“Good.”
“But it’s far from over,” I add, brushing a kiss over his stubbled cheek.
I slip out from under the press of his body and continue walking, but Fallon suddenly grabs my hips and stops my forward momentum. I immediately look down at the ground,thinking I’m about to tread on something I shouldn’t, like a copperhead.
“You ready?”
“For what?”
Fallon props his chin in the dip of my shoulder, his cheek pressing against mine. “Look straight ahead.”
I follow the direction of his gaze and am surprised by what I see in the distance. Perched high among the branches of the trees is what looks like a treehouse, only on a much grander scale. Dappled rays of sunlight throw golden patterns over the rustic wooden structure that seems to float above the forest floor. A wraparound deck circumnavigates the cabin, its large windows like paintings on massive canvases, their reflections in the glass resembling watercolors of the surrounding forest.
“Want to check it out?”
“Hell, yes,” I reply, eager to see it.
When we get closer, I notice strands of patio lights suspended in all directions from the roofline. I bet this place looks magical at night. Walking under it, I check out the post beams that were added to help support its weight and look up at the underside wood plank boards that must be fifteen feet above my head.
“This is incredible.”
“I had it built right after Connor joined the family and Aurora started popping out kids. As soon as the teenage hormones started flowing, it became their go-to party place.”
I can only imagine the trouble my kids would get up to if they knew this existed. Drinking, partying…sex. Everything the guys and I did at their age, but as a parent, everything I hope my kidsdon’tdo. It’s the irony of parental hypocrisy. Do as I say and not as I did.
But just to be on the safe side…
“Let’s not mention this place to Christopher or Charlotte.”
“Have Charlotte and Grant had?—”
Fallon chuckles when I cover his mouth with my hand. “No, thank God. Now, how do we get up?”
He reaches around me, and with a tug, he lithely catches a knotted rope when it swings down. So, this must be the climbing bit. It shouldn’t be any harder than climbing the oak tree that sat between our houses, like Jayson and I used to do all the time.
I hope.
Fallon lightly pats my ass. “Need a boost?”
I was going to say no, but if it means I get to enjoy his hands on me again…
“Sure.”
“Reach up and grab that knot,” he instructs.
When I do, gravity defies me as he lifts me like I weigh nothing. His fingers wrap around my right ankle. “Now grip this knot between your feet and use your legs to push up. Hands, then feet, like an inchworm. I’m right here with you. You won’t fall. You’re safe.”
“I know.”
Fallon has been protecting me almost my whole life, even when I wasn’t aware of it, like in high school. I was so clueless back then and hopelessly naïve about so many things. I never saw what was right in front of me.
Taking my time, the ascent is surprisingly easy, mostly due to muscle memory and all the times I took the kids to play on the climbing walls at the Highland Youth Center.
“Right above you is a door. Push upward with your shoulder.”
Fallon uses his big body to brace me from underneath, and as soon as I heft myself up onto the deck, I reach down to help him. Grasping the ledge, his arm muscles bulge with effort and strain the short sleeves of his shirt as he hoists himself the rest of the way.
Giving him some room, I dangle my feet over the ledge. Everything looks different from two stories up. Bigger, not smaller.
