Page 144 of Fall Into Me

It was perfect just like that.

Cass let his head settle on the pillow, then he brushed another kiss against Ash’s warm skin. “Good night, Ash,” he whispered.

He was sure he felt Ash smile.

“Good night, Cass.”

Grant (Friday, April 21, 2023 – 8:32 a.m.): Yo, 9am is good to pick up Bri tomorrow, yeah? The zoo opens at 9:30. Mei signed us up for some behind the scenes tour and then an art class

Grant (8:34 a.m.): Oh, and her family is visiting from Beijing over the summer. Dude, I’m going to meet her parents! That’s like a whole new level of serious, right? I think I love her

Grant (8:34 a.m.): Is that weird that I told u that before I told her?

Chapter Forty-Five

Ash

Bri laughed and giggled and squealed, “Again! Again!” So, for the dozenth or so time, Ash counted down, “Three, two, one,” and he and Cass lifted her together, each of her hands holding one of theirs. She jumped as they lifted, like she was trying to propel herself even higher. Then they lowered her feet back to the ground gently, keeping hold of her hands, and she giggled again and jumped up and down. “Again! Again!”

Ash glanced over at Cass, and as their eyes met, he smiled. It was a smile that he felt with his whole being.

He was happy. Just like he’d been the night before and earlier that morning, when he’d woken up in Cass’s arms.

Cass grinned back. “Okay, one more time, Bri. Ready?”

“Yay yay yay! Yes, okay!”

“Can you count down this time?”

Ash bit his lip, stifling a laugh.

Bri jumped preemptively and kept bouncing, holding both of their hands tight. “Yes! Yes! Count! One! Go!”

They lifted her off the ground again, and she continued to giggle and squeal the whole time.

The trail wasn’t terribly busy, which was a bit of a miracle, Ash thought, since Snow Lake Trail was one of the most popular trails in the area and the weather was perfect—mostly sunny and around sixty degrees with a light breeze. It was also a miracle that Bri was still going strong, even after over two and a half miles up the mountain. Sure, she was quite the seasoned hiker for her age, not yet two years old, but she hadn’t asked even once to be carried. She’d gleefully hopped up the steep steps at the beginning of the trail, traversed paths made almost entirely of sheared rock, and, under the quickly warming sun of the exposed mountainside, made easy work of the switchbacks before the peak.

They’d just started down the forested path into the valley, sneaking glimpses of Snow Lake through the pines, when a decade-and-a-half-old memory flitted through Ash’s mind. He slowed and then stopped, Bri and Cass stopping with him, and he gazed down at a spot off the trail to his right.

Here. It was here, they’d had lunch. Him and his sister and his mom and dad. They’d laid out a blanket on the mostly flat area between two massive tree roots, and they’d eaten sandwiches and fruit and played some silly word game. His sister had won, because she usually did. Then she’d stood right there, right on that boulder now half covered in pine needles, and she’d stared out at the deep-blue lake with awe.

“This has to be the most beautiful place in the world,” she’d said. “Ash, come up here, look!”

A tear formed in the corner of his eye, and he reached up with his free hand and wiped it away.

“Un-ca Ash okay?” Bri had let go of Cass’s hand, but still held Ash’s, and she moved closer and hugged his leg.

With a quiet sniffle, he knelt down next to her, picked her up, and smiled as he kissed her cheek. “Yeah, sweet girl, I’m okay. Just remembering,” he said.

“Oh, I see, I see,” Bri said, one of her new phrases she’d picked up from somewhere. She wrapped one arm around his neck and then pointed out toward the lake. “Ohhhh, Un-ca Ash, look! Sooooo pretty water!”

“Yeah, isn’t it?” Another tear threatened to fall, but he blinked it back as he felt Cass step up behind him. Cass’s hand slipped around Ash’s waist, and he shifted Bri on his hip and leaned into Cass. Tilting his head back, he said, “Can we stop here for a bit? This spot is kinda perfect for an early lunch, yeah?”

Cass brushed a soft kiss on Ash’s cheek. “Looks like a good spot to me.” He didn’t say anything more, just let his hand drift across Ash’s lower back once before kissing his cheek again.

Together, they stepped off the trail and set up their picnic spot right in that same little alcove between the tree roots. They laid out a blanket big enough for the three of them and pulled containers of food and bottles of water out of their backpacks. Ash started assembling sandwiches, while Cass portioned out some quartered strawberries onto each of three paper plates. Bri gathered up an armful of rocks, plopped down on the blanket, and began lining up the small stones on one of the tree roots beside her.

It was still the perfect spot, even so many years later, and Ash found himself staring out at the lake, hearing his sister’s voice, feeling as she’d tugged his hand to pull him up onto the rock with her. He swallowed hard as Cass’s knee bumped his.