Page 95 of Set It Right
She was right. There was nothing like the carefree days of childhood, before responsibilities got in the way and the only goal in life was to have fun. I was glad we’d shared so many of those days. Glad we’d always have that to fall back on. And maybe we’d have snippets of those days again—add them to the storybook of our lives that was already a hundred chapters long.
We reached our spot by the river and hopped off our horses, leaving them to graze nearby. I dropped my backpack on the ground and pulled out a blanket.
Zara raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to let me sit in the dirt?”
I laughed. “You can if you want to, but I’m going to sit my grown-up ass on this blanket and see what else I have in this backpack.”
She dropped down on the blanket before I could even fold myself into a sitting position and started snooping.
Gasping, she lifted her head. “Did you bring a picnic?”
“I did. It’s nothing fancy, but I figured I could get you to stay longer if I fed you.”
She tilted her head. “You don’t have to bribe me. There’s absolutely nowhere else I want to be.”
I nodded toward the water in front of us. “Your favorite place.”
With a sigh, she shifted to her hands and knees and crawled onto my lap. Facing me, she cupped the sides of my neck, her midnight gaze trailing up my face to lock onto my eyes.
“My favorite person…” she murmured, “brought me to my favorite place. Why would I ever want to leave?”
“I’m your favorite person?”
She nodded. “You’ve spent this summer reminding me how stupid I was to forget that fact.” She hooked onto the collar of my shirt and pulled it aside, pressing a kiss on my tattoo. “Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me.” I wrapped my arms around her, holding her against my chest, dropping my face into her hair. “Told you I had ulterior motives.”
Her lips moved against my neck. “I like your motives.”
We stayed like that for a while, hugging each other, sharing memories of our childhood. The races we ran. The rides we took. The times my parents had to go out looking for us because we’d stayed out too late. That was how it was with Zara. Time lost all meaning…until I became acutely aware of how quickly the days we’d had together were passing.
It was no different now. I couldn’t settle into being with her. Not all the way. Not when each passing day brought us closer to the end. She’d go, and I’d be here. Where would that leave us?
“I should get off you so we can eat,” she said after a while, making no effort to move.
Cupping her hip with one hand, I reached out and dragged my backpack closer. “There’s no reason for you to get off me unless you want to. I’m good how we are.”
She leaned back to look up at me, a smile curving her mouth. “I’m good how we are too.”
It was easy, being like this, relaxing against a tree trunk, Zara’s back against my chest, eating the simple sandwiches I’d thrown together as the river flowed past. The horses made low chuffing noises, talking to each other more than us. In the distance, a pronghorn paused, looking to see if we were friend or foe, then bounced away, deciding we weren’t very interesting. Zara talked about Henrik’s ongoing crush on Javier and his dwindling hope it would be reciprocated. I told her about a problem guest staying for the next two weeks and all their demands.
When we were just about finished eating, her phone began vibrating with a call. She tugged it out of her pocket, glancing at the screen.
“It’s my parents. Do you mind if I answer? I owe them a call—”
“Answer it.”
She stayed right where she was and hit the video-call button. A second later, Amir and Zadie Vasquez appeared on screen, their faces pressed together.
Seeing Zadie healthy was good for my soul. I tried to block out the image of her so sick she couldn’t leave her bed, Amir curled around her, holding her through her pain. My mother blowing into town and taking over the care of her friend and forcing Amir to rest.
It had taken a toll on everyone, but Zadie had gotten through it. She’d gotten older, with wrinkles around her eyes and laugh lines bracketing her smiling mouth—exactly how it was supposed to be.
“Hi, guys,” Zara greeted.
“Baby girl.” Amir’s dark gaze flicked upward. “Cormac. Good to see your face. How are you?”
I nodded to him and smiled at Zadie. “Hi. I’m good. How are you guys?”
