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“What was that about?” I ask.
“We’ve all felt out of our depths at some point.” She shrugs. “I figured she could use a win.”
Val goes back to adjusting her hopper, but my gaze lingers on her. My heart warms at her kindness. Same old Val—always looking out for everyone else. She used to be inspire me to be better, to put others before myself.
I hope that ex of hers put her first, made her a priority. Like I should’ve done.
“I fixed the ladder, by the way,” I say quietly, without thinking.
“What?”
“The rope ladder to the treehouse. I bought a new one and set it up a couple days ago.” I shift against the straw, unsure exactly why I’m telling Val this but wanting her to know. “Fixed the spider hole in the wall, too. And changed the bulbs in the fairy lights.”
Val tilts her head. “Why’d you do that?”
My brow puckers. It’s a good question, actually. I hadn’t thought much about it. I just did it. “I don’t know… I have lots of good memories there. I figured it was worth maintaining.”
Val stares at me for a long moment, expressionless. Then, her face breaks into this full, genuine, sweet smile, and her eyes fill with a joy that makes my heart pound.
That’s why, a small voice says in my head.
In the light of Val’s smile, I feel a sudden, deep need to say something. Something I’ve wanted to tell her for ages, and something she needs to hear. My voice goes serious. “Val, about what happened that summer—”
“C’mon, lovebirds!” one of the kids cuts me off. “We’re getting bored. Quit making out already!”
I tense up and Val freezes. There’s a long beat where neither of us moves.
Then her lips quirk up into a mischievous little smile.
I know exactly what she’s thinking.
“Ready?” I whisper, clicking the safety off my paintball gun.
Val nods slowly. “Let’s do it.”
“3… 2… 1!”
Val and I shoot to a stand. We dart around our protective barrier and come towards the haybale fortress in a full frontal attack.
13
Val
“About what happened that summer.”
Oh, my giddy gosh. He wasn’t about to…? He wouldn’t have…?
Smack!!
My head bounces off the passenger window and I wince, remembering at the last minute to keep my eyes closed.
Ugh. Pretending to sleep in a car driving on a gravel road is a challenge. I’m proud of my ability to nap in most places—planes, trains, airports… even on a slow-moving roller coaster once. But as my head crashes into the window again, I’m not sure I can keep this up.
I make a little grunting noise and shift in my seat, placing my head on the headrest. Sweet relief!
Now, back to regularly-scheduled programming… AKA freaking out over what Ethan almost said on the paintball field.
What brought it on anyway? Was he going to say what I think he was going to say and bring up our breakup? I always assumed that conversation was dead and buried, but here he is, calling it forth from the beyond. Summoning up ghosts.
