Page 31 of The Warmth of Our Closest Star

“It smells like—”

“Cow shit?” Peter quipped. “Fertilizer?”

I laughed, forgetting my sudden concern with what I’d been thinking.

“It smells like nature,” I said. “Don’t be disrespectful of this beautiful countryside.”

“Nature meaning cow shit?” Peter let go of my hand to jab a finger into my side playfully.

I chuckled and swatted at his hand. “No. Stop that. It’s beautiful.”

Peter jabbed his finger into my ribs a few more times impishly, but his hand finally returned to mine and our fingers twined together once more. He turned his head briefly to gaze into my eyes.

“It is beautiful,” he said. “I can’t think of a person I’d rather share this with, Enzo.”

As he turned his eyes back to the road, he lifted my hand and kissed the back of it passionately before grinning out at the road that raced up to meet the car. Somehow, I managed to speak around the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat.

“I can’t either.”

“It’ll do for one night, right?” Peter asked as we entered the suite. “It’s nice enough.”

Setting the duffle bag on the floor at the end of the bed, filled with our combined changes of clothes and toiletries, I look around the room. The suite at the lodge where Peter had made reservations wasn’t much larger than a standard hotel room. However, the king-size bed looked comfortable, covered in fresh, clean linens. Two comfortable chairs sat in the corner by the glass door that led out onto a balcony. Lake Superior was a mere stone’s throw from it. From anywhere in the room, we had views of the lake.

“Somehow I will manage,” I stuck my nose in the air.

Peter laughed. “Turd.”

I gave him a wink. “It’s wonderful, Peter. Amazing view.”

He turned to look through the wall of glass on the other side of the room. After our breakfast in Duluth, we drove less than an hour up the highway along the lake to Castle Danger to the lodge we’d be staying at that overlooked Lake Superior. Comprised of timbers and imposing as it sat upon the shore, the lodge proved to be quaint and homey inside. The rooms were warm and somewhat out of date, though I felt that was intended to seem more charming. There were few frills, but the lodge was meant to be a relaxing getaway for people, not thrilling. It was perfect.

“I thought,” Peter said as he sauntered across the room to stand by the windows and stare out at the lake, “you would enjoy sleeping in a room like this. Where we could keep the curtains open and see the stars as we drifted off.”

Staring at the back of Peter’s head, haloed in the brilliant sunlight that poured through the windows and cast metallic ribbons of gold on the lake beyond, the lump in my throat had returned.

“In the morning, we can have breakfast sent up before we leave,” Peter said, the corner of his smile visible as he explained himself and stared out at the lake. “We can sit on the balcony with our coffee and watch the sunrise.”

He turned to me.

“It seemed like it might be nice,” he shrugged. “There’s a brewery up the road. I know you don’t drink, but I thought we could stop by there tonight for a pre-dinner drink for me. Then we can go to one of the small restaurants and try the local food. After, we can come back here. Be sweet—or not so sweet—somewhere new.”

He smiled at me. Though I would have expected wickedness in the curve of his lips, the gesture implied something else. Something longing and warm. Something that I felt in my chest that was reflected on his face. A thing that scared me. An answer to why I didn’t mind relinquishing control to Peter.

“That sounds perfect,” I managed to say. “I can drive if you have too many drinks.”

He laughed. “I’ll try to show restraint.”

“The room is beautiful,” I said. “The view is gorgeous.”

Peter turned back to the windows with a smile and gazed out at the lake.

“I wasn’t certain,” he said, reaching up to scratch his head, “since you can’t trust pictures of hotels online, but it did turn out perfect, didn’t it?”

“It’s exactly what I would have chosen. It could not be better.”

Suddenly, he was turning back to me, excited.

“Just wait,” he said. “You might not have noticed, but I saw an ice cream stand down by the lake. We’ll go get an ice cream cone and walk along the beach and—”