Page 41
“Where are we goin'?” my wife asks for the third time as we drive deeper into the mountain range.
It’s our tenth anniversary and since the traditional gift is tin or aluminum, I decided to get her a tin hat. Literally .
“Curious, you know how much I love you?”
“Of course, beautiful,” I reply.
“And you know how I pledged my troth to you all those years ago, carried and gave birth to your two adorable children, and continue to warm your bed every night?”
I’m more than a little suspicious of her intentions, especially since she’s blindfolded and I can’t read her eyes. “Mmm?”
“Surely that has earned me at least a little clue about where we’re goin’ for the night?”
I run my hand up and down her jean-clad leg, her body even more sexy and tantalizing to me now than she was ten years ago. “Beautiful?”
“Yeah,” she says, a smile curving her lips that tells me she thinks I’m giving in.
“You can wait,” I deadpan, chuckling under my breath when she growls at me.
“You’ll keep, Mr . Cooper.”
I grab her hand and lift it to my lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “As long as you keep me, that’s all that matters, Mrs. Cooper.”
“Ugh,” she grumbles. “Can you not be sweet when I’m grumpy.”
“You’re not grumpy. You’re excited and anxious and desperate to know where I’m whiskin’ you away to. Besides, don’t you know by now? I’ll take you grumpy, happy, anxious, excited. All of them, all the time.”
“Now you’re bein’ swoony,” she says, less annoyed this time.
“Mmm hmm.” I lower our joined hands to the seat between us and stroke the back of her hand as we drive closer to our destination.
Twenty minutes later, I turn into a driveway I last visited ten years ago.
A slightly older but no less friendly Maisie and her husband, Marty Martin, standing there there to greet me as I exit the truck and round the hood to help Isla.
“It’s nice to see y’all again,” she says just as I open the passenger door.
“I know that voice,” Isla says, turning her head my way, her blindfold still firmly in place.
Maisie grins. “Well, look at that. I knew you two would make it. Especially after I caught y’all canoodlin' like teenagers behind my barn.”
“Don’t forget our stained fingers. They were purple for a good few days after our date here,” Isla replies, her smile soft and warm.
“I guess you worked it out, beautiful,” I say as I slide the blindfold up and over her head and meet her melty chocolate eyes that she shared with our gorgeous eight-year-old daughter.
“This was our first date,” she whispers, turning to greet our hosts. “Maisie and Marty, long time no see.”
“Over ten years, in fact,” I muse. “Today is our tenth weddin’ anniversary.”
“Well, congratulations,” Marty says, holding out his hand for us to take turns shaking. “Is that why you booked our new experience?”
“Sure is.”
Isla’s brows bunch in confusion. “You mean we’re not here to pick berries and watch a movie again?”
“Oh no, lovely. Your husband here has organized somethin’ even more excitin’ than that ,” Maisie tells her. “Y’all are stayin’ in our glass-roofed glamping tent. You’ll be our first customers.”
My wife cocks her head my way. “Are we seein’ the Borealis?”
I waggle my brows. “Even better than that , beautiful. We’re goin’ UFO spottin’.”
Her eyes bug out of her head before she grins so wide I’m surprised her face doesn’t split open. Then she’s diving my way, her mouth finding mine as she kisses me long and deep, showing me just how much she approves of our plans.
Pulling back her head, her bright eyes meet my hooded ones. I have my beautiful wife in my arms and she just kissed me stupid. Can you blame me? " Can we watch Independence Day while UFO spottin’?”
I laugh, planting one last hard and fast kiss on her lips. “We can do whatever you want, beautiful. It’s our night. No children crawlin’ into our bed in the night, no animals makin’ my hair turn grey. It’s just you and me.”
“And a tin hat,” Maisie says. She and Marty hold out not one but two homemade “tin” hats made out of aluminum foil. “Happy anniversary, lovebirds.”
I look at them and then the hats before turning back to my wife who’s struggling to hold back her laughter even more than I am.
We take the hats off their hands and after giving us an information pack along with a map showing us where to find the tent.
Then they bid us farewell, leaving us alone again.
Isla hops down and rests her hands on my hips, leaning her body against mine. “We’re not goin’ to forget this date in a hurry.”
I reach up and cradle her jaw. “I’ve never forgotten a single moment of our lives together so far, and don’t plan on startin’ now. I love you, Isla Cooper. That’s somethin’ I don’t ever want you to forget.”
“How can I? Buyin’ that pecan pie was the best damn decision I ever made.”
“The best?” I ask, quirking a brow.
“Well, the best was marryin’ you. Anythin’ else is just a bonus.”
For the record, we did not see any UFOs during our stay at Honeyberry Farms that night. Then again, once we got inside the tent, that was the very last thing on our minds.
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