We drove into a forest of spruce and fir trees. A heady forest musk clung to the moist summer air and judging by the gray clouds clearing away, broken branches, and damp roads it appeared we had arrived after a storm. After passing a National Forest sign, we made a turn and I could see the campgrounds ahead.

"Finally," I breathed.

Ben arched a brow at me. "What do you mean finally?"

"You drive like…" I was going to say an old man, but I stopped myself. "You drive really slow."

"I guess I do," he sighed. "I became a more cautious driver after my mother died in a crash."

"I'm sorry," I said feeling my cheeks redden. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"You don't have to be sorry," he said with a reassuring smile. "You didn't know."

Feeling ashamed I was at a loss for words and chewed on my lip while staring out the window. He took notice and quickly changed the conversation.

"My sister was once a park ranger here."

"Your sister?" I repeated surprised. "The same one that was Jane Austen-obsessed or the model?"

"No. Another one."

"How many sisters do you have?"

"Three, that I know of."

"Three that you know of?" I repeated.

"After my mother died my father drowned his sorrows in booze and women."

"Oh yeah. You mentioned having a stepmother before." I wrinkling my nose. "One that had a thing for you?"

"Ya," he barely muttered. He didn't continue from there and I could only assume he didn't wish to discuss her further.

"Are your sisters still alive?"

"Yes… I think. I'm not sure where they are anymore, but I believe they're still alive," he said tightening his hands on the steering wheel with a look of irritation.

"How do you not know where your sisters are? Did you have a big falling out with them?"

"No. We… we had a few issues with our stepmother," he rasped. "But I can't tell you more than that."

"Can you at least tell me if all this secrecy has anything to do with something illegal?"

His look of irritation faded as the corner of his mouth twitched and his eyes glanced at me amused. "I promise you there's nothing illegal going on."

I crossed my arms and gave him a skeptical glare. "That's somewhat of a relief."

After parking, we began unpacking. I unloaded a tent from the back of his jeep and when I found another I turned to him quizzically.

"I thought you'd want your own space," he explained taking the tents from me.

"Uh… yes," I answered ambivalently. "Thank you."

"After we set up I'll probably try to get some sleep," he said running his hands through his hair as he inspected the contents of the tent pack.

"But the sun hasn't even set," I observed. "You don't want to stay up and tell ghost stories around the campfire? Make S'mores?"

"I'm pretty tired from the drive," he explained regretfully.

I gave him a disappointed nod. "Can you at least help me build a fire before you sleep?"

"Of course. Just remember to put it out."

"You sure you don't want to stay up for just a little bit? Once the clouds clear away there will be a spectacular night sky."

"I can't," he answered abruptly and after that we again fell silent as we continued to set up our tents.

I didn't sleep that night. I had too many conflicting feelings rolling around in my head; most of them due to all the unexplained circumstances surrounding Ben. He seemed to get testy when I questioned him about his past. It was as though his feelings were still pretty raw from it; as though whatever angered him didn't happen that long ago. And then there was the whole entering my dreams thing. I tried to add logic to... any of it, but the only theory I could come up with seemed improbable.

"It can't be magic," I muttered listlessly as I snuggled into my warm sleeping bag. "But the way things don't add up and the dreams... No. That's crazy."

As sunlight began to stream through my tent window I decided to give up on any attempt to sleep and after digging my sketchbook out of my bag I stepped outside. After a small walk away from the main campsite I found a creek and sat near the edge on the driest patch of grass I could find. As the water trickled over the rocks I found myself in an almost meditative state and with a yawn looked up. Stretching skyward were several fir trees and their spiny branches stretched out above in such a way that I could only see glimpses of the sunrise. It made for an interesting view, so I began to sketch it.

"Good morning," I heard behind me.

Looking over my shoulder I saw Ben standing behind me with two coffee cups. As he sat down next to me he offered me one and placing my sketchbook aside I took it.

"Where did you get the coffee?"

"They had it at the park office," he told me. "I thought if I found you I shouldn't show up empty-handed. Especially after I behaved like such an ass last night. I'm really sorry."

