“Kendall, Jude is panicking,” Lincoln said matter-of-factly.“But that’s okay because we’re here.”
“How the hell do we get up there?”Jude asked.
“Well, I don’t think it’s a great idea for you to come up here.I came up here to fix the weak boards?—”
“—and fell through,” Jude finished.
“You can say ‘I told you so.’Youdidtell me so,” I said.
“I wasn’t going to say that,” Jude muttered.
“He was going to tell you he loves you,” Lincoln offered, his tone teasing.
“Well, Idolove you,” Jude said, locking eyes with me from below.
“And, I love you.”I blinked rapidly to keep from crying.
“Oh, whatever,” Tommy muttered.“This is getting sappy.How do we help?”
“Nowthat’sthe pertinent question,” Lincoln said dryly.“Specifically, we need an articulating ladder.”
“What’s an ar-tic-u-lat-ing ladder?”Tommy asked, saying the new-to-him word slowly.
“You’ll see,” Lincoln said.“They’re pretty handy.
“We’ve got plenty of ladders,” Jude said.“Follow me.Stay in place.Don’t move,” he ordered, glancing back up at me.
“I can’t,” I pointed out.The only reason I hadn’t fallen through was that my shoulder was wedged against a beam braced to the wall.My arms were shaking at the effort to keep myself wedged in place.
They hustled.I didn’t know what the plan was until I saw it—two articulating ladders with a piece of plywood on top of them creating a platform beneath me with two more ladders on each side of the barn wall closest to me.
Lincoln eyed Tommy.“You arenotclimbing,” Lincoln explained.“Your job is to watch the platform and make sure it stays stable.Also, keep an eye on the ladder feet, we’ve put rubber braces on them.”
“You know,” Jude added, “you really should build a staircase up here.”
“Wehadone.On the other side, but it’s not helpful right now,” I said.
“I know what our project is this weekend,” Lincoln said.“Fixing all the flooring and stairs for this hayloft.”
“Exactly,” Jude said.
A few minutes later, Lincoln and Jude were making their way up the ladders.
“You’re not wrong.All the flooring around you is weak,” Lincoln said.
“I know.”I bit back a sigh.
“The last thing we need is for one of us to fall through,” Jude added.
Within minutes, Asher, Grady, Haven, and Cole showed up.“It’s all the Silver boys,” I said to myself.
“Elsa told me people in town call us that,” Haven said to Cole.
“Well, wearethe Silver boys,” Cole replied.
I couldn’t help the snort of laughter.Lincoln appeared beside me with Jude on the other side.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Jude said.
