Page 39 of Saving Mr. Bell

“I’m serious. If you fall and break your leg, I’m gonna be the one stuck here with you. And it’s not like I can call for help or drive you to the nearest hospital. I probably wouldn’t even be able to get you back to the cabin.” Rudolf turned in the direction we’d come, his brow furrowed as he sized up the distance and terrain. “I suppose if I went and got the sledge, I could put you on that and drag you back.”

His contingency plans were sweet. Not needed, but sweet. And I proved that by shimmying up the rest of the ladder with no further mishaps. It was a fairly roomy treehouse and even had logs built into it for seats. No treasure or historical artefacts, unfortunately, but I’d take it, regardless. “Are you coming up?”

Rudolf muttered something that had me smiling despite not knowing what he’d said. I hadn’t needed to; the tone was enough. His head appeared at the top of the ladder a minute later. “Watch your hands, Rudolf. Climb a ladder, Rudolf. Plummet to your demise, Rudolf.”

I laughed. “Don’t you think you’re being a tad dramatic? We’re ten-feet up. Not doing a tightrope walk between two high-rise buildings.”

Rudolf plonked himself next to me, the seats providing a perfect vantage point to look out across the snow-covered forest. “I don’t like heights,” he admitted.

“Ah! I see. You didn’t have to come up.”

He shrugged. “I’m fine now that I’m up here. It was the climbing up I didn’t like. And I daresay going down won’t be the most fun I’ve ever had.” He rested his chin on his gloved hands. “It’s your turn to ask a question.”

“Last serious relationship?”

“That’s easy. I’ve never had one I’d class as serious.”

Do you want one? What about with me?“You’re only twenty-three. You’ve got plenty of time.”

Rudolf made a little huffing sound. “It’s like that guy in Monaco. How would I even make it work when I spend most of my time flying from place to place and staying in hotels?”

“When you fall in love, you’ll find a way.” And whoever it was, I already hated him with the passion of a thousand suns.

“Do you think?”

“Yeah. Your priorities will change.”

“What about you?”

“You know when my last serious relationship was. You can’t get much more serious than marriage.”

“Will you marry again?”

“I don’t know.” It was an honest answer to a question I’d already given a lot of thought. “I hope so. I’d hate to think that one failed marriage is it for me.”

“It won’t be.”

“No?”

Rudolf shook his head enthusiastically. “You, Arlo Thomas, are quite the catch. Someone’s going to realize that.”

Someone! No thought that it could be him. If that didn’t hammer home the short-term nature of our fling, then I didn’t know what did. “I hope you’re right.”

“Kids or a dog?” Rudolf asked.

“Both.”

“Huh!” He gave my answer a lot of thought. “I’m more of a cat man myself.”

“I like cats too, but you didn’t give me that as a choice.”

He turned his head to grin at me. “Always push for what you want and don’t settle for second best.”

“Good advice.” I snagged his gaze as I shuffled closer, intent on kissing him. Because if I didn’t kiss him in a secret treehouse in the middle of a frozen winter wonderland, then what was I even doing with my life? Our lips were about to touch when a scrabbling sound below the treehouse had us both freezing.

“What the fuck is that?” Rudolf mouthed.

I shrugged, and we both crept forward to peer over the side. Rudolf grabbed my shoulder, presumably because of his problem with heights. Whatever I’d expected to see, it wasn’t three wolf cubs in the snow. It made me think that rather than a treehouse, this was a hide, put here for spotting wildlife.

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