She blushed, and her eyes shifted down, so she was looking at me through her lashes. It looked like Shy Lily was back. Shy Lily had made an appearance when we’d first started dating, I found her irresistible then and was glad to see that I still did. I winked at her again, just to watch her blush one more time.

“So, where are we going?” she finally asked.

“You have to wait and see,” I said as I turned down her parents’ circular driveway and headed for the road. I was taking her to the restaurant where we’d had our first date. But this time, I didn’t have to borrow money from Jed to pay for it.

“Oooh, I’m gonna guess,” she announced, making me laugh.

“Go for it.”

“Are we going up the mountain or into Portland?”

“No questions. Just guessing. Better hurry. Time is almost up,” I teased.

“Hard-ass. Fine, hmmmmm.” She drew it out, probably waiting to see which direction I turned once we got onto Main Street. I turned toward the mountain and away from the city to merge onto the highway and the “hmmm” stopped. “Are we going to the Riverview Grille?”

I took my eyes off the road for a brief second to smile at her and saw tears briefly fill her eyes. She remembered. But then again, how could she forget?

“Oh, Luke.” She reached over and placed her hand on my thigh. I gripped her hand and squeezed briefly. She interlaced her fingers with mine and held on. We held hands until we arrived thirty minutes later. The drive was quiet, we were both lost in memories. Every so often she would squeeze my hand, and I would squeeze back, and she’d smile at me.

I pulled into the parking lot. She knew where we were going, but I still had a surprise in store. “Stay put. I’m coming around to get you.” I quickly went around to open her door and help her down. She took my hand, and we headed inside.

The Riverview Grille was the event destination around here. If you had something to celebrate and money to spend, you came here. It stood alone, overlooking the Sweetbriar River. It was, like almost everything else around here, designed with a mountain theme in mind. Lots of dark wood inside and out, from the floors to the beams that lined the ceiling. Floor-to-ceiling double-paned windows opened the rear of the restaurant to the view of the river.