I shrugged. "You seemed tired."

"It was more frustration... with myself," he admitted.

"Do you think we made a mistake?" I asked him.

"Getting married?" he clarified.

I nodded.

"No," he answered with a wounded look. "I know it's been more difficult for you than it has for me, Emilia, but I think with time maybe you will come to see me differently. In some ways, I think you already do." His gaze then drifted to my open sketchbook and fixed on my drawing. "You seem to notice what most miss," he added glancing skywards before returning his eyes to the drawing. "This is really good. I didn't realize you drew more than just designs."

"I draw lots of things, just very poorly," I smiled handing him my sketchbook. "You can look through it if you want. I've had this since I was 15, so the further you go back the worse it gets."

He began to flip through it and stopped on a self-portrait I had sketched a few years before while sitting on the dock back home. In the sketch, I was leaning over the dock and my hair was hanging down around me, but I drew it in such a way that you couldn't tell if I was looking down at my reflection or if I was falling back into the water.

"This is amazing and very surreal," he said holding it up before him. "It's hard to believe it's just a sketch."

"Thank you. It's one I'm proud of and not just because it's a sketch of myself," I joked.

"You should be proud of that too," he said as his eyes lifted from the sketch and his gaze roamed over my features. "You captured yourself beautifully."

I blushed and took back my sketchbook. "Thanks."

"So why did you chose design over traditional art?" he asked.

"Um… hmm?" I went silent in thought before answering, "I guess it was in high school when I got into design. I had played around with sewing before, making my own costumes and clothes, but my class was doing a theatrical version of Alice in Wonderland and one of my friends mentioned to the drama teacher that I could make costumes, so I got roped into making all the costume. It was fun and everyone thought I did a good job. After that I decided that's what I wanted to do, design costumes."

"And you will," he said standing to his feet and offering me his hand. "Do you want to do a little exploring?"

"Ya, that would be cool," I said taking his hand and pulling myself up. "Where to?"

"Mary's Peak."

I snickered. "Mary's Peak? I'm not sure I want to explore Mary's Peak."

"It's a mountain," he smirked and shook his head. "And you think I'm the depraved one."

I laughed.

After taking an hour's drive to Mary's Peak, we began our hike. Other than Ben naming the different sites our conversation stayed at a minimum as we became distracted by the beauty surrounding us. I felt my heart pounding as we stood on top of a towering green hill looking down at the miles of wilderness below and I breathed in the sweet scented air.

"Somewhere out that way, far in the distance, is our vineyard," he said pointing out to a wave of hills.

My heart fluttered by his use of the word 'our' instead of 'my'. It was strange to think I now had a shared life, but in some ways comforting. I knew Ben would always be there for me and though I felt I had little to offer him, I hoped I could be there for him in return… as a friend.

"There's another place I want to take you," he said taking my hand and leading me back down the path.

After a long trek down the hill, we got in his jeep and drove for about an hour west. The ocean began to appear in the distance and after a few turns we finally parked near a craggy beach.

"I grew up most of my life in Washington, but when I was a small child we lived near this beach," he told me. "Those were the best years of my life. My mother would paint while my sisters and I ran along the shore, jumping waves. I haven't been here in years." He scanned the beach below and his eyes looked dazed with distant memories. "I'm glad it hasn't changed. It still make me feel at peace."

"This is amazing," I gasped as we climbed our way down the rocks. "We don't have this in Montana."

"You act like you've never seen the ocean," he remarked as he held his hand out to help me down the last step of stones. "Haven't you been living in San Francisco?"

"Yes, but the beaches there are usually littered with people."

"Well, I've rarely seen other people the times I've been here," he said.

"Sounds like the perfect beach to me."

After walking the shoreline, we took a seat on a group of damp rocks and quietly stared out at the ocean. The waters drifting in picked up the rose, violet, and peach hues from the sunset sky and washed up on the beach in a prism of ripples. As the sky steadily grew darker the colors from the sunset grew richer and though I was cold and shivering, I was too mesmerized by the vast waters actings like a mirror to the painted sky to step away

"Are you all right?" Ben asked taking off his hoodie and offering it to me.

