I remember when Ryder scaled it in the middle of the night to check on me.
Something strikes my window. Then again.
Parting the curtains, my eyes widen with shock when I see Ryder perched on the branch just outside.
Hurriedly fumbling with the latch, I slide the window open. “Are you out of your mind?”
His gaze slips downward, just for a second, and his face blanches an eerie white. “Can you wait to yell at me until I get inside?”
“Aren’t you afraid of heights?”
“Yep,” he croaks.
Oh, dear god. I lean out the window, arm outstretched. “Grab my hand and move a little closer.”
He breathes a sigh of relief when his feet hit my bedroom floor, and he folds like an accordion, sliding down the wall until he lands on his butt.
Worried, I crouch in front of him and vigorously rub his arms. “You okay?”
“I don’t have hypothermia.”
“I can’t believe you did that.”
“You do it all the time.”
“I also don’t have acrophobia.”
It was the night after one of Fallon’s parties when I found Jayson with Jacinda. I later learned what really happened, but for several agonizing hours, I thought the worst and felt like my entire world was falling apart because the boy I loved had betrayed my heart.
Speaking of hearts, I find the one Jayson carved into the trunk and lightly run my fingers over the grooves and depressions that spell outJ+E. You always remember your first love, but mine was exceptional. Regardless of what happened between us, Jayson really did sweep me off my feet. He had a romantic streak a mile long and was never shy about showing me his softer side. I never doubted for a second the love we shared. A love I still harbor, because no matter what, the boy I first met in the woods will always have a permanent home in my heart.
“Thinking about climbing it?”
I look over toward the porch of the Jameson house. Jayson is leaning against the side railing, his forearms crossed over the top, and those gorgeous pewter eyes smiling at me.
“Actually, yes.”
He looks different today. The gaunt shadows that shrouded his face last night are gone. He looks more like my old Jayson again, just older and thinner.
I cross the ten feet it takes to get to him, the distance feeling like a very slow mile as I approach. Wrapping my hand around one of the balusters, I peer up at him. “Hey, you.” I don’t know why I’m so nervous.
“Hey, Princess,” he softly replies.
My fingers flex around the wood. “So…” I puff out a breath, not knowing where to begin.
“Thank you for meeting me.”
I reach up to touch the corner of his mouth. “I’m really sorry that I slapped you…and for what Marcus did.”
He cradles my cupped hand in his. It doesn’t feel the same. More calloused and rougher.
“You don’t need to apologize for anything, Liz.”
“Where have you been?” I know I asked him that last night, but he never really gave me an answer. I’m also more curious about why he’s here, in Fallen Brook, after all this time. I wished so many times that he would come home, but he never did. Just like Fallon. They may think they are worlds apart, but they are more similar than they realize.
Jayson’s grin disappears. “That’s part of the reason why I wanted to talk to you in person. I owe you the truth.” He turns his head and looks over his shoulder. “But I think Mom is going to have a conniption if you don’t come in and say hi first.”
I peek around him, and sure enough, Freda is quietly standing in the open doorway, a smile gracing her face while she nervously wrings her hands. Now in her mid-seventies, her hair is as silver as her eyes, but she’s just as beautiful as the day I met her right here on this porch. I remember thinking she looked like a queen from one of the children’s fairytale stories Mom would read to Hailey and me at bedtime.
