Forever Wild. Allyson Charles

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СКАЧАТЬ will if we drive hell for leather.”

      They hit the huge parking lot. It was probably half a mile just to the van. “Look, it’s nice of you to want me to make my meeting, but we have to face facts. It’s a long drive to Pineville. There just isn’t time.”

      She tossed her long curls over her shoulder and gave him the side-eye. “O ye of little faith. Give me the keys and I promise you we’ll make it with minutes to spare.”

      * * * *

      “We’re not going to make it.” Dax’s defeatist attitude had been bringing Lissa to ever-more-frequent eye rolls, but this time, she feared he might be right.

      She checked the dashboard clock. Even if Dax defied every traffic law known to man, it wouldn’t matter. They’d have to defy the laws of physics to get to Michigan in time.

      “If you’d let me drive—”

      “I told you, I can’t.” Dax gripped the steering wheel. “You’re not an authorized driver for Forever Friends.”

      “Well, if you’d gone more than five miles over the speed limit, we might have had a chance.” Really, the man was more conservative than her fifth-grade teacher, and that had been the one year she’d been enrolled in Catholic school with a ruler-wielding nun at the head of the class.

      “If it was just you and me, maybe I would have driven a bit faster.” He jerked a thumb toward the back of the van. “But I don’t want the dogs getting tossed around like a load of laundry.”

      Lissa sighed. Why did everything he said have to sound so reasonable? It was really hard to hold his stick-in-the-mud attitude against him when he was acting to protect the animals. Still, no reason to let him stay in his mud pit. “Well, since we’re no longer driving under a ticking clock, how about we have a little fun? This website I was looking at shows the roadside attractions on our way.”

      “I’m really not in the mood to look at a big ball of yarn.”

      “Okay.” She opened her phone. “I think we can do better than that. Besides, the dogs need to stretch their legs, right?”

      Dax’s shoulders unclenched a notch. They lowered from right below his ears to only halfway tensed. “Yeah. And I need to text Mr. Cooke to tell him I won’t make the meeting. Better to do that sooner rather than later.”

      “And because you’ll have fun,” she cajoled. “There’s the world’s largest bottle of ketchup?” She looked at his raised eyebrow and then checked for more options. “Okay, how about the Museum of Initiation Pranks? Or the world’s largest knitting needles? That would be a good match for the giant ball of yarn.”

      He pursed his lips, considering.

      They were sinful lips on a man. Lissa’s artist brain cataloged his features. The bottom one was full, with a small cleft running down the middle that begged for a tongue to trace. The upper one was a bit thinner, making him look strong, decisive. Even though the most boring words seem to pour out of them, if Lissa let her mind drift and just watched those lips as they moved, she could imagine all sorts of sexy things coming from that mouth.

      “Initiation pranks sounds promising,” he said, drawing her from her fantasy, “but I don’t want to leave the dogs in the van while we wander around a museum. And unless I can climb those knitting needles, no, thanks.”

      She dragged her gaze from his mouth and scrolled down the screen on her phone. “Okay, how about …. oh!” She clutched his arm. “A replica of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Though how anyone can claim to make a replica of an ancient wonder of the world when no one knows how it actually looked is beyond me. But the pictures of the garden look gorgeous!” She held her phone up for him to see.

      He spared it a quick glance before focusing back on the road. “If you say so. A garden sounds like a good spot for the dogs to take a break.”

      She pulled up the directions. “It’s about forty-five minutes away. Let’s stop for some food first. I’d love to eat lunch in the garden.”

      They stopped at a deli, and by the time they pulled up at the garden, Lissa’s stomach was growling, and a dog in the back was barking nonstop.

      Dax sighed as he put the van in park. “That Bluetick is a whiner.”

      “No one likes to be cooped up.” Lissa hopped out of the van and shut the door. She hiked her backpack up higher on her shoulder and bounced on her toes. The garden was hidden by an eight-foot stone wall. Tendrils of ivy and honeysuckle draped over the rough-hewn limestone blocks. A gatehouse stood at a narrow opening in the wall. It looked like the front steps of a fairy castle, and Lissa’s fingers itched to sketch it.

      “Let’s get the dogs walked and fed.” She met Dax at the back doors. “I can’t wait to go inside the garden.” Her stomach gurgled and her cheeks flushed hot.

      Dax smiled, and the warmth she felt in her cheeks spread throughout her body. “You go ahead,” he said. “I’ll take care of the dogs and meet you inside.”

      “Are you sure?” She craned her head and looked toward the gatehouse. The parking lot was empty except for two other vehicles. The gardens would be nearly deserted. Just her and her sketch pad and a roast beef sandwich.

      Dax swung the doors open and greeted the dogs. A barrage of barking knocked Lissa back on her heels. “I’m sure,” he said. Placing one hand on the floor of the van, he hopped inside in one smooth leap. He gathered up the leashes. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this. Go get some food inside you.”

      “Thanks!” She trotted to the front gate and paid the entrance fee.

      The elderly ticket taker informed her that the gardens were maintained by the local horticultural society. She pressed a glossy brochure into Lissa’s hand along with her ticket. “Enjoy, honey.”

      Lissa nodded and ducked her head to step under the low arch of the entrance.

      The temperature dropped as if she’d stepped into a refrigerator as she took three steps down to the garden proper. Her mouth dropped right along with it as she tried to take it all in. Along the walls, thick slabs of limestone jutted out at varying levels, vines trailing off the ledges. Raised beds dotted the gardens, overflowing with ferns and brightly colored flowers. The air was fragrant and sweet, and she inhaled deeply, feeling like Eve in Eden.

      She wanted to stay there forever.

      Lissa strolled under one of the outcroppings, brushing a tendril of ivy from her cheek. She pressed a hand against the chilled stone wall and felt her heartbeat slow.

      Heaven. It reminded her a bit of the courtyards of New Orleans. Verdant wildness restrained by artistic vision. She forgot her grumbling stomach and looked for the best vantage point.

      On the far side of the garden, she hopped over a burbling stream and climbed the incline until she hit the wall. She turned and found the view she wanted. But not the perfect angle. Frowning, she sidestepped. Nope. Using her hands to frame the setting, she backed up until her pack hit a ledge. Still not a high-enough vantage point.

      She glanced at the limestone slabs next to her. Four of them jutted out from the wall at increasing heights, Almost like a staircase for a giant. СКАЧАТЬ