Page 98 of All Too Well
“You never were good at math. Is she asleep?”
“I don’t think so, but she’s fading fast.”
I lift my arm up. “Come here.”
Ainsley nestles in next to me, head resting in the crook of my shoulder. Her body fits so damn perfectly with mine, and I wish we were other people. Ones who could have a future instead of this short blip in time.
“How many rounds of this do you have left?” she asks, looking at the baseball game.
“Rounds?”
“Yeah, like the ups and downs.”
“Innings?” I ask, trying not to laugh.
“Whatever, I get my sports mixed up.”
I laugh softly but pull her tighter. “There are four innings left, but we’re not going to have time to watch them.”
“No?”
“No, sweetheart, we’re not.”
Ainsley’s brown eyes meet mine as her lips turn up. “What will we be doing?”
“Each other.”
“I like that plan.”
“I hoped you might.” I grin. “The sitter will be here in two minutes.”
She sits up. “Sitter?”
“I want to take you somewhere.”
“Where?”
Once again her curiosity is going to make this so much more fun. Delaney knocks once and then enters.
“Sup?” she says, dropping her bag.
“Thanks for coming over. We’ll be gone a few hours,” I explain.
Delaney shrugs and then heads to the couch. “It’s fine. I’ll be here in case Rose wakes up.”
“Thanks again.” She gives me the peace sign, and Ainsley follows me into the kitchen. “Grab a blanket.”
“Okay,” she says apprehensively.
She comes back out a few minutes later, and I take her hand as we head out the back door.
“Where are we going?” she asks with a giggle as I pull her along.
“Just follow me.”
Ainsley lets out a long sigh but does as I ask. We walk through the main field and then down the path that I know by heart. When I moved into this house, I had no idea there was a secret path. Rose and I were doing some exploring, found it, and then realized it took us to the falls.
I help her over the log and then down the steep hill before she gasps.
