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She tried to walk back to the truck, but I grabbed her around the waist, nuzzling into her neck as she laughed.
“Don’t be a scaredy cat. Kids do this, Jessa.”
“Well, they don’t really understand mortality, do they?”
I laid a look on her, and she must have realized there was no way out because she sighed.
“Oh, all right,” she muttered.
“Now we’re talking.” I picked her up so she could get onto the high ladder without much effort, then made a jump for it, pulling myself up.
The higher we went, the faster the wind until we were past the tree canopy, then up some more. After a minute, we reached the platform, and Jessa stopped at the railing, her face touched with awe, hair flying loose from its tether in strands.
I’d never seen anything so beautiful. Not in my whole life.
“It’s incredible,” she breathed. “Look—you can see the big mountains over there. The trees look like broccoli heads.” She laughed, pointing. “Do you see?”
In the light of the full moon, I saw well enough and laughed.
“Oh, and look over here! There’s town, isn’t it? How lovely,” she said quietly with a small smile.
“Worth the climb?”
She tore her eyes away from the scenery to smile up at me. “Every time you have something to show me, something amazing happens.”
“Wow. No pressure.”
We sat, dangling our feet over the edge, the rails perfect for hanging my elbows on.
For a little while, we just looked over the valley and the town as the moon made its climb.
“Well, I had something to tell you,” she started a little sheepishly. “I maybe did a little research online about some things, but you have to promise not to get mad.”
My face flattened. “Jessa . . .”
“Yes, yes, just listen. So, I was looking at Tennessee minor league baseball teams?—”
I sighed. “Jessa?—”
“—and I’m sure you know there’s a team in Sevierville. They’re having open tryouts in September.”
“Is that all?” I asked after a second.
She picked at her thumbnail. “Well, I don’t know. It was all much bigger in my head. They said you have to run the”—she wrinkled up her forehead remembering—“sixty meters in less than 6.8 seconds. I asked, and Coach said you’re well under that.”
“When the hell did you see Coach?”
“At the market. That’s not important. It’s easy enough, and you qualify. I wanted to ask if you’d try out.”
“And why would I do that?”
“Well, for me.”
She said it so simply, so quietly, the words speared my heart like an arrow.
“I know it’s not for me to ask, really. It’s none of my business what you do, and you owe me nothing?—”
“Okay.”
