Page 63 of Knotted Laces

She sees me know. She knows it all.

And she’s still here.

Fine. I know the river is playing a small part of that, but…

It doesn’t matter.

Fuck if I’m going to let her go.

I just…well, I just need to make her fall in love with me before we go back to reality.

So, that’s why I don’t push when she hops off the rock, takes my hand…

And leads me back inside.

Back into the bedroom.

I’m not giving up.

I’ll win her heart?—

One way or another.

“What do you think?”I ask the next morning.

Dan shakes his head across the ravine, but it’s his voice I hear through my phone pressed to my ear. “Fucked royally. You’ll need a whole new bridge.”

Considering that half of it washed away and the other half is pinned to the rocky bed by a big ass tree, this isn’t a surprise.

But I still hear cash register sounds in my head.

Cha-ching. Cha-ching. Cha-ching!

“How long will that take?”

His pause is long enough that I tense before I bite out, “Dan.”

“We can put in a temporary one to get the cars out—though it’ll take a couple of weeks.” A sigh that vibrates through the speaker. “But one that’ll pass inspection and last you? Months.”

I drop my head back, stare up at the sky.

Bright without a cloud marring blue—no sign of the freak summer rainstorm.

No sign of a summer in my cabin to lick my wounds and come back stronger.

“Okay, well can we start working toward that?”

A nod. “Sure thing. Still need a ride to town?”

I glance down at the river, watch him do the same. “When do you think it’ll be safe to get across?”

“Tomorrow?”

Monday. Back to reality.

Back to normal.

Back to…

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