by Gerri Hill
“Do you want to get out or watch from in here?”
The old Lexie, the one who preferred her sunsets to be viewed from the comfort of a restaurant deck above Lake Travis—sipping a margarita—would have been content to stay right where she was. But to get the full effect of it—like the sunrise—she needed to be out in it. Not merely observing but experiencing the sunset.
She turned to Kyler. “Let’s get out.”
The quick smile on Kyler’s face told her she’d made the right choice. However, the wind was quite a bit stronger than she’d anticipated. She put her jacket on and Kyler did as well. Then Kyler took the same blanket as before and led her around to a rock pile where a lone juniper tree grew.
“This is the best spot.”
“We’ve got the place to ourselves,” she noted.
Kyler put the blanket across the rocks. “I’ve found most people are really indifferent to the sunrise or sunset. If they happen to think about it and they have nothing else to do, they might make the drive up here. Of course, on busy weekends and holidays, there are more people around.”
“Then you have to share your space? Or do you stay away?”
“I catch more sunrises than sunsets. It’s rare that I have company in the early mornings.” She smiled quickly. “I used to not be a morning person. I always volunteered for the late shifts when I was down at the coast. Getting up at five a.m. was for crazy people.”
Lexie nodded. “I know. When I was working, I’d get up in time for a quick shower, a cup of coffee to take with me on my drive. I’d get breakfast on the way, eat at my desk. Out to lunch. Gym after work. Oftentimes dinner or drinks in the evenings. If I got to bed by midnight, it was a good day.”
“I haven’t seen midnight in years.”
“Not even New Year’s Eve?”
“Not even. The park is open every day. If it’s not your day off, it’s just another day.”
Lexie leaned a little closer, letting her shoulder touch with Kyler’s. “I haven’t seen midnight since I’ve been here. Eleven a couple of nights. Mostly, by ten I’m heading to bed.”
“You said you don’t miss barhopping on Saturday nights. What about other nightlife?”
“I don’t think so, no. There was a women’s bar that I’d go to a couple of times a month.” She shrugged. “Missing that hasn’t even crossed my mind. Dinner dates, a movie.” She shrugged again. “Like I said before, I thought I’d miss it, but I really don’t.”
She stared out as the sun sank lower, the bright shine of earlier settling down now as the day was drawing to a close. “I think I’ve realized that a lot of my going out was to compensate for my family being gone. I hung out with Mark and Mia a lot. We had family dinners, much like we do now. After Mia’s accident and then their move, my life essentially changed.”
“They’ve been up here seven years, right?”
“Yes.” She leaned closer again. “It’s getting close.”
“The real colors will come after it sets. The sky will be a reddish purple from rim to rim.”
She felt the pressure of Kyler’s shoulder against hers and she stayed where she was. In these few short weeks, she felt more comfortable with Kyler than she’d ever felt with Cathy. She didn’t remember talking with Cathy. How had they stayed together two years?
And why had her mother said that she and Kyler were complete opposites? There was no awkwardness between them. Complete opposites shouldn’t have anything to talk about, should they?
The sun hung just above the horizon, the orangey glow turning red as it crept lower. The only sound was the wind as it sailed through the tree branches. She felt Kyler move, felt her hand squeeze her thigh as the top of the sun disappeared from view. As Kyler had predicted, the sky turned a beautiful deep red with only a hint of purple, stretching across north to south. Instead of disappearing with the sun, the colors seemed to grow, reaching higher into the sky, painting the mountain around them. It was one of the most picturesque things she’d ever witnessed in person.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more beautiful sight.” She spoke the words softly so as not to disturb the silence. Kyler gave her thigh one last squeeze, then removed her hand.
“I never tire of that.” Kyler leaned back a little, looking overhead. “The stars will be out in a little while. If you’re not too cold, we could hang around to see Venus. It’ll be a little toward the south. As soon as it gets a little darker, it’ll pop out.”
