35. Isabelle
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
isabelle
W e pulled up to the “cabin” Ellison and Colter had rented for us, and Reid’s eyes widened to the size of saucers as he took in the house before us.
“ This is a cabin?”
It definitely wasn’t a cabin, at least not in the traditional sense. While the outer walls were built with logs, it was also a two-story home, with modern features like a balcony with metal railings and big windows, both over the smaller, lower parts of the roof and the lower levels.
“Looks more like a chalet, but the owners call it a cabin.” I shrugged as I scrolled on my phone, looking up the exact listing online. “Come on, let’s check it out. See what we’re working with.”
The instructions given to us said to use the keypad to get into the home. I punched in the code, 1-7-7-6, and the keypad whirred as a green light flashed.
Must be owned by some history nerds , I thought as I giggled to myself.
The lock clicked, and I opened the front door, revealing the stunning interior of the home. It had high vaulted ceilings in the living room with a cozy-looking L-shaped couch in front of a large fireplace, the bricks extending all the way to the ceiling, complete with a deer head mounted above the mantle.
I stepped further into the cabin, seeing a large kitchen to my left and a loft above it.
“Holy shit. This place is huge.” Reid’s mouth gaped as he took everything in. “Colter’s going to hear about this when we get back,” he muttered under his breath, presumably because this place couldn’t be cheap.
I had the same thoughts, though. Why were Ellison and Colter spending so much money on us? It was their wedding, not ours.
I walked around the kitchen island, looking at the tourist guides laid out for us. I picked one up, flipping through the pages until I landed on a beautiful photo of a mountain lake.
“Where is this?” I flipped the guide around, showing Reid.
“That’s Avalanche Lake.”
“Can we go there?” I’d always been a sucker for pretty views.
After getting all of our things situated in our cabin and purchasing some hiking essentials—bug and bear spray—we drove into the park to head to the trail.
I stepped out of our vehicle, inhaling the fresh mountain air. The base of the trail was nestled in the forest, slightly off the main road, and cedar trees towered over us, stretching into the sky .
“I wonder how old some of these trees are,” I murmured, contemplating how many years this land had been untouched.
“Probably hundreds of years old, maybe even thousands.” Reid looked up toward the sky with me as he shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand. “Come on, let’s get going.”
We headed up the trail, starting with an easy, steady pace to take in all of the scenery. It was mostly trees at this point, but I knew once it started to open up, the views would be unmatched. Birds chirped in the background and chipmunks ran across the trail and scurried up trees.
I took a deep breath, soaking up the sun rays beaming through the treetops.
“It’s relaxing, isn’t it?” Reid must have noticed what I was doing.
“It’s so peaceful out here. I’m not much for cardio,” I said with a laugh, “but this is the fresh air I think I’ve been craving. It’s just not the same back in the city.”
“What do you like better? The city or the countryside?”
I took a moment to think. I’d loved my time in Montana so far, but all I’d ever really known was the city. “I think it’s hard to compare the two,” I decided. “I selfishly love the convenience of the city, but, like I said, there’s something so peaceful about being out in the middle of nowhere. I’ve also noticed literally everyone waves at you here.”
Reid let out a hearty chuckle at that. But it was true! I’d be driving in Miles City with Ellison and random people you passed by would wave. I’d asked her once if she knew them, and she simply responded, “Nope.” You didn’t see that very often back home. Maybe in some of the smaller communities, but it had never crossed my mind that people waved at you just to wave.
“I think I could see myself living here one day, but at the same time, everything I’ve always known is back in Texas.” I wasn’t sure if I was ready to take the leap and leave.
As we continued walking up the trail, side by side, he looked over at me, locking his eyes on me. “Change can be scary.”
I nodded. “Yeah, it can be. But it can also be really rewarding. Sometimes I feel like I’m caught between the fear of change and fear of regret.” I surprised myself by telling him all of this.
He nodded in agreement. “I think we all experience that at some point in our lives.”
“At the end of the day, it all comes down to what we’re willing to risk. Comfort or experience.” I shrugged before changing the subject to something less deep. “If you could be anyone in the world, fictional or real, who would you be?”
There were so many things I knew about Reid, yet so many things I didn’t. His favorite color was blue, but not the harsh shade everyone pictures when they think of the color. His blue was like the Montana sky on a clear day. And recently he added honey yellow as a favorite, but didn’t tell me why.
He loved classic country music, but I also think he secretly loved the music I listened to, and he kept a small string of the rope he was given at his first rodeo and tied it around his cowboy hat for good luck.
But I didn’t know why sometimes he shut me out, masking the storm clouds in his eyes and telling me everything was fine when I knew it wasn’t .
“Damn, Short Stack, hitting me with the hard questions today,” he teased. “I’m going to think, but I need you to answer this too. I’m curious.”
Easy. I’d be yours.
“Oh, that’s easy. I’d be Elizabeth Bennet. I mean, we already have practically the same last name, she’s a reader like me, and Mr. Darcy? The hand flex ? Every girl’s dream.” I picked the second best option.
He looked me dead in the face. “What, like this?” And then he did it .
My jaw practically dropped. “Reid Lawson, are you telling me you?—”
“Have watched Pride and Prejudice ? I have a sister, Isabelle.”
If I thought Colter was book boyfriend material for Ellison before, Reid had knocked him out of the park. Colter Carson who?
“I—you—what?” I didn’t know what to say, blabbering out an incoherent string of words.
“John Wayne.”
“Huh?” I was still stuck in a stupor over what he said—and did.
“I’d be John Wayne,” he replied, seemingly unbothered by my lack of ability to form a complete sentence.
I laughed. “That’s such a cowboy answer.”
All he did was shrug. We walked a bit further without saying anything, the trail winding around until there was a drop to our left with a river running below.
I walked closer to the edge to look down at it, and my breath hitched in my throat. “This is beautiful.”
“Wait until you see the end destination.” Reid gave me an amused smile.
He was right. The end destination was even better than I’d expected. The lake was a beautiful aquamarine color, and mountains dabbled with snow stretched toward the sky behind it.
“It’s breathtaking.” I sighed in awe before looking over my shoulder only to catch Reid staring at me.
He held my gaze, his honey-colored eyes gleaming, as he replied, “It sure is.”