Summer Love

Chapter 19

***

“A picnic dinner?”

“And it involves hiking.”

Lisa laughed. “Okay, so that’s a first for me. Mount Bonnell again?”

“No, no. The 360 Bridge,” she said. “Pennybacker.” Roseanne glanced at her. “We’ll catch the sunset. Nice views of Lake Austin too.”

The October evening was pleasant, and they both wore jeans. Roseanne wore her lightweight hiking boots, but Lisa wore the only pair of tennis shoes she owned. She raised her eyebrows sceptically when Roseanne parked near a No Parking sign.

“Yeah, so it’s not really an official viewpoint,” she said with a grin.

Lisa shook her head. “You’re going to get towed.”

“No, I won’t. There are other cars here. People do this all the time.” Roseanne got out and moved to the back of the Jeep, pulling out a picnic basket and a blanket.

Lisa still hesitated. “Rosie, are you sure it’s okay?”

“I’m sure,” Roseanne said. “Come on Lis, it’ll be fun,” she winked. “Sunset is around seven.”

Lisa put her fears of getting towed and ticketed aside and followed Roseanne to a trail between the trees. It was a steep hike, and she held on to the junipers as her feet slipped on the rocks. But ten minutes later they were at the top. And the view was breath-taking.

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Pretty awesome, isn’t it?”

Lisa turned in all directions, seeing the Austin skyline in the near distance, watching a boat speed by on the lake below, then turning to the west where the sun was already beginning to turn the landscape a gorgeous orange.

She took a deep breath, absorbing it all. How had she lived in this city for the better part of seventeen years and never even heard of this place? She glanced over at Roseanne, who was busy spreading out a blanket so they’d have an unobstructed view of the sunset. There were two other couples there, both with the same plan as them, apparently. One couple was sitting on some rocks near the edge. The other couple also had a blanket, but they were farther back against the trees.

Lisa joined Roseanne on the blanket, crossing her legs at the ankles and hugging her knees. She had a smile on her face as she watched Roseanne pull items from the basket, including a bottle of wine.

“Cheap sangria,” Roseanne said. “To go with our tacos.”

Paper plates, plastic forks, several foil-wrapped tacos and a tub of rice. A paper bag with grease stains contained fresh tortilla chips and a white Styrofoam cup held the salsa.

“But I did remember wineglasses this time,” Roseanne said. “Well, sort of.”

Lisa was completely charmed by Roseanne’s picnic, plastic wine cups and all. And if they’d been alone, she would have leaned over and kissed her right then.

“It’s nothing fancy,” Roseanne said almost apologetically.

“I don’t need fancy,” she said as she picked up a cup and the bottle of sangria. “It’s perfect like this.”

And it was. It was a comfortable, intimate silence as they ate dinner, their gazes alternating between the approaching sunset and each other. Flirty smiles and accidental touches caused Lisa to wish they were truly alone. She had a need to be close to Roseanne, to touch her unabashedly, to kiss her. As their eyes found each other more often than the sunset, Lisa realised Roseanne was feeling the same. But hushed conversations from the other couples around them, made her resist her urges.