Page 76 of Courage, Dear Heart

Grace shoos us away, taking Jamie by the hand andleading him toward the kitchen with Carmen, