“Fine, fuckface. Have it your way,” I grumbled causing him to laugh.
A few minutes later, I was on the back of his bike and we were on the road. As much as I wanted to pout about not knowing where we were going, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face as the wind whipped around me while I clung to Jonah’s body.
It suddenly hit me that I didn’t have much time left in Devil Springs. In all the years I’d worked as a traveling nurse, I’d never let myself become involved with anyone beyond casual relationships. Even my friendships were superficial. I never opened up or shared anything personal because I knew my stay would be temporary, but somehow, Jonah Jackson managed to break all of my rules.
I tried to shake off the sense of sadness that washed over me and enjoy the ride, but my mind kept wandering back to how much I was going to miss Jonah, Kennedy, Leigh, and the other friends I’d made in Devil Springs.
The bike came to a stop and Jonah patted my thigh indicating for me to get off. I looked up to see we were in the parking lot of a small country store.
“What’re we doing here?” I asked.
“Getting groceries.”
“And where are you planning to put those groceries?” I asked. I knew he had storage compartments on his bike, but there weren’t that many and the ones he did have were already full.
He grinned. “In my mouth.”
I rolled my eyes and followed him inside the store.
“Hey, Bruce!” Jonah exclaimed and extended his hand to an older man behind the register. “How’s it going?”
“Well, now, I suppose I can’t complain. You boys keep me and Peggy in business. Good to see you, Judge. And who’s this you’ve brought with you?”
Jonah introduced me to Bruce and I reached out to shake his hand. “She doesn’t know where we’re going, so don’t let her try to get it out of you.”
Bruce laughed. “You’re a brave man, Judge—taking a woman away for the weekend and not telling her where you’re taking her. How’s she supposed to pack?”
“See! He gets it!” I shouted.
“I sure do, and I learned it the hard way, too,” Bruce shared.
“I’m still not telling you,” Jonah declared. “Pick out what you want to eat tonight and for breakfast tomorrow and Sunday. And anything you might want for snacks.”
“What about lunch and dinner tomorrow?”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” he said cryptically and went about gathering a few items.
After Jonah paid for the groceries, he carried the bags out to a truck parked in the lot. Before I could ask what he was doing, Bruce got into the driver’s seat and said, “I’ll follow you.”
We got back on the bike, but instead of pulling out onto the road we’d been on, Jonah took a different road that started to look more like gravel and less like road the farther we traveled. Then there were sections of the road that were so steep I was certain I would slide off the back of the bike and Bruce would run right over me.
Finally, Jonah stopped in front of a beautiful cabin. The thing was massive and appeared to be sitting directly on top of the mountain.
“Where are we?” I asked as I turned my head from side to side trying to take in as much as possible.
“Let me get the groceries from Bruce before he tries to unload them himself and then I’ll tell you.”
I followed Jonah to the truck to grab a few bags and thank Bruce for not running over me.
The inside of the cabin was just as breathtaking as the outside. I dropped the bags on the counter and ran to the huge glass window in the living room that looked out over the mountains.
“Will you tell me where we are now?”
Jonah chuckled. “We’re at my friend’s cabin. He’s actually the VP of the Croftridge chapter. Anyway, he doesn’t get up here very often so he lets other club members use it whenever he’s not. Copper actually met Layla up here.”
“But this place seems so remote. How did that even happen?”
“It’s a long story and it’s not mine to tell, but I’m sure Layla would be happy to share it with you sometime.”