18 – Yellowstone

They arrived at Yellowstone by midday. As they passed through the east entrance, Felicity swore she felt the sheer age of the land around them. It echoed in her very bones, whispering of thousands of years of history. She sat in humbled silence as they entered the park.

Apparently noticing the absence of chatter, Ben raised an eyebrow at her while he drove. "You, too, huh?"

"I can't even explain it. We haven't seen anything yet, and I'm overwhelmed," she admitted. "I don't think I'll ever forget this."

Ben smiled and took her hand. "We should get some gas."

"I need to buy more film, too. The first store we find, I'm getting a dozen rolls."

Their first stop was the Fishing Bridge General Store. Felicity browsed the available items while Ben gassed up the car, moving from rack to rack and trying to decide if she ought to buy one of those touristy Yellowstone T-shirts.

Ben entered the store just as she finished purchasing her items. He pulled a crumpled fistful of bills from his pocket and came to the register to pay for the gas. "Find anything you liked?" he asked as the cashier rang him out.

"Yeah. I got my film, and a T-shirt, and something for you."

He grinned at her, eyes lighting up. "Really? You didn't have to do that. What is it?"

"I wanted to," she responded as they left the store. They got back into the car, and she handed him a small bag. "Open it."

With a pleased smile, he overturned the bag and let its contents fall into his palm: a new, butter-soft leather wallet. The clerk had told Felicity the wallet was handmade by a local craftsman who'd been doing it for years, and who turned out the best leatherwork this side of the Mississippi. Ben's eyes came up to meet hers, looking doubtful. "Felicity, this had to be expensive."

"Don't you like it?"

Instantly, he looked apologetic. "Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing. I like it, I really do." He looked down at the wallet, thumbing the smooth grain of the leather. "No one's ever just given me something this nice."

"It's—It's just a wallet," she stammered, feeling self-conscious now. "And you needed one, anyway."

He looked up at her then, with his gaze unreadable. His expression relaxed gradually into a broad smile, and he leaned across the seat to give her a soft kiss. "It's the nicest wallet there is. Thank you."

She grinned. "You're welcome."

- - - - -

Their next stop was the Lake area, where Ben said he had a surprise waiting for her. The last few minutes of their drive, he made her keep her eyes closed. Growing impatient with excitement, she shifted in her seat. "Can I look yet?"

"Nope. Keep your eyes shut. No peeking, keep them shut."

"Come on, the suspense is killing me!"

Moments later, she felt the car draw to a stop. "Okay, you can look now."

Felicity opened her eyes. Through the windshield, Yellowstone Lake glittered in the sun, stretching away in a gorgeous vista. Looking behind her, she saw a scatter of tiny cabins, half-hidden in the pines. The one closest to them had a tidy little pot of blue flowers sitting on the stoop and a rustic sign that read "Maples" on the door. "What's this?"

"This is where we're staying through Sunday night," Ben told her, looking triumphant. "I booked it while we were still in Washington."

"What? You're kidding! Ben, there's no way we have the money for a place like this! How did you get it?"

"Don't worry about it. I saved enough. We're probably going to be eating peanut butter and jelly, but at least we have a nice place to stay," he grinned.

Her mouth dropped open. "It's amazing! It's—It's just so beautiful!" She launched herself across the seat and hugged him hard. "Thank you!"

Laughing, he hugged her back. "You're welcome. Let's get out of this car now. I don't know about you, but it's going to be nice to stay put for a few days."

"And in a place like this!" she enthused, grabbing her backpack and getting out. The smell of pines soaked into her soul as soon as she opened the door. Felicity took a deep breath of the crisp breeze. "Oh, I could just live here. Do we really have to leave?"

"Not until Monday morning." He smiled again and opened the trunk to get their bags. "I thought after we unpacked, maybe we could go for a hike around the lake and bring a late lunch or an early dinner with us."

"That sounds perfect."

Ben unlocked the cabin. "Each one of the cabins is named after a kind of trees. The ones around the bend there, right on the water, are a lot pricier. They're the popular ones too. I was going to try and get one, but they were booked full weeks ago." He swung the door open.

The spicy tang of cedar greeted them as they entered the main room of the cabin. Felicity looked around the interior, beaming. A hand-hewn cedar dining set held sway over a tiny kitchen furnished with 50's-era appliances. In the adjacent living room, a comfortable-looking couch draped with plaid blankets invited her to sit and read a book before the cast-iron wood stove. The walls of the cabin were exposed hewn log. Here and there, an outdoorsy painting hung upon the otherwise sparsely decorated walls. "Wow," she breathed, setting her bags down and crossing into the living room with an awestruck sigh of wonder. "Ben… This is… Wow." When he didn't answer, she turned back around.

Grinning broadly, Ben kicked the door shut behind him and set his bags down. "You, speechless? I guess you must like it."

She ran toward him, giggling with sheer exuberance, and threw her arms around his neck. "I absolutely love it!"

Ben laughed at her enthusiasm, sliding his arms around her waist. He gave her a soft kiss and rested his forehead against hers. "I'm glad."

"I'm never going to go on a vacation again—anywhere, ever—without remembering this minute," she grinned.

Ben gave her another peck on the lips and stepped away to pick up his bags, hefting them onto his shoulder. "That's good, because I have this whole thing planned out for this afternoon. I think you're going to like it. Hiking, boating. The guy who I booked with said we could check out guided tours at the visitor's centers. Supposedly the lake tour takes an hour, but it's amazing."

"You really put a lot of effort into this."

He flashed a smile at her and shrugged his free shoulder. "I just thought it would be fun, is all."

"Ben, you really did. I'm… I guess I'm trying to say how much that means to me." She gave him an earnest smile.

He met her eyes for a brief moment before looking away, rubbing a hand through his short hair in a familiar gesture of awkwardness. Felicity warmed to the sight. He's embarrassed that I think he's so sweet! Giddy, she followed him toward the bedroom.

The large, cedar-log bed looked so comfortable, she wanted to sink into it even though she wasn't even close to tired. It was covered in a beautiful rustic quilt in barn red, ticking stripe, and denim blue, and piled high with cushy pillows. Felicity dropped her bags by the tall oak chest of drawers and lay down, sinking into the soft featherbed with a long, heartfelt sigh. "Okay, this is it. I've officially died and gone to heaven."

Ben looked around the room. "Wow, check it out. The bedroom even has a wood stove."

Felicity looked. Sure enough, the corner of the room had its own tiny glass-fronted potbelly stove. A large copper bucket filled with logs and kindling waited beside it. "Pinch me," she moaned. "This is way too good to be true."

Ben sat down beside her and immediately flopped onto his back with a weary groan of appreciation. "This, now, this is a bed. Not like those cement slabs we've been sleeping on. Come here." He stretched an arm around her and tugged her toward him with an inviting smile.

Laughing, Felicity rolled onto her belly and propped herself on his chest.

Ben curled his arms around her. "That's better, don't you think?"

"It doesn't get any better than this," she agreed, kissing him.

Ben flashed another of those grins that she loved. "What do you say we take a quick trip to the store, pick up some food for the weekend, then come back and have a nice long walk around that lake?"

She kissed him again and sat up. "I say, sign me up."