Page 75 of Forbidden to Fall

He gave me a funny look. “It’s just a toothbrush and clothes. I’ll let you get changed.” He closed the door softly.

I set the clothes on the counter and stared at them for a second.

Teenage Sadie was fainting.

Who was I kidding? She’d passed out weeks ago.

Adult Sadie didn’t faint or squeal or fan herself. She might’ve taken an extra deep breath as she put on the large sweater, and her eyes might’ve fluttered for a millisecond as the concentrated scent of James’s cologne went through her system, but a girl had to breathe.

I brushed my teeth extra hard, like I was scrubbing away more than plaque.

I wasn’t sure what to do with my own clothes, so I folded them and brought them with me.

James was in the kitchen with May. He wore a long-sleeved, waffle-knit shirt and sweats like mine. Well, like the ones he’d let me borrow.

His arm was around his mom’s shoulders, and they were both laughing, though she gave him a playful slap on the cheek.

“That’s enough out of you, young man,” she said, then rested her head against his chest in total contradiction to her tone.

His hold on her tightened, and he pressed a kiss to her hair.

I almost drew back out of sight, feeling like I was intruding on a private, familial moment—one that reaffirmed what I’d already known: May and James needed each other.

Before I could move, May spotted me.

“Sadie.” She left James’s hold and put out her arms for a hug.

“How’s your knee doing, Mrs. Carver?” I asked as her arms wrapped around me.

“Oh, it’s fine, darlin’. James likes to make a fuss over nothin’.”

My eyes met his, and he gave a soft, smiling scoff before she stepped back and looked over the two of us.

“Have you got everythin’ you need? The pads and bags are in the shed. We don’t have the selection we used to—some of them were ruined from a leak a few years back, but you’ll have what you need.” She pointed a finger at her son. “You make sure she stays warm, James Carver.”

“I will, Mama.”

“I know.” She smiled and tapped her cheek.

James pressed a kiss to it. “See you in the morning.”

I waved at May, then followed James to the shed on the side of the house. It had seen better years, but the slant to it lent it character.

I put out my arms. “Load me up.”

The rolled sleeping pads he pulled out were light—definitely lighter than the sleeping bags and blankets he carried under each arm.

“You remember the way?” he asked after closing the door behind us.

“Um…”

“I’m just kidding. It’s this path.” He shined the flashlight on the trail to the left.

The air nipped at the exposed skin of my neck as we headed under the canopy of maples, and the reality of what lay ahead settled over me in the form of goosebumps. I’d ridden through these woods scores of times during the day. Who knew what terrors they held at night?

Mia’s talk of bears and moose and tigers seemed less silly when I stared into a never-ending abyss of darkness on either side of us. Who was to say there weren’t tigers here?

“I never thought I was afraid of the dark until this second,” I said.