Chapter 16 #2
The old hitching post was still where it used to be. Once upon a time, I had spent countless summer days riding out to it, tying off my horse, then hiking up one of the barely marked trails. But that’s not where I wanted to go tonight.
I dismounted and tied Maisey off, hoping Elvis would keep her in check long enough for Catherine and me to make it up to the kissing rock.
“What are you doing?” she asked as she peered down from her perch atop Elvis.
I slid my hand up her denim-wrapped thigh and braced my other hand on the small of her back. “Helping you down.”
“Why?”
“We’re going up to the rock.”
Her brows lifted in the twilight. “It’s still there?”
I let out a laugh. “It’s been there for millions of years, sweetheart. Twenty years is a drop in the bucket.”
Catherine braced her boot in the stirrup and swung her leg over the saddle, landing beside me.
I caught her by the waist before she tipped over.
“I know,” she said as I tied off Elvis. “I’m just surprised it’s not overgrown.”
I cocked my head to the side and studied her. “You’ve never been up there, have you?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I never had a reason to.”
My boots hit hers, and I stared down at the woman I was going to marry in less than twenty-four hours. “You’re telling me that you never went up to the rock? Ever?”
Catherine lifted her chin and shook her head. “Never.”
“Well,” I said with a grin as I took her hand in mine. “Maybe I’ll get one of your firsts after all.”
Her laugh was melodic. “You’re taking me up to the rock so we can make out? Aren’t we a little old for that?”
I headed up the dirt path first, making sure it was mostly clear. “Never too old for that. A few years before my grandma passed, I drove down from Bethesda to surprise her and Granddad. I let myself into the kitchen and found them making out.”
Catherine laughed. “You did not.”
“Sure did,” I said with a grin. “They told me that I should’ve knocked.”
Her voice softened. “They were so in love with each other.”
“Until their very last days.”
We walked in silence, slowly cresting one of the shorter ridges until the earth turned to stone.
The kissing rock was exactly like it sounded. A large stone slab that jutted out of the mountain and hung over the ridgeline. The very edge broke through the tree line, opening it up for an incredible view of the valley and sky.
And yes, it was the place for teenagers to make out when there was a party in the valley.
The stars were out in full force, dancing and glimmering over the estate. I kept a tight grip on Catherine’s hand as she tiptoed out to the edge, then sat down and scooted the rest of the way until her boots hung off the ledge. I did the same, only releasing my breath when we were settled.
It was only about a six-foot drop off the edge of the rock, but when I was a kid, it felt like hanging over the Grand Canyon.
“It’s beautiful tonight,” Catherine said as she studied the sky.
Yeah. She was.
“Let me ask you something,” I said as I wrapped an arm around her and tucked her into my side. “Why are you nervous about tomorrow?”
Her answer was a shrug before resting her head on my shoulder. “I don’t know. I just got a little overwhelmed. I want things to go smoothly.”
“Is that all?” I asked as I gently trailed my fingers up and down her arm.
Catherine curled in closer. She had been swinging her feet back and forth over the edge, but now they were still as she froze in contemplation. “I don’t want to disappoint you. You have a lot riding on this.”
“Cath…”
“I know this thing between us isn’t real and that the wedding’s just for show. But I also know that what I do reflects on you now.”
“I’m sorry I put so much pressure on you.”
She shook her head. “You haven’t. It’s just…I’m in my head, I guess.” Like a switch had flipped, she took a breath, put on a smile, and aimed it at me.
I knew what it felt like to be able to put on a mask at the drop of a hat, and I knew what it felt like to hate having that skill.
“But thank you…again,” Catherine said as she looked up at me with twilight reflecting in her eyes.
“For what?”
“Asking my dad to come and walk me down the aisle. I don’t think I would have drummed up the courage to make the call. I’m not exactly sure what we’re going to tell people about that, but…” She paused. “Just…thank you.”
We stargazed in silence as the guilt gnawed away at me. Governor Grant wasn’t showing up out of the goodness of his heart. I just hoped that his ulterior motives didn’t hurt my girl.
That thing Catherine had said about this being a partnership rather than a relationship floated back through my mind.
It was how I was justifying the whole charade.
The scars I bore from childhood tragedy and a broken engagement made me gun-shy when it came to the prospect of someone new seeing those scars, seeing how deep and calloused they were.
I could never let her hold my heart, but I would protect hers.
“You told me why you were nervous,” I said. “Tell me why you’re stressed.”
She laughed at the stars. “Job hunting.”
“Any prospects?”
“An administrative position at a mutual aid group out of Roanoke, or a marketing job at a hospital system in Richmond. But honestly, the hospital position is a long shot.”
“Pros and cons?”
Catherine hummed under her breath as she thought it over.
“The mutual aid group is right up my alley. I love the work they do, and it’s pretty close to what I was doing before all this.
” There was a pause. “But the pay sucks, and the position doesn’t have a lot of growth potential.
Honestly, most of the nonprofit sector is like that. ”
“And the hospital job?”
“Pretty much the opposite. Great starting pay and potential for upward mobility, but I’m not exactly sure I have the qualifications they’re looking for.”
“Is that why you were redoing your résumé?”
She nodded and looked down at the toes of her boots as they dangled over the edge. “Probably not the most traditional night-before-the-wedding activity.”
I chuckled. “Fuck tradition.”
“Tell me two truths and a lie,” Catherine said out of the blue.
I smiled at her. “Why?”
“Because I want to get to know the man I’m about to be married to for the next few months.”
“Okay.” I thought for a moment. “I’ve broken the same arm twice, in the exact same place, a week after getting the first cast off. I’ve never brought a girl up to the rock. And I love watching black-and-white movies.”
Catherine laughed. “You’ve definitely brought girls up here. Don’t even play with me.”
I laughed. “Guilty.”
“How many?” she pressed with a curious snicker.
“You don’t wanna know, Cath.”
“Come on,” she egged as she elbowed me. “Tell me.”
“More than I could probably remember even if I tried.” I offered a lopsided smile. “There were certain perks to being the kid who had the land for pasture parties.”
“Pond parties,” Catherine clarified. “Or at least they were pond parties by the time I was of age. I guess things changed after you were grown and out of the house. Me and my classmates would sneak through the gates and walk to the pond after dark, since you can’t see it through the trees.”
“Wanna know a secret?” I asked.
She looked up at me.
“Granddad always knew. He got a kick out of it. Kids sneaking onto the land and enjoying it was his favorite part about being out here. He used to call me up and tell me when a party was going on.”
She giggled. “I have no doubt.”
“But you never came up to the rock, huh?”
Catherine shook her head.
“You swear?”
She nodded. “I swear. I was so worried about disappointing my mom that I didn’t have my first kiss until I was in college. There was no hiking up to the kissing rock to make out for me.”
All I could think about were the months we’d have together where we could come up here. How badly I wanted to change her “never had” into “I did with you.”
Catherine’s gasp startled me.
“What’s the matter?”
“Look!” she whispered as she pointed at the sky with one hand and grabbed my thigh with the other. “Wait for it.”
I barely caught it—the shooting star streaking across the sky so fast that, if I had blinked, I would have missed it. “Would you look at that…”
“I love living out here,” she whispered as two more shooting stars danced across the night sky. “You gonna make a wish?”
“Only if you do.”
Her fingers tangled with mine, squeezing my hand tight as she looked up, smiled at the stars, and mouthed a silent wish.
I made my wish, but I didn’t bother offering it to the stars when there was something far more brilliant beside me.