"Ya," I said with a grateful smile as I pulled it on and felt instantly comforted by its warmth.

As I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear I fixed my gaze on the waves that were hitting against a group of rocks. My thoughts drifted back to the wedding and the guilt I had felt over marrying someone for reasons other than love. However, that got me wondering, if Ben were younger could I fall in love with him? I wanted to deny it, but I was drawn to him. He had every quality of someone I could be happy with. But, even then I doubted I could fall in love with him or anyone at that matter. Maybe it was the artist in me that craved the emotional struggle and anguish. Love just seemed too perfect of a thing to have, even with its imperfections.

Feeling a splash of water on my cheek I lifted my hand to wipe it away, but as I felt more drops drifting down my cheek I realized it wasn't sea mist. It was my own tears.

"Sorry. Jeez," I said wiping my eyes after taking notice to Ben's worried stare. "I don't know where that came from. I guess it's because I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"I didn't either," he admitted scratching his head. After a pause he added, "You don't need to apologize, though, Emilia. If you feel like crying then let it happen."

"Have you met my family?" I questioned rhetorically. "That's just not done."

He chuckled. "Good point. I think your mother views emotions as a weakness. When I was trying to reason with Mickey's secretary on how to reorganize the filing system at the office your mother pushed me aside and got in her face like a drill sergeant. Poor girl."

"That sounds like my unpredictable mother. She's a real delight."

"Forget about them for now. Just forget about everything and feel what you want to," he said soothingly. "Allow yourself to enjoy this."

"I'll try," I sighed, glancing back at the ocean for only a moment, but my eyes were drawn back to Ben. I wasn't sure if it was the dimming lights or the way his eyes sparkled, but he almost looked as though he was growing younger before me. I found myself reaching out to touch his cheek, to feel if the wrinkles really were disappearing, but he stood and turned before I could.

"We should get back before it gets too dark," he said gravely and led me back to his jeep.

After a week of camping, we went back to his… our home. The days went by as pleasantly as they had when I had first come to stay with him. Most days I was left to my own devices —giving me time to sort out my designer's portfolio, which I could never find time to do while at school— while he worked in his office trying to mend my family's business.

I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty seeing the frustration in his eyes when he stepped out of his office every night, but he always tried to hide it from me. Even when I asked how everything was going he would usually smile and give me a response along the lines of, Great. Just the usual business of hunting down the right people.

With his time taken up fixing my family's mess of a company I rarely saw him and had become so familiar with my solitude that I was surprised when he joined me on the couch.

"Long time, no see," I said looking up from my sketchbook.

"I thought I should take a break and visit with you since you're leaving in a few days," he said taking my sketchbook from me and placing it on the table. He then took my hand, turned it palm side up, and placed a key in my hand.

"What is this?"

"It's a key to an apartment near your campus," he told me. "Your apartment."

I stared at him gaping. "I can't accept this."

"I am in full support of you finishing your degree, but I will not have my wife living in a dorm."

"I don't know what to say," I choked, nearly too stunned to speak. "Ben, I appreciate this, but I have a roommate that I can't abandon."

"I remembered you mentioning her and I already planned for that. The apartment has two bedrooms."

I shook my head and stared down at the key, stunned."This is too much."

"Please accept this," he said closing my fingers around the key. "Consider it an early birthday present."

"But I feel like I owe you. What can I give you?"

"You married me," he said. "That's more than I could ask for."

At that, I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him. Gradually he embraced me back, but once his arms were around me I wasn't sure he would ever let go. He buried his face against my neck and I felt him breathe me in as he hugged me closer.

Stunned by his affection I slowly turned my confused face to his and for a moment I thought he might kiss me. But hesitantly, he loosened his hold and moved away from me with an unreadable expression. After giving me a weak grin he stood and walked away without explanation.