As she came out into the open he turned and greeted her with a smile. “Morning, sleepy-head. I thought you were going to spend the whole camping trip snoring away.”
“What time is it?” she asked, rubbing her eyes and then she glared up at him. “And I don’t snore.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Number one, it’s almost eleven o’clock and number two, you could moonlight as a freight train.”
Silken gasped. “That’s an awful thing to say. I don’t snore.” Then she frowned as she watched his face. “Do I?”
That made him laugh. “All right, you weren’t that bad. No need to fret. Now come give me a kiss.”
She grimaced. “All you’re getting right now is a hug. I’ve gotta go clean up.”
“I’ll take it.” Turning from the fire, he held his arms wide and when she stepped into his embrace he wrapped them around her and kissed the top of her head. Then he gave her a smart slap on the behind. "Now hurry up before your breakfast gets cold.”
After a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and grits with mint tea, Silken and Max put on their hiking gear and donned light backpacks with food and water.
“There’s no way we can come all this way,” Max said, “and not get some good hiking in.”
Silken agreed one hundred percent. The mountains of Cuyamaca rose over four thousand feet into the heavens and before the day was over she planned to reach the peak. Putting one hand up to shield her eyes, she pointed up into the heights covered with pine trees. “How long do you think it would take us to get to the top?”
Max looked at her like she was crazy. “We’re going hiking, Silken, not mountain climbing. Do you know how cold it is up there? We’re not prepared for that.”
“Oh,” Silken said, feeling a little deflated. She hadn’t thought of that. She’d psyched herself up for a major adventure but now Max had gone and burst her bubble.
At the look on her face, Max laughed. “Mountain climbing is not as simple as you think. We'd have had to start training weeks ago, walking, getting in peak condition. Mountain climbing takes stamina.”
“Are you saying that I’m not fit?” Silken put her hands on her hips.
“All I’m saying,” Max said, coming over to throw an arm around her shoulder, “is that a good hike will be more than enough of a work-out for us right now. We’ll do the mountain climbing bit when things warm up next year. Okay?”
“Okay.” Silken grinned and leaned into him. That sounded good, what he’d just said. Mountain climbing next year. It meant that he was thinking long-term. They had a future.
She hadn’t let herself dwell on it but a few weeks into their relationship, after she’d gotten over the first high of knowing that she and Max were together, she’d begun to wonder – how long would this all last? She knew she loved him, and as far as she was concerned she wanted it to last forever. But what about Max? How did he feel?
As she pulled out of his arms and began to follow him down the trail she tried to flush the thought from her mind but it came swirling back – he’d talked about never letting her go, but what did that mean, really? Was his ‘never’ as long as hers?
Max was whistling as he walked, obviously in a good mood, the sun shining down on his bare head, the birds chirping in the trees.
It was a great day to be happy, and she was. She was out in the wild, enjoying nature with the man she loved. What better way to spend her weekend?
And yet there was one little kernel that had taken up residence in a quiet corner of her heart, one nagging doubt that she could not dislodge.
Yes, she was good enough to be Max’s girlfriend, but would she ever be good enough to be his wife?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Sunday night came much too soon and as Silken and Max dismantled their tent she almost got sentimental. She actually felt tearful. Of course, she didn’t cry. Please. She was too much of a tough girl for that. But still, she couldn’t stop the thought from entering her mind – why did it have to end?
“Come on, stop daydreaming.” Max waved a hand in front of her face. “We’ve got to get out of here. It’s almost eight.”
Silken sighed and bent down to finish rolling up her sleeping bag. “I’m coming.”
She was loading her bag into the back of the van when Max touched her on the cheek. “You okay?”
She gave him a wan smile. “I’m okay.”
He smiled back. “It was great, wasn’t it?”
She smiled wider. “The best.”
“This was our first but it definitely won’t be our last.” He gave her a gentle chuck on the chin. “Now cheer up and let’s ship out.”
“Ay ay, Cap’n.” She gave him a smart salute and when he lunged for her, probably to get back at her for being cheeky, she dashed off and hopped into the passenger seat. “Come on,” she yelled. “You’re holding us up. It’s almost eight, you know.”
With a laugh he took his seat beside her and they took off down the bumpy road that would take them to the highway.
By the time they got to Cupertino it was eight-thirty but Max didn’t take Silken straight to her apartment. Instead, he turned onto the route that led to his house.
Silken relaxed into the seat and crossed her arms. “Are we forgetting something? You’re supposed to drop me off, remember?”
“I remember,” he said as he reached over to rest his hand on her leg, “but the night’s still young. We have time for a nightcap.”
Silken gave a snort. “So says the man who was just chasing me to the car, telling me he had to hit the sack early because he has a busy day tomorrow.”
“Well, maybe I was hurrying you along,” Max said, his voice taking on a seductive tone, “for other…selfish…reasons.”
That got him a smile from Silken. She liked the sound of that.
When they got to his house and had settled down in his bedroom, Max turned to Silken, a sly smile on his lips. “Now that we’ve done the outdoor adventure thing, what about a little indoor adventure to close the weekend?”