“We’d need a helicopter,” he muttered. Amanda burst out laughing.

“Excuse me, what?”

“I’d show you the whole valley from the air. It’s beautiful, but we’d need a helicopter. I’m good, but I’m not gonna charter a helicopter on short notice good.”

“So much for the Pleasant name. Can’t even get a spontaneous helicopter. What the fuck am I going to tell my family? You made promises, Sam.” She smiled wide until he glanced over at her, a smile spreading across his gorgeous face. The smile faded after a moment though and he was quiet. Amanda decided it was a good idea to give him some time just to be in his head. God knew she could use a moment to pull it together after their speedy exodus from the bar.

They drove back to the ranch. Amanda tried not to let disappointment overtake her, but to her surprise Sam drove past the lodge. They drove deeper into the property, up a dirt road, up a slowly rising incline. About halfway up the hill there was a lone cabin. The lights were off, but from one of the windows she could see a fire going in the fireplace. They drove past the cabin and further past a small clearing. The ride continued on and on and seemed to go all the way up the foothills into the mountains. Sam cut the engine, then tilted his head a bit.

“Come on.”

Amanda climbed out and followed Sam to the back of the car. They leaned against the trunk and she could immediately see why he’d brought her there. It was butt-ass cold out, but you could see almost the whole ranch from where they stood and what felt like almost every star in the sky along with the enormous waning moon. They stood side by side, only touching arm to arm. For the moment it was enough.

“I don’t really have a place,” Sam said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t have a place. Usually when I come back I go to the house and I go to the ranch. I don’t, like, go out much and all my childhood spots aren’t really private.”

“People don’t see me,” she said suddenly, since they were back to confessing things.

“In what way?”

“People actually don’t see me. I mean, it’s partly my fault. Well, no, it’s entirely my fault. I’ve made a habit out of being invisible. It didn’t occur to me that people would be trying to pap you in your hometown. No one ever cares what I’m doing. Definitely not enough to sneak photos. I’m sorry that happened.”

“I didn’t expect that either. A lot’s changed in the last couple of weeks.”

“It’s amazing what one statue can do.”