Page 77 of My Favorite Hero

Which meant swinging down.

I swallowed down my fear since I had no choice. I couldn’t stay in the tree.

Inch by inch, I lowered myself until I was sitting on the limb. I stretched my toes, but I couldn’t reach the lower branch, and I knew I had to drop down to it. Then repeat that action to get to the limb where the ladder was waiting.

Except the wind picked up again, ruffling my hair, and to my horror, I looked down again as I brushed it from my eyes. The ground was still so far away. I had to shut my eyes as a fresh wave of fear came over me. It was so crippling I whimpered and felt dizzy.

I realized I no longer liked to climb trees and I might very well be stuck here.

I heard a loud crash, and my eyes flew open. The ladder had fallen, now lying on the ground, unreachable.

I was stuck in the tree, frozen with fear, with no way to get down.

Which meant Jesse was going to find out.

And he was going to kill me.

Chapter Eighteen

JESSE

Ipushed the speed limit all the way home. I had rushed to the chief’s office, shocking him when I told him I needed a couple of personal hours.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

“I have no idea. There’s a situation at my house.”

He waved me off. “Go. We’ll cover the rest of the shift.”

Outside, I ran into Mark, who had taken the day off. “You busy?” I asked.

“No, just came to grab my charger I left in my locker. What do you need?”

“Follow me home.”

I pulled up to the house, leaving the truck on the road. Mark pulled in behind me, following me into the backyard. I stood, my hands on my hips, staring at the oak tree in the corner of the yard, not sure what I was looking at. Casey’s denim-clad legs were visible in the tree, up way too high for safety. My ladder lay on the ground, no use to her at all.

“What’s going—” He stopped. “Oh God, what is she doing up the tree?”

“I have no fucking idea.”

I stomped forward, peering up into the branches.

“Casey!” I yelled.

“Oh… Hi,” she responded. “You’re home early,” she said, trying to sound casual.

“Because a neighbor called and said someone was stuck in a tree,” I roared. “It didn’t take me long to figure out who that was!”

“Lila tried to lift the ladder, but it was too heavy,” she said, as if that was okay. As if any of this was okay. “No one else heard me calling.”

I pinched my nose, trying to keep my patience. It was thin right now.

“We’ll lift the ladder,” Mark said, sounding amused as he clapped me on the shoulder. “We can hold it, and she can climb down.”

“Fine.”

Together, we got the ladder upright and lifted the extension slider, locking it into place. It went higher than Casey so she could climb on easily and come down safely. Then I planned a serious chat with her.