“Not yet. Trust me, you’ll know it when youseeit.”
He stepped behind her and wound his arms around her chest. She leaned back against him and closed her eyes for a second. She loved that he wasn’t afraid to be affectionate. Although she had no clue what any of this meant, she knew she liked what was happeningbetweenthem.
A gasp from the crowd snapped her eyes open. A huge spray of water shot up so far into the sky that she had to tilt her head back to see it. She stared in wonder as the geyser shot up over and over. It didn’t matter that she knew the mechanism behind why it erupted with such regularity; it was still a thing ofwonder.
“What do you think?” Hank asked as he pressed his lips against hertemple.
“It’samazing.”
“Yeah, I guess I take it for granted because I can come and see it wheneverIwant.”
When the eruption ended, she turned to face him. “Thank you… foreverything.”
“Anytime. Ready toheadback?”
“Iguess.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll stop at all the places we missed on thewayback.”
After following him back to the snowmobile, she took her position behind him and molded her body against his. She never wanted to let him go, which was a shame because she had no plans on staying. As beautiful as it was up here, it wasn’therhome.
Chapter6
Hank shiftedin the seat as he pulled out of the parking lot next to the mud pots. Looking at the park through her eyes was like seeing it for the first time. When they’d encountered a group of buffalo crossing the road, her eyes went as big as saucers. And when they’d walked around the bubbling muddy hot springs, she’d stared at them inwonder.
The more time he spent with her, the more he put his heart at risk. He recognized it, but was powerless to stop it. Maybe she’d end up breaking his heart, but he couldn’t resist beingwithher.
He reluctantly pulled onto the road and headed back toward West Yellowstone. They’d spent too much time at Grand Prismatic Spring and the sun had already set. For the first time in days, a clear night sky hung over the park. Bright stars twinkled against theblacksky.
Although he hadn’t planned on being out after dark, he loved the clarity absolute darkness brought. Whenever he’d had problems in the past, he’d gone out at night and shifted, then gazed up at the sky. Just knowing that he was a tiny dot on a small planet in the vastness of the universe made his problems seeminsignificant.
Tapping at his shoulder drew his attention. He slowed down and pulled into a marked turnout. After flipping up his visor, he turned slightly so he couldhearher.
“Can we stop and look at the stars?” sheasked.
“Let’s do it when we get back. It’s getting really cold and I don’t want you to freeze. We can hop in the truck and head out into the forest near theranch.”
“Okay.”
The hint of disappointment in her voice was like a punch in the gut. He hated to turn down her request, but they really shouldn’t be driving around the park after dark. Too many animals would be crossing the road and he didn’t want to take the chance that he’dhitone.
Back on the road, he kicked up the speed. The relatively straight road leading to the west exit made it safe enough that he could drive a bit faster. Really, he just couldn’t wait to take her back out to see thestars.
When they reached the ranch, he parked the snowmobile then helped her into the truck. She shivered as she pulled the seat belt across her chest. He shut the door then jogged to the other side. After turning on the truck, he cranked the heater all thewayup.
“It should warm up in here in a few minutes,”hesaid.
“Sounds good,” she said through chatteringteeth.
His bear could think of some very good ways to keep her warm, but he cautioned the beast to calm down. There hadn’t been very many women who could catch his bear’s eye, but his reaction to Carol was unlike anything he’d experienced before. His bear had turned into a demanding brat who kept pouting about wanting to claim Carolashis.
Well too bad, bear. She’s not anoption.
The beast clawed at his chest in an attempt to escape, but he wouldn’t let that happen. Not only would it scare her to death, but stuffing a thousand-pound bear in the cab of a truck was impossible. He’d end upwreckingit.
He drove out to a clearing deep within the forest. It was pitch black outside, giving them a stunning view of the Milky Way. He left the power on but turned the engine off. Heat blasted into the cab until the air reached a reasonable temperature. He didn’t want to turn it off, but after glancing over at Carol to make sure she looked warm enough, he turned it downabit.
“When I was a kid, I used to look up at the night sky, pick a star, and then wonder if my mom was looking at it too,”shesaid.