“Yes,” she answered simply. She leaned closer again, letting her head rest on Kyler’s shoulder. “I like you a lot.” She could sense Kyler smiling and she jerked her head away. “I mean, I needed a friend and I didn’t think I’d find one up here. Not this quickly.”
Kyler shifted beside her, turning. “I like you too.”
Kyler’s gaze dropped to her lips for only a brief second, but long enough for Lexie to imagine what a kiss would feel like. That disturbed her. Since when did she visualize kissing friends?
Kyler met her gaze again as the shadows began to settle around them. Then she turned back to the fading sunset and Lexie did too. They sat there quietly, neither speaking, as the sky darkened. They sat there quietly, yes, but their shoulders were touching and the gentle pressure against her own was comforting. After a while, Kyler stood.
“Let’s find Venus, then I’ll get you back home. It’s getting cold.”
Lexie nodded, letting herself be pulled to her feet. They stood together, a foot or so apart, the big sky holding onto only a sliver of red in the west, offering just enough light to make out Kyler’s features. Her dark eyes seemed to draw her, and Lexie didn’t pull away. If Kyler had leaned in to kiss her right then, she would have offered no protest. Which was crazy, of course. She wanted nothing of the sort from Kyler. She only wanted friendship and that was growing each time they saw each other.
Something else was growing too, wasn’t it? God, she hated to admit it, but damn it all—she wasn’t blind to the attraction. Kyler was attractive and charming and fun to be around. They’d fallen into such an easy friendship, it was like she’d known her months and months, not mere weeks. Yet as they stood there looking at each other in the dwindling light, she felt like she was under a spell.
“Are you afraid I’m going to try to turn this into something else?”
Lexie let her breath out. Was she afraid of that very thing? Or was she afraid she’d be the one to turn their friendship into more? She shook her head and forced a smile to her face.
“I’m not your type, remember? I think we’re safe.”
She didn’t think now—out here with the remnants of the sunset around them—was the right time to be talking about this, though. Not when they were about to go stand under Venus’ light. Or maybe that was the spell that had her. The glorious sunset, the pull of Venus, the goddess of love. No, no, no. It was getting to be too much.
So she turned away from Kyler, looking overhead. She forgot about Venus’ spell as her eyes widened in awe. “Oh my god,” she whispered. “Okay, I know you said we could only see a couple of thousand, but there are like a million stars up there.”
Kyler laughed quietly, then took her hand, tugging her along a dark path. How she could see, Lexie didn’t know, but Kyler maneuvered them around rocks and scrubs to the flat area where they’d watched the sunrise the other week.
Now that they were facing east, away from the twilight that was quickly disappearing, the stars were twinkling all around them in the dark, dark sky. Kyler waved her arm out around them.
“No city lights for hundreds of miles. You sit out here during a meteor shower and it’s—well, it’s too magnificent to even describe. Shooting stars that seem so close, you want to duck your head when they fall.”
“Will you take me?” she asked without thinking.
“Yes. The Geminids. I think it’s on the thirteenth or fourteenth.” She pointed to a bright star. “There’s Venus.” Then she turned slightly and pointed again. “And there’s Jupiter
.”
Lexie followed her gaze, seeing the two bright stars among the multitude of others. There seemed to be so many stars in the sky, she didn’t know where to look.
“Show me a constellation.”
“Okay, let’s see.” Kyler looked around, scanning the sky. “Here’s an easy one. Orion, the hunter. See the three bright stars in a row? That’s his belt.” She turned again. “Pleiades. The seven sisters. That’s the cluster of stars there. You can see them much better with binoculars.” She smiled. “And, of course, the telescope.”
Kyler again took her hand, leading her farther along the trail. It was full dark now and the wind had died down to nothing more than a gentle breeze. It didn’t feel overly cold although she assumed the temperature had dropped into the forties.
“Ursa Minor, which actually means ‘little bear’ in Latin, but we call it the Little Dipper.” A gentle hand moved her head slightly. “There. See the bright star at the end of the handle? That’s the North Star.”
