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Aiden grinned, typing out a quick response.
AIDEN: Easy sounds just fine. Just looking forward to hanging out again. You an early bird?
NORA: Always. What’s early for you?
AIDEN: Six a.m.? I can meet you at the inn, pick you up.
NORA: Sounds like a plan!
Aiden set his phone down, feeling a flush of elation that warmed him through and through, despite the chill in the shed. He’d wondered how she’d take the suggestion, but it was clear she was excited about it. And he was too. More than anything, he was excited to show her something that she couldn’t get in Boston.
Something that she could only do with him here, in Evergreen Hollow.
Nora felt a thrill of excitement as she came downstairs, the graying early morning light just starting to come through the windows as she poured herself a thermos of hot coffee and tugged her boots on. She hadn’t been hiking in a long time, and she was a little worried about her ability to keep up, but she felt confident Aiden wouldn’t mind. She was looking forward to spending time with him doing something different.
She’d been telling the truth when she said she was an early riser, but usually she was still tired, getting upthisearly. This morning though, she felt as if she were buzzing even without the coffee, eager to see Aiden and head out on the trail. She felt as if she had more energy than she’d had in a long time.
The sound of truck tires over snow and gravel came from outside, and she sprang up out of her chair, grabbing the thermos and going to the front door. Aiden was idling outside, waiting for her, and she headed over to the passenger side and jumped in.
“I brought all the gear we might need,” Aiden said conversationally, as he backed out of the driveway and turned onto the road. “There’s a pretty easy trail that goes up to a hill at the edge of the woods. It’s a nice place to see the sun rise.”
“I like the sound of that.” Nora flashed him a smile. “I haven’t taken the time to enjoy that sort of thing as much as I should have, I think.”
“Well, if there’s anything worth getting up this early on a day off for, it’s seeing a sunrise over Evergreen Hollow.” Aiden grinned. “I’ve always been an early riser, but this is a bit more than even I’m accustomed to.”
“Me too,” Nora admitted, laughing. “But I’m glad we decided to do this. It’ll be a fun experience.”
She glanced over at him as he pulled onto the main road, enjoying the light banter. It amazed her how well and how easily they got along, when they hadn’t really known each other all that well before. It made her wonder what might have been different, if she’d approached him in high school instead of waiting for him to approach her, if something might have happened with them then. She could have skipped all the drama with Rob, not wasted years on a relationship that in the end, she’d found out had never meant as much to him as it had to her.
But then I wouldn’t have left Evergreen Hollow,she thought, looking back out at the highway with a confused feeling in her stomach. So much of her life and her identity was tied up in that moment—the one where she’d stuck to her plans and left, no matter what anyone else had to say about it. When she’d taken charge of her life andmadeit what she wanted it to be. Aiden had even said he was impressed with that, with her ability to stick to her goals and insist on her life being what she’d dreamed of.
Where would she be, if she’d stayed instead of going to Boston with Rob? Would she have been happy if she hadn’t left Evergreen Hollow?
The question swirled in her mind as they drove, and she still hadn’t settled on an answer to it by the time they reached the trailhead and Aiden parked, killing the engine and coming around to open her door.
It was beautiful, every bit as much as she’d expected it to be—and more. The snowy vista stretched out in front of them, pristine and smooth, their boots sinking in the thick drifts as they started off. The trees were shadowy in the early dawn light, the cold sharp and biting, but she found that she didn’t mind. The entire world felt quiet around them, narrowed down to justher and Aiden, and she felt her mind go quiet too. It felt easier than usual to leave her worries back with the truck, all the things crowding her thoughts, and just enjoy the moment.
Aiden reached for her hand, helping her over a patch where several branches had fallen into the path, and her heart leapt in her chest. She could feel the warmth of his palm through her glove, his hand broad and solid around hers, and she felt safe. Her pulse beat quickly in her throat, even after he let go, and when he did it again, she felt the same rush.
“This hike is one of my favorites for clearing my head,” Aiden said as they walked, looking ahead to the trees in front of them. “Not too tough, but still requires enough focus that you need to leave all that other stuff behind. And it’s so quiet out here, especially in early morning. Winter is my favorite time for it, believe it or not.”
“You really have to like the cold to enjoy this,” Nora said, laughing, and Aiden nodded.
“Nothing clears the mind like a brisk winter walk.” He glanced over at her. “What about you? What do you do to relax? Back in Boston, I mean.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m not great at relaxing,” Nora admitted. “But I do like being at home. Curling up with some tea and a bad tv show is always a favorite. Or a day at the spa. A good massage makes a lot of things better.”
Aiden chuckled. “No spa out here. But I hear there’s a nice hot spring a couple hours’ drive away. I haven’t been there myself, but I’ve heard it’s a nice place to relax.”
“That does sound nice.” Nora paused, letting him help her over another rough patch, the path starting to turn a little steep as they got closer to the hill. “I was just thinking that, though—that this is really good for getting a break from all the stress. It’s so beautiful and peaceful out here. I never hiked much when I lived here before, but this starts to make me wish I had.”
“Why not?” Aiden glanced at her, and Nora shrugged.
“I have a really bad sense of direction,” she admitted, and they both laughed.
For a little while, they fell into companionable silence as they walked. Nora looked around as they went further into the trees, seeing it with new eyes. She’d never really appreciated it before, feeling hemmed in by how rural it all was, how far away from ‘civilization.’ But after spending so long in the city, she found that she could appreciate the quiet better. The beauty of it seemed fresh and new, like she was seeing it all for the first time.
In a way, she supposed that she really was.
