Page 42 of All the Promises We Break

“Seriously? You’re the one who is being a dick. Try thinking before you speak. It helps.”

“I was kidding. You started it, remember? Anyway, it’s not like we don’t agree on our path.”

“It doesn’t mean I like the reminder that we’re a dirty little secret. I’m a dirty little secret.”

“I didn’t bring you out here to fight. Let it go.”

“Why did you bring me out here then?” I ask.

“To share this with you. I haven’t brought a girl here since I graduated from college. You haven’t been here in years. I wantedto bring you to this secret trail. It leads to a tiny lake. I can show you where the deer bed down. The tree Eli and I carved our initials in. I mean, if a walk in the moonlight isn’t enough, we can go back.”

I sigh. “I didn’t mean to offend you. It shouldn’t be this hard. We’re fine at home.”

“This is home for me, Hayley. Come on.”

We step off the path into a grove of evergreens. Wes holds the branches back as we duck and weave through them. When I hear a rustling to my left, without thinking Ileap close to him. He kisses the top of my head with a small chuckle then wraps his arm around me. In a few more steps, I hear water lapping against something.

“What’s that?” I ask.

“You’ll see.”

We break out of the cover of the trees to an evergreen-lined lake. You could swim across it very easily. The moon is high overhead, and its shine is bouncing off the water. It reflects like a mirror toward us. If we were here in the late spring or summer, I bet it would be lined with wildflowers and tall grasses. I feel like we’re in a private bubble in nature.

We’re the only ones here. It’s pretty romantic.

“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but there’s a dock we can walk out on to sit on the bench at the end.”

“Are we trespassing? I mean…whose land is this?”

“Technically it’s protected land. The Department of Wildlife dedicated it about seven years ago to preserve habitat. The owners of the homes surrounding the lake banded together to petition for it. My family sort of spearheaded the effort.”

“Wes, that’s awesome. Now I know why it means so much to you.”

He motions for me to lead out on to the dock. The water gently laps beneath my feet. The moon lights the way to the bench. It’sa simple seat. It’s gently carved wood. Before I sit, I notice a tiny plaque on the top board in the middle of the back. It reads For Michael. “I wonder who Michael is.”

Wes

A shiver runs through my entire body, even in my jacket. Hayley notices right away and slides her arms around me. “Let’s sit and enjoy this for a minute before we head back. I don’t want you to get sick from this field trip.”

“I also don’t want to have to go back and pretend I want to be in separate bedrooms,” she adds.

Her words aren’t far from my thoughts. I keep telling her this will be easy; we can do this. I’m beginning to doubt that myself. Everything about her is sending signals to either my brain or my body. The way she looks in her jeans, her ponytail swinging out the back of a ball cap, the way she argues with me over the radio stations in the car. It’s becoming painful because I care too much.

“We could live dangerously. We could say the heat isn’t coming through enough in your room. You had a nightmare and I offered to stay. You were scared by a noise outside.”

She offers the worst of the possible solutions. “I’m starting to think maybe we should just tell Eli.”

“No. I can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“It’s not that simple, Hayley. Jesus. You act like I’m saying I’m ashamed of you or something.”

“Are you?”

I hold her at arm’s length. “You don’t seriously believe that? You have more self-confidence than to think that’s valid at all.”

“I question everything, Wes. Don’t just say you aren’t. Prove it to me somehow.”

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