Page 42 of Catch My Fall

“As you’ve said before. But you and I both know neither one of us regrets it.”

She’s not wrong. As much as it shouldn’t have happened, I’m glad it did and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

We fall silent, and it’s not long before our food arrives. We make small talk about nothing in particular as we eat, really just as an excuse to cut through the silence, but the atmosphere has shifted since our brief talk of her birthday and our first kiss. An atmosphere that both of us are aware of.

That kiss has played on my mind a lot more than I will ever admit to. In my thirty-four years of life, never has a kiss felt that good—so good my body erupted in flames, setting my soul alight.

I don’t know what it is about her that has me so twisted up, so utterly consumed by her, but one thing I know for sure, whether her brother has my head or not, our kiss on her birthday definitely won’t be our last.

“Do you want me to drive for a while?” Si offers as we make our way out to the car forty minutes later after paying our bill.

I shake my head. “It’s all good, princess.”

“When do you suppose we’ll get there?”

“We’re just over halfway, so with minimal traffic and good weather, I’d say just before midnight.”

∞∞∞

Right on schedule, I pull into the driveway, the pebbles crunching beneath the tyres as I shift the car into park.

Sierra is sound asleep beside me. She looks so peaceful that I don’t want to disturb her, so I climb out of the car and go around to her side. I manage to manoeuvre her into my arms without waking her as I make my way up to the house.

It’s dark, not even the streetlamps help with visibility, but luckily, the solar-powered porch light my dad and I installed over two decades ago still works, despite how dim it is.

Once inside, I flip on the lights and make my way carefully up the stairs, heading to the master bedroom that overlooks the water at the back of the house. She won’t be able to see anything if she woke up, what with it being pitch dark outside, but in the morning, her view as the sun rises will be spectacular.

I remember the euphoria that came over me the first time I saw it when I was a boy, I want her to experience the beauty of it herself.

I place her onto the bed and slip off her shoes. The house has been well looked after since I’ve been here last, and I know exactly who to thank for that. I pull the fresh bed sheets over her body before brushing a strand of dark hair from her face.

My finger lightly traces over the scar that runs down the side of her face and a surge of anger rises up inside me. I can’t wait until the day I get my hands around the man’s neck that cut her face and give him one of his own, one across his throat.

I don’t make a habit of making promises, mostly because very few can be kept, but no one will ever touch her like that again—that I can promise.

17

The sound of water lapping and birds singing is what rouses me the next morning as bright sunlight shines through the wide bay window, the light stinging my eyes as I peel them open.

It takes a moment for my mind to get up to speed as I take in my surroundings. The bed I’m lying in is at least queen-sized, the covers on top of me sage green and white, as with the rest of the large bedroom I’m in.

I can’t even remember arriving here last night. The last thing I can recall is eating at the diner and then continuing on our journey. How did I get into bed?

I roll out of bed and notice my bags sitting at the foot. Alec must have carried them in when we arrived, and ultimately did the same with me seeing as how my mind is drawing a total blank.

I stroll across the room to the bay window to the left of the bed. It’s width allows the daylight to flood in, soaking the room in a soft orange hue.

“Wow,” I gasp when I see I’m overlooking the water. Alec wasn’t kidding when he said it was private. A dense wall of trees surround the water, not another house besides this one in sight. The backyard slopes to the edge of the water, a series of steps off to the right that leads down to a short pier and a boating dock. The water glistens under the sun and a wave of peace washes over me, settling a little of the unease that’s been inside me for weeks.

It’s stunningly beautiful.

This is exactly where I need to be.

I’m still wearing my clothes from yesterday and my skin feels sticky and unclean, so after pulling out some fresh clothes, I head into the en-suite bathroom and hit the shower.

Once I’m dressed, I make my way out of my room, and after taking the wrong turn down a corridor that lead to another bedroom that I’m guessing is Alec’s, I finally find my way towards the staircase. As I near the bottom, I can hear movement and find Alec in the kitchen, the smell of bacon and eggs drifting into my nose as they sizzle in the pan.

He smiles when he sees me. “Good morning.”

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