the guys. I thought you’d enjoy a sunset dinner on the water as your last meal at the resort. And who knows, maybe you’ll like it so much you’ll decide to come back sometime.”
If only he knew how badly I wanted that very same thing.
It was crazy—absolutely nuts—to have developed any sort of feelings for him in the week I’d been here. Even taking into consideration the fact that I’m a female, and we tended to feel faster and fall harder than our male counterparts. It was what it was…women are simply more emotional creatures than men. But even with all that, along with the knowledge that we’d spent every day together, shared incredibly personal conversations, and experienced some deeply meaningful, intimate moments, developing feelings still seemed crazy.
Yet there I was…doing just that.
It was only a matter of time before the concrete caught my fall.
“You about ready?” he asked as he stepped onto the boat. He set the bags of food down and then reached for my hand to help me on. “While being on the water after dark isn’t prohibited, it wouldn’t be the safest option, and I wouldn’t feel very comfortable with it. So we should probably get going if we want to enjoy our dinner without rushing.”
I took his hand and blindly followed.
As we made our way toward the center of the lake, I stood silently next to him and allowed my emotions the space needed to root themselves deep inside. I doubted I would ever get to experience anything like this again, so I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t leave with any regrets. I wanted to remember every single detail of tonight.
It would’ve been easy to shove my feelings down and lock them away, to pretend like this wasn’t the single most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for me, but I chose not to, because ignoring them didn’t make them go away. It would only bring about sadness and regret once I left. And I really didn’t care to have that added onto everything else I knew I’d feel come morning.
We made it to the area of the reservoir where the steeple stood proudly out of the water, shining in the late evening sun. It truly was a beautiful sight, although not nearly as beautiful as what we had shared inside. That would, without a doubt, go down in my own personal history as the best kiss imaginable. It would suck to be any guy who came after Drew Wheeler, because those were shoes I doubted anyone could properly fill.
Using a rope with a metal hook at the end, Drew tied us off to a bright orange floating ball in the middle of the water. When he returned, he must’ve sensed my questioning thoughts, and luckily, he didn’t bother to wait for me to ask before explaining himself. “Anchors aren’t allowed in this part due to the remnants of the town below, so they’ve installed these buoys for boats to connect to. They’re attached to the bottom; this way, there aren’t anchors being dropped all the time, disturbing the area below.”
We moved to the front of the boat and got comfortable on the blanket and pillows. Thankfully, he’d thought ahead and had extra throws packed away to wrap around us. Even though it was summer, the air held a faint chill, and the lowering sun didn’t help.
“So, tell me, Kenny…did you have fun while you were here?”
I didn’t want to have this conversation; it was nothing more than a stark reminder that my time was nearly up. But like with my emotions, I couldn’t ignore it. Instead, I had to face it, accept it, and learn to be okay with it.
Taking a sip from my glass of freshly poured wine, I nodded. “I really did. And I honestly don’t think it would’ve been anywhere close to the same without you. I’m so thankful that you ran into me my first night here. Otherwise, I don’t know what I would’ve done with my time this past week.”
“Good. That makes me really happy to hear.” Drew finished unpacking the bags he’d grabbed from The Feeder. It seemed like a lot of food, but it really wasn’t that much. While he’d made sure to have plenty of options, the portion sizes were small, almost as if they were sample items off the menu.
“I bet you’re looking forward to getting your days all to yourself again.”
“It hasn’t been too bad. It’s weird because, in the past, this week has always felt ridiculously busy. And honestly, this year hasn’t been any different from previous years, yet I managed to find a lot of free time—free time I never knew existed during this holiday week.” Something was off with him. He sounded normal, except he didn’t seem to look at me very often like I’d grown used to. It was like he purposely settled his gaze on everything around me. Everything but me.
Doing my best to ignore it and hope it worked itself out, I carried on with our conversation as if nothing was wrong. “Well, at least you don’t have to play tour guide for me, so that should help.”
Before I could say more, he glared at me with a deeply furrowed brow. “Spending time with you hasn’t been a chore, Kenny. In fact, I’ve very much enjoyed my week with you. It’s probably one of the best weeks of my entire life, if I’m being honest.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that. I just feel really bad, is all. I know you have a lot to do around here; you’ve said before that running this place is a lot of work for two people.” I wasn’t sure why he’d reacted that way, with such concern—or confusion—but as I continued to explain, his forehead began to soften a little, as did his stare. “And I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. You have seriously given me so many memories that I’ll cherish forever. I was just trying to say that now you won’t feel…obligated to carve out time from your busy day to entertain me.”
He shook his head and quietly huffed. “I don’t know why you think that way.”
“Think what way?” Now I was the confused one.
“Like I haven’t enjoyed every second I got to spend with you.”
To my surprise, I seemed to have offended him. “I don’t think that.”
“It’s not my job to hang out with the guests,” he continued, completely ignoring what I’d just said. “In fact, aside from a few boat tours and the occasional cabin maintenance, I don’t have much interaction with visitors. So please, don’t act like you’ve been a burden, or that I’ve done any of this out of some sort of obligation. Because that simply couldn’t be further from the truth.”
I was at a complete loss for words, and trying to comprehend how one comment could’ve turned into this only made it harder to come up with anything to say in return. So I didn’t. I chose to sit, motionless, on the front of the boat facing him, without uttering a single response.
As if our exchange had finally resolved itself in his head, he dropped his chin, rolled his shoulders forward, and huffed. “I’m sorry, Kenny. I didn’t mean to overreact; I think it just hit a nerve or something.”
“It’s okay, but what nerve?” I still didn’t understand.
He lifted his gaze and met my stare. With his hand on my knee, he leaned closer and prepared himself to explain. “I’ve never met anyone like you before, and spending this last week with you has been incredible—so incredible, in fact, I’m having a hard time accepting that you won’t be here after tomorrow. I don’t know how to handle that, because I don’t even know what I’m feeling.” He threaded his fingers through his messy locks and balled his hands into fists, tugging his hair at the roots. “I’m not making any sense.”