“I don’t snore,” Henry refutes under his breath.
“Oh, yes, you do.Only you’re notquiteas cute when you do it.”My smile stretches across my cheeks as I tease him.
Henry feigns offense.
“But you’re still cute,” I whisper with a shrug.
“Cute, huh?I prefer other adjectives.”
“Like?”I urge, leaning up to kiss him again.
“Like handsome, hot,” he says with another kiss, “sexy…”
“You want me to objectify you?”I clarify.
“Absolutely,” he whispers back.
“But there’s more to you than that, Henry,” I say quietly, running my fingertips over his t-shirt.
“Oh, yeah?Tell me, then.I want to know everything you’re thinking.”
“I also think you’re… kind and funny and patient and a very good father and… good for me.Thank you for tonight.”
He takes my hand and places it over his heart.“Thank you for handling her so well.I’m sorry for how she was?—”
“Don’t be.She’s just afraid that I’ll hurt you again.”
He sits up slightly, resting his head on his hand as he stares at me.“I can’t wait to prove her wrong.Do you still think you want to stay?”
“I-I want to, yes.”His fingers graze my temple, as if prodding my thoughts free.“I think… I could get used to this.It feels like home.Maybe for the first time.I’ve fallen for your son, too.”
“Yeah, he’s irresistible.”He laughs and tears up at once.“I’d love for you to be here, but I meant what I said.Go anywhere you want, Venus, butstaywith me.With us.A fixed constant.Okay?”
“Okay,” I smile, as he nestles closer on our shared pillow.He locks our hands between us, and for the first time in our history, Henry and I fall asleep facing each other, holding hands, me dreaming of thousands of nights just like this.
CHAPTER44
Henry
Fallingasleep with my hand wrapped around Venus’s, her face the last thing I see before drifting off, may go down as one of my favorite memories of all time.With Olly close to us, his occasional snore brings another comfort.My two favorite people, the family I’ve always wanted.
Sleep comes easily, especially with Venus’s assurances whispering through my thoughts.That she wants to stay.That she’s fallen for me again.Fallen for Olly.
Falling.
I’m not sure what wakes me first—Venus’s body jerking in alert and rising from our bed or my son’s muffled, pained cry in the distance.
Venus races from the tent, calling for him, as I register that he’s not here.His sleeping bag is a rumpled, empty mess beside ours.My heart rams mercilessly in my chest as my hand scatters across the space in a desperate search for my glasses.
I scurry from the tent to the sound of Buster barking, Olly moaning, and Venus saying, “Olly!Look at me!”
Around the bloated trunk of our tree, I find them.Buster barks and spins like he doesn’t know what to do.Olly sits in the dirt at the base of the tree, blood slathered over his pained face.
I slide next to him, pulling him into my lap as Venus looks him over.His glasses lie broken beside me.Blood from a gash along his hairline covers his forehead and drips down his cheek.
“I wanted to climb,” he says weakly.
Venus squeezes his hands, eyes wide as she says, “Look at me.We’re here.Don’t worry.I need to examine you.”
