"You want to head back?" I ask. I'd rather stay here but it's getting harder to be alone with her and not act on my feelings, especially when we're in such a romantic setting.
"Could we stay a few minutes?"
"We can, but the sun will start going down soon. I'm guessing you don't want to walk back in the dark."
"Just a few minutes," she says, walking to the edge of the lookout point.
"Hey, watch it." I take hold of her arm and pull her back a little.
"Are you worried about me?" she asks with a smile.
"Yes. So stop getting so close to the edge."
She lowers down to the ground to sit. "How's this? Feel better now?"
"You're still too close."
"Sit down with me."
The ground is covered in dirt but Sophie doesn't seem bothered by that. Celine wouldn't dare sit on the ground. She hates the outdoors and hates getting dirty. Being around her so much, I was starting to be that way too so I hesitate before sitting down.
"What's wrong?" Sophie asks.
"I only brought one pair of jeans. If I sit there I'll have dirt all over me."
She laughs. "You're afraid of dirt? It wipes off, you know."
I sit beside her, realizing how much I've changed over the years. Those summers in Maine, I used to play in the dirt and the sand and think nothing of it. Now I'm one of those city people whose lost all touch with nature and doesn't spend time outdoors.
"My grandpa had a farm," Sophie says. "My brothers and I would go there and play in the fields and get our clothes all dirty." She laughs. "Drove my mom crazy."
“Are your brothers still in Kansas?“
“No. They're both overseas in the military. That's why my mom is always trying to get me to move back. She misses her kids and my brothers rarely get to come home." She gazes out at the landscape. "I could look at this for hours."
"We should've come up here sooner."
"Except we were in court."
I turn to her. 'I'm really sorry about what happened. If there's anything I can do, don't hesitate to ask."
She shrugs. "It is what it is. Maybe it was supposed to happen." She looks up at the sky. "Maybe someone out there decided I needed a break from city life and knew the only way I'd get it was if I was forced out of the city."
"To pick up trash."
She laughs. "It could be worse. At least I get to pick up trash surrounded by pretty scenery. And I get to spend time in this town that I love, and be around nice people. Tom and Lois are starting to feel like family. I like that I'll be able to see them again."
I love how she's able to stay positive. Most people would be cursing me out for landing them in this situation but Sophie's decided to make the best of it. I don't think even I could do that.
"We should get going," I say, getting up. "The sun's starting to set." I offer her my hands and pull her to standing. "You want to go first or you want me to?"
"I'll go first." She steps in front of me and continues along the trail. "Such a great view," she says, referring to the landscape.
The view I'm looking at is even better. Her cute little bottom in those jeans. The curve of her hips. Her tiny little waist. I wish I could take her in my arms and feel what it's like to hold her.
"Snake!" she screams, turning and jumping into my arms.
When I said I wanted to hold her I didn't think it'd actually happen, and at this very moment. I guess wishes really do come true.
"Where?" I ask, keeping my arms around her.
"Right there." She points to something black and squiggly on the ground.
"I don't think that's a snake."
"It's not?" She loosens her grip on me and stares down at what I'm thinking might be a shoelace.
"Let me see." I reach down and pick it up. "It's a black shoelace."
She laughs. "It looked just like a snake."
"I thought so too until I got a closer look."
She takes a step back, her cheeks blushing. "Sorry about that."
"About what?"
"About, you know..." She laughs a little. "Attacking you like that."
"I didn't mind." It comes out sounding flirtatious, which is not what I intended.
She smiles and looks down. "I just didn't want you to, um, take it the wrong way."
"And what way is that?"
Her eyes slowly rise to mine. "You have a girlfriend."
I nod. "I do. And you have Tanner."
"I—" She stops, then nods.
What was she going to say? I want to ask but I don't think she'll tell me. I think we're both holding back how we feel until we're no longer with other people. But there's definitely something between us. Like just now, holding her like that? It felt right. I'm not even dating her and yet holding her in my arms felt natural, like I've been doing it for years.
"Ready to keep going?" I ask.
"Yeah, but maybe you should go first, to scare away the snakes."
"It was a shoelace." I go past her down the trail.
"I'm sure there are real snakes out here."
"There's a lot more than snakes."
"I'm not worried about other animals. Just snakes."
I glance back at her. "How'd you grow up in the country and end up afraid of snakes?"
"I got bit by one as a kid. It wasn't poisonous but I had to go to the hospital. Ever since then, I've done everything possible to avoid snakes."
"So no desert vacations," I joke.
"No. Never."
Our conversation continues with more stories from her childhood. It's the kind of childhood I would've liked, with lots of camping and fishing and biking around town with your friends. Living in a big city with parents who didn't like the outdoors, I didn't do any of
