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I shook my head at him. For someone who was so... free with his relationships, he certainly was pressuring me to settle down. But I couldn’t blame him. I’d been having the same thoughts myself, in between the fears of what would happen when my time was up in Emerson.
“Come on,” Liv said. “We should show her the hay loft.”
56
Henrietta
Confession: If I’m being honest, I have no idea how we’ll figure this out.
“No.”I stared at the wooden boards nailed to the wall of the barn, then stared at Tyler. “No way are those holding me up.”
While I hesitated, Rhett easily took the ladder up and disappeared through the hole in the ceiling of the dusty barn. It was dim in here, just a few plexiglass windows offering light filled with dust motes. The whole place smelled like dust and composting earth and something else I couldn’t quite place.
Liv winked at me. “They’re stronger than they look. See?” She reached for them and started climbing up. The wood bowed a little under her weight, but it held steady.
In my ear, Tyler teased, “I’m here to catch you.”
“More like break my fall,” I retorted, reaching for a rung at shoulder height. Very aware that a dress was not the best idea for this, I put my foot up on a rung and hoisted myself up, not breathing for fear of falling.
Tyler whistled below me and said, “Beautiful view down here.”
I sent him a glare over my shoulder but couldn’t help my smile. I faced the ladder again, climbing until I crested the hole in the ceiling. Or floor, depending on your perspective. I kept my eyes forward, seeing tiny cobwebs and even a couple of brown spiders hanging out on the wooden wall. Then when I was high enough, Rhett said, “Here, take my hand.”
I let go of my death grip on the wooden rung and squeezed his hand. He easily pulled me closer to him so I fell against his chest. He waggled his eyebrows, and I rolled my eyes at him.
I stepped back, brushing dust off my dress, and looked around in awe just as twinkle lights came on. Liv walked away from the outlet to stand beside me. “What do you think?” she asked.
My eyes were glued to the building. There was a rough wood plank floor, light green and yellow hay bales stacked along the walls, a rope swing in the middle, and even a wooden couch and a refrigerator back against the wall.
“This is like every kid’s dream,” I said.
Tyler put his arm around me—he must have come up without me even noticing. “We hung out here all the time. Snuck beer out here too when we were teenagers.”
“Mom and Dad totally knew,” Liv said.
“Don’t they always?” I cringed internally, thinking of my first encounter with alcohol when Bertrand bought a bottle of vodka off some guy in the streets of LA. We both drank so much one night when Mom and Dad were out that we puked all over the bathroom. Of course Mom and Dad knew, and our punishment was cleaning vomit hungover. Never would I ever drink that much again.
Tyler said, “I think they were just happy we were getting drunk out here and not going anywhere else and driving afterward.”
Rhett tapped his nose. It was fun to see Tyler’s gesture on his brother. I wondered what my brothers and I had in common—if Tyler had noticed.
“Check this out,” Liv said. She walked to the front wall of the barn, unhooked the latch, and swung the door open. As I approached the opening, I first noticed how high we were—at least ten feet in the air. And then I saw the view. From here, you could see the horses in the grazing pen, cattle on the hillside, and the beautiful farmhouse they grew up in.
“Wow,” I breathed. No wonder Tyler loved growing up here. It was incredible, and I couldn’t believe I’d gone my whole life up until now without experiencing it.
I looked over at him and laced my fingers through his. He smiled at me, happier than I’d ever seen him. “I’m so glad you came,” he said.
“Me too.”
Liv glanced at the smart watch on her wrist and said, “We should probably get back and wash up for dinner.”
We all made our way to the ladder. Liv went down first, and I gave the loft one last look before following her down to the floor of the barn. While she and Rhett took the truck back to the house, Tyler and I walked the few hundred-yards distance, with our arms around each other.
With the sun sinking down, it was getting cooler, but I felt so warm with the excitement of the day. And as we got closer, I could smell the most heavenly scents coming from the house. “It smells amazing,” I said.
“Dad’s the best on the grill,” Tyler said. “Mom told me they’re setting up the heaters outside and we’ll eat on the porch.”
I smiled. “That sounds so fun. And I love your siblings. Liv is so beautiful and nice, and Rhett, well, he’s a handful.”