Kyler’s voice was quiet, soothing. The fingers that still held her hand were warm, gentle. God, why were they holding hands? She closed her eyes to the night sky, trying to fight her attraction to this woman. It was simply all too romantic—the beautiful sunset, the allure of Venus, the glittering stars that seemed to be dancing above their heads. She opened her eyes again, feeling so at peace with her world she didn’t quite know what to do with it. For the last eight, nine months, her world had been topsy-turvy, and she’d been drifting about, trying to make sense of it all.
Who would have thought that up here, in this remote region of West Texas, she’d find peace?
“Lexie?”
She turned to the sound of her name, surprised to feel a shiver run up her spine. She tightened her fingers around Kyler’s, loving the contact with her. It was too dark to see her eyes, to read her expression, but she thought she felt her tremble. She pulled her hand away, tucking both of them safely beneath her arms.
“I was thinking how peaceful it is. How peaceful I feel,” she clarified. “I haven’t felt this in a very long time. If ever.” She turned to her. “Thank you for sharing this with me.”
“Anytime.” Kyler took a step away from her. “Are you ready to head back?”
“I guess.” She paused a beat. They should go their separate ways, yes. But she was feeling too peaceful to want to part from her company. “Let me buy you dinner?”
Kyler nodded in the darkness. “Sure. Dinner sounds good.”
Yes. They were friends. Friends shared dinner.
Chapter Twenty-five
Kyler stood with her back to the propane heater, her gaze on the Christmas tree lights but her thoughts on Lexie Walton. Thoughts that made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She smiled at that, but the feelings didn’t go away. No, the feelings didn’t go away and that scared her.
She moved away from the heater, going to turn on some lights and break the spell she seemed to be under. She twisted the cap off a water bottle and sat down on the sofa, her gaze again going to the tree. She remembered holding hands with Lexie as they stared at the stars. That warm, fuzzy feeling came back. Why in the hell were they holding hands? It was her fault. She’d taken her hand and hadn’t let go.
The sunset. The stars. The shadows. Only the two of them up there on Skyline Drive. Sitting close. Holding hands. She could admit it now. She had wanted to kiss her. So much so that she’d felt herself tremble at the thought. Lexie must have felt it too because she’d pulled away. What the hell kind of game were they playing? They had a budding friendship starting, yes, but friends didn’t hold hands. A budding friendship didn’t involve subtle flirting. She’d been around Lexie enough to know that she was playful, teasing—and, yes, they flirted. Like at the Sunday football parties, their impromptu dinner at the bar was no different. Lexie flashed that flirty smile time and again. Then other things—their knees touching against the bar, out of Mark’s sight, quick squeezes of fingers while talking, lingering glances. They were both guilty. But perhaps they felt safe at the bar, with people around, with Mark there.
If she had driven Lexie home, she could imagine a hot and heavy kiss in her Jeep. The heat—the electricity—between them was sizzling by the time the evening came to an end. At least in her mind. Perhaps Lexie felt it too. She had stood, her gaze holding Kyler’s for a long moment. What she was trying to find there, Kyler didn’t know. Then Lexie had touched her shoulder, squeezing it gently before smiling and wishing her a goodnight.
Mark had teased her. “Oh, yeah, sexual infatuation.”
She could have denied it, but hell, Mark was her best friend. “I’m attracted to her, yes. A little crush.”
“But she’s not your type.”
“Are you patronizing me?”
“Just repeating your words.”
He had poured a splash of whiskey in two glasses—the pecan praline they liked—and touched her glass in a silent toast, his eyes twinkling as he’d smiled at her.
She turned and stretched out on the sofa, resting her head on her hands as she watched the lights on the tree. She suddenly felt lonely. Her little cabin felt empty. She closed her eyes, wondering at the emotion that was relatively foreign to her. She had a best friend in Mark. She had an adopted family in Susan and Dale. Even Tammy and Phil treated her like family. Irene was more of a grandmother than her own had been. And now she had a new friendship with Lexie. Why did she feel lonely?
She sat up and rested her elbows on her thighs. Her phone was on the table beside the sofa and she reached for it. She had Lexie’s number. She could call. Make plans for another bike ride or something. Could she convince Lexie to get on a horse?
She put the phone down, though, and picked up the remote instead. The TV sprang to life and with a sigh she proceeded to browse through the channels. Nothing held her attention for long, but it at least distracted her. Somewhat.
Chapter Twenty-six
“Do you mind company?”
Mark smiled at her and motioned her to sit. “The lunch crowd is gone. You want to talk about the char-broil grill I picked out? Or did you change your mind on that one?”
Lexie sat down on a barstool. “No, no. It’s great. I’ve actually started researching a few things we can add to the menu.” She held up her hand. “And I know you said baby steps and nothing too radical. Adding a grilled chicken burger is not drastic and I don’t think it’ll shock your regulars. Grilled fish on a bed of seasoned rice with grilled asparagus might.”
“I promise you, you and Kyler will be the only two who order fish. But if I can add real grilled steaks to the menu—and advertise in town—I’ll get a lot of the traffic that normally goes to the steakhouse in Alpine.”
“What about veggie fajitas?”
“We don’t even offer regular fajitas.”
“You could now.”
“Again, you’ll be the only one who would order veggie fajitas.”
“I think people want to eat healthier. Why not give them a choice?”
He shrugged. “I suppose we could try it.” He wiped at the already clean bar. “So what’s up?”
She leaned her elbows on the table. “Can I get a beer?”
“Mom let you off work?”
“What work? There’s nothing to do. Only five rooms are occupied. I think there’ll be twelve for the weekend.”
“The two weeks around Christmas are full, aren’t they?” He filled a mug from the tap and slid it to her.
“Yes. Totally booked. Then after the New Year, nothing. And I mean nothing.”
“Yeah. January and February are dead. The campground is pretty empty too.”
“Do you stay open regular hours?”
“No. We close on Sunday and Monday those months.”
“I can’t believe you’re open seven days a week as it is.” She looked around at the nearly empty room. A man and woman sat at a booth, looking at their phones and not each other. “Of course, it is after three. Did you have much of a lunch c
rowd?”
“I wouldn’t call it a crowd, no, but we served a few. What’s wrong? Are you bored already?”
“Not bored, no. I should have gone on a bike ride or something. The weather is so nice.”
“So do it. I’m sure Kyler would love to go.”
“I don’t want to call Kyler. I feel like I’m pestering her. She didn’t ask for this job of keeping me entertained.” She took a swallow of the cold beer.
“I don’t think she minds.”
“I see enough of her. I should buy one of those park passes so I can go out alone.”
He frowned. “Are you avoiding her?”
She looked up sharply. “Why would you think that?”
“Why else wouldn’t you want to go on a bike ride with her?”
She held her hand up. “I know what you’re thinking.”
He smiled. “Yeah. I told you you’d like her.”
“No. I do not like her. I mean, yes, obviously I like her. But you’ve got to get it out of your mind that something romantic is going to happen with us. It’s not. Neither of us are interested in that, Mark. We’re too different.”
“Then why are you avoiding her?”
“I’m not avoiding her,” she said a little louder than she intended. Damn, why had she brought it up in the first place? Yes, of course she was avoiding her. That was obvious. She didn’t know why, really. Well, she knew why. It was the sunset. It was—damn, it was Venus. It was all of that. She was attracted to her. Yes, she could admit that. She didn’t want to be attracted to her, though. So, what better way to quell that than to avoid her. She hadn’t seen her in three days. She’d intentionally stayed away from the bar, choosing to have dinner with her parents each night, knowing that Kyler would most likely be here. And that’s why she came over now—at three in the afternoon—knowing she didn’t normally pop over until after five.
“Speak of the devil.” He motioned with his head to the door.
Instead of turning around, she looked in the mirror, seeing the familiar red Jeep pull to a stop. Damn.