“I like that.” They shared a look, but then she pulled out her phone and said, “Now it’s time for too many selfies. Pretend you’re a girl, please.”
Chase groaned, but he didn’t really mind. He smiled when instructed and gave her a hard time about the selfies, but he was happy to have photos of the two of them.
They were only on day two of adventuring, but already their time together was going too fast.
Could he see her after their two weeks were up? He wanted to develop a long-term relationship with Lizzy. Would she feel the same if they kept growing close over the next two weeks?
Chapter
Nine
The next fivedays sped by much too fast for Lizzy. In the mornings, she and Chase lifted weights together and had breakfast. They had different types of tours planned every day and did hydrotherapy after dinner in the evening most nights. He designed a better blindfold with a thin hand towel. She could hardly believe he was still wearing a blindfold for her. As she grew more comfortable with him and trusted him more deeply each day, she wanted to tell him to take the blindfold off. She wanted to trust him to hear her secrets and see her scars.
Saturday night, they were doing hydrotherapy after dinner and talking through their adventures. They’d been to several ‘Bad’ towns, which she discovered meant ‘bath’. Bad Ischl and Bad Aussee and Bad Goisern. On the ‘Bad’ tour day, they’d also explored a princess’s castle and ate the most delicious Thai food, which was a welcome change from the meat and potatoes diet. She purposely hadn’t brought a swimsuit, so they hadn’t used any of the thermal baths that were on the schedule. She was grateful for the excuse even as she felt guilty to make Chase miss out. He didn’t seem to mind.
They toured the Werfen ice cave, which was gorgeous and made her feel like Anna from Frozen even though she was literally freezing. Thankfully, Chase was able to warm her up with his arm around her. Being close to him was comfortable and invigorating. She only had positive reactions to him and his touch. What a relief.
It wasn’t on the plans Madelyne had for them, but they drove past the Hohenwerfen Castle, which was massive and set on a hilltop, and took a detour to explore it. The view and grounds were gorgeous. Parts of the castle were a little disturbing, with too many displays dedicated to the witchcraft of the day and many torture devices and stories about both. The falconry and birds of prey show were impressive and fascinating to both of them. Seeing how small the rooms were from the eleventh century blew her mind. She thought of knights of old as giants of men, but most of them had been smaller than she was. Chase was a giant of a man in every way.
That night, instead of hydrotherapy, they watchedThe Sound of Musicafter dinner. Chase was cute about it but obviously not as enthralled as she was. Their arms brushed many times as they sat side by side on a couch in the main area, and she kept catching him watching her instead of the movie. He teased that he liked to see it through her eyes. She loved when he said that. Watching the movie made her even more excited for that tour, which was only a week away now. She didn’t want to wish away their time, though. Austria was officially the most beautiful place, and this time felt sacred.
The next day, they did the Gollinger waterfall hike. It was short, only about a mile and a half round trip, and beautiful. Maybe as beautiful as their first hike above Hallstatt, but she’d always believe that first waterfall was the best because it was the first one they saw together.
They did an e-bike tour of the pastures of Salzkammergut. She might’ve gone a little overboard with the effusiveness on that tour—the wildflowers, the verdant mountains, the lakes and valleys, the cows with bells. She kept singing ‘the hills are alive’ and Chase smiled at her as if she were the most intriguing and adorable woman on earth. The weather was perfect, around seventy during the day.
Each night, she talked to her mom and Janie, raving about Chase and the scenery and their adventures. They were both hoping Chase was as perfect as he seemed and urging caution until they met him. They knew she rushed ahead with her feelings. Lizzy didn’t know that they were going to meet him, but she did know Chase was just about perfect. She had given him plenty of space to show his true self and was becoming convinced he couldn’t be hiding anything hurtful from her.
Tomorrow they would go to church, lunch, take a long hike through the mountains close to them, and then relax. Relaxing with Chase sounded wonderful. She was enjoying it right now. They’d gone through their hydrotherapy routine. She was doing much better with the steam room and ice bath, only complaining a little, and she’d endured up to seven minutes becoming a popsicle in the ice bath. She thoroughly enjoyed the jets in the big pool.
They were just finishing up with the jets now. Chase had gone back to the stream of water that pounded on his neck. Lizzy studied him, loving the strong planes of his face and upper body. The blindfold was a sign that he cared deeply for her. She couldn’t think of another man who would wear a blindfold to help her feel safe until she learned to trust him.
She did trust Chase. He’d watched out for her and made the past week the most incredible time of her life. Going back home next Saturday would be rough. At least they had six more days together.
They hadn’t talked about a future together.
Of course they hadn’t. They weren’t in some relationship.
Yet she wanted to think about a future and a relationship with Chase. She was determined to take off the blindfold tonight and trust him to see her ugly scars. He knew about her cerebral palsy, and he’d been incredible about it. He had taken the hikes or tours slow if she needed, never acting put out, annoyed, or embarrassed if her legs got tired.
Chase reached out his hand, smiling as he eased away from the jet sprays. “Time for you to guide me to the hot tub?”
“Yes, sir.” Lizzy took his hand in hers. He squeezed once and then threaded their fingers together.
It felt right to hold hands with Chase. Was he only taking good care of her for his assignment, or could he possibly be developing feelings as well?
She led him up the steps of the pool, across the deck, and toward the hot tub.
“Step down,” she said. “Down, down, down, down … sit.”
He grinned as he sat, and she eased into the hot water close by his side. Their arms brushed under the surface. The sun was lighting the fluffy clouds to the west orange and pink, and the sky was filled with hues of purple and blue.
“The sunset is glorious,” she said.
“Oh? Describe it for me, please.”
She smiled, but then an alarming thought hit her.
It was time. She needed to make trust an action verb, and the blindfold needed to come off.
