Page 42 of Promised Summer
“Fuck, that makes us sound super old,” he grumbled.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m still a spring chicken,” I said, teasingly.
He gently shoved me. “You’re a year older than me if you’ve forgotten.”
I snatched his hand before he could take it back and kissed it. “We should bring Karla back here and carve her name beside ours,” I commented.
Ryan got that dazed, happy look he had whenever I mentioned something regarding Karla. “You like me talking about Karla?” I asked.
“I like you talking about her like she’s family,” he answered softly.
I tilted my head, confused. “Sheisfamily.”
My reply made his bright blues shine brighter than I’d ever seen them. I was sure they’d follow me into my dreams tonight.
We walked the rest of the way with our hands intertwined. It was a pretty easy hike, and neither of us was out of breath by the time we reached the top.
“Wow! Even our rock is still here,” Ryan exclaimed when he saw the almost-flat rock that was tucked into the edge of the cliff. You wouldn’t have noticed it unless you were standing at the very edge of the cliff. It wasn’t dangling off the edge exactly, but it would definitely trigger someone if they had a fear of heights.
I’d forgotten that the last time he hiked the trail, hehadn’t made it to the top since Karla had gotten lost. It was cute how he kept looking around as he took everything in.
Once he’d finished taking stock of the area, he settled down on the rock, turned to me, and patted the space beside him. I obliged and nestled against him. He rested his head on my shoulder as we looked out into the distance.
This was always our spot, because the rock was large enough to fit both of us comfortably. Though now that we were sitting on it as adults, it wasn’t as big as I remembered.
Another reason was because from one angle, we had the perfect view of the sunset, and watching the sunset had been one of our favorite activities as kids. From here, we could also see the field of yellow coneflowers on the land that was to the left of my property.
On the evenings when we watched the summer sunset here, there would be that magical moment when the light hit the flowers at just the right angle, turning the entire place into a field of gold. And watching the sight with the boy I was crushing hard on back then, I really understood what golden hour meant. It was my favorite time of the day.
The specific color of the yellow flowers was called ‘Yellow My Darling,’ and how the field of flowers came about was a popular story around these parts.
“The field has practically doubled,” Ryan murmured. “I still remember you thought the guyplanting these flowers was the most romantic gesture ever.”
“It is!” I defended. “His wife loved coneflowers, so he planted a dozen every year just for her. The field is literally a floral manifestation of their love. How much more romantic can you get than that?”
Ryan sat up straight to look at me and smiled. “Is that why you kept bringing me up here to see the fields and sunset? Was that your way of telling me your feelings without actually telling me?”
“I mean, no. Not when you put it that way,” I stuttered. “Didn’t we always come up here because you liked it?”
Ryan scoffed. “Definitely not. I was terrified of heights at first. Don’t you remember how I refused to sit here with you for like a week? I’d always wait for you way back there,” he said, gesturing to where we came from.
“And yet you still came up here with me,” I said with a smile.
“Because I wanted to spend time with you,” he grumbled. “It didn’t matter where we were as long as we were together.”
His answer sent heat down my body. Even before he really understood his feelings for me, he still wanted to be with me.
I crowded him until he was lying on his back, his head cushioned on a grassy patch on the rock.
“What are you doing?” he asked, eyes flickering between me and the edge.
“Ryan, my dear scaredy-cat. You used to be scared of the water, too,” I said.
“Yeah, well, you weren’t the one who almost drowned in a pool before,” he argued, his breath hitching.
“And yet you still came with me to the springs, dipping your feet in the water while you watched me swim.”
“’Cause I wanted to play with you,” he said, sounding very reluctant to admit the fact.
