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I edged back so I could see her. So I could take in the striking, severe angles of her face, the perfect contrast to the softness of her eyes and lips. I traced my thumb along her jaw. “It scares me, too.”
We stayed like that for the longest time, staring at each other.
Finally, I shifted to lay on my side and nestled her into the crook of my arm, loving the feel of her cheek on my chest. Her hair tickling my face as the wind blew through.
“Love this,” I murmured. “Being up here with you. It feels like I’m being elevated above every worry. Like up here, it can’t touch us.”
She hesitated, then asked, “Did you find out anything else?”
“No,” I whispered at the top of her head. “We’re thinking it might have been random. A fluke.”
No one really believed it. I had a hunch it had everything to do with my sniffing around, digging for any evidence in Brianna’s death. Gut told me someone wanted to shut my questions down—by whatever means possible.
Right then, I didn’t want that to touch us, either. Didn’t want to think about it. What was to come.
I wanted to relish this moment.
Savannah seemed content with that, too, because she snuggled closer, trying to burrow herself into the warmth my body emitted. The temperature had dropped with the sun’s receding, and it was even colder up here with the elevation and the vapor from the waterfall that misted the air.
Our attention was turned toward the sky. It was the deepest blue, streaked with ribbons of blackened turquoise as the last bit of light was sucked away. Stars blinked to life, a scatter across the heavens. Below us in the valley, the lights of Time River had come alive.
Comfort whispered around us. It was the kind of comfort that came from being with someone who was the compliment to you. One who somehow made everything better just by being a part of you.
I pressed a kiss to Savannah’s crown, inhaling her shampoo. Mango and cream. God, that was comforting, too. “Thank you for doing this with me.”
“It’s me who’s thankful that you asked.” There was no tease in her voice.
Affection curved my mouth. “I guess who we should be thanking is Olivia.”
I could feel Savannah’s smile against my chest as her fingers plucked along the fabric of my shirt. “We owe her. Big time.”
“Yes, we do.”
She shifted enough to peek up at me. “She’s amazing. All three of them are.”
I hugged her closer. “I don’t know how I got so lucky to get three kids like them.”
“I think they’re pretty lucky that they got such a great dad.”
“I’m trying to be.”
She hesitated, then offered, “I could do a shoot of them, if you’d like? Because they are what’s beautiful, Ezra. You brought me out here to be inspired? Their little faces are what inspire me.”
My chest tightened.
Fiercely.
In a bid of devotion and turbulence.
“I would definitely like that.”
Our words were mumblings. Murmurs that came more from our hearts than our mouths.
“Me, too,” she said.
It was strange, having a feeling of just…being. And we stayed like that for the longest time, lying in the stillness as the night deepened around us. It didn’t take long before the wind began to howl through the pines, their peaks thrashing, like the woods had become their own entity.
We fell into this perfect silence that didn’t require words because I was pretty sure our spirits were speaking for themselves.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when another shiver rolled through Savannah, and she tried to curl deeper into my side.
“We should probably get back,” I said, though I was wishing we could stay elevated above the rest of the world for a while longer.
For a night.
Maybe for an eternity.
But it was cold, and I hadn’t thought to bring an extra blanket.
“Is it wrong I want to stay here forever?” she whispered, snuggling closer.
I brushed my lips over her temple. “I thought the same thing myself.”
A gust of wind rocked through the trees, and she shivered again.
“But I don’t think the best way to end this night is with you freezing to death out in the woods.” I let a chuckle wind into the claim.
Nudging her off, I packed our things, pushed to standing, then reached out and took her hand so I could help her up.
I didn’t release her when I dipped down and grabbed the basket and blanket with my free hand. Instead, I threaded our fingers together because I didn’t want to let go.
We kept peeking at each other as I led her back to the truck. An awareness hummed around us, her smile soft but not close to shy.
I tossed our things into the backseat, and she’d just climbed in on her side when I came back to stand in the open doorway on the passenger side. I reached in to help her buckle.
