Page 35 of What We Keep
“Do you like it?” I asked.
Tommy stopped, clasping his hands together in front of him, appearing quite serious. “Yes,” he announced with a nod. “You did that?”
“I did. It was kind of fun. I’m glad you like it.”
He grinned. “Wow, it feels like this is really happening.”
“What’s really happening?” Haven asked as he ruffled Tommy’s hair affectionately.
“We’re opening, right? Soon?” Tommy rubbed his hands together in excitement. “Do I get to lead some of the hikes?”
The love in Haven’s eyes as he looked down at Tommy turned my heart soft.
“You can come with us sometimes, but you’ll be at school most of the time,” Haven pointed out.
“What about summer?” Tommy threw his hands up.
“That’s when you can come with us,” Haven added.
Tommy looked a little let down at this. He scrunched his nose as he peered up at his father. “Didn’t you guys lead hikes when you were kids?”
“Our dad was always there, or our granddad, so that’s how you’ll do it.”
“So I can go in front?”
Haven’s lips curled in a soft smile. “Yes, you can go in front. When you’re not at school.”
Tommy beamed before lifting his gaze back up to the waterfall sign. I’d painted it blue mixed with shades of gold and a little orange—just how it looked when the sun struck the water as it fell. Hence its official name, Heartfire Falls Resort.
“Thanks, Elsa,” Tommy said.
I glanced down at him. “For what?”
He rolled his eyes, throwing his hands out toward the sign. “That. It’s pretty, and it’s fun for me.” Without another word, Tommy spun around. “I have to take the goats back.” With a wave, he was off.
“Be on time for dinner,” Haven called to his departing back.
Chapter Eighteen
Elsa
“He’s a really good kid,” I said when Haven glanced back toward me.
“He is.”
“How old was he when this place burned down?”
Haven said, “He was born while Bree was in the hospital after the fire.”
He rarely spoke much about the fire and Bree dying, but whenever it came up, you could see the pain shoved deep in his heart and its brief flare in his eyes.
“I’m so, so sorry, Haven.”
He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “We all are.”
I wanted to say more, but it didn’t feel like the time.
He glanced toward the sign. “It really does look good. Without you here”—he shrugged— “we would have just nailed it up and hoped for the best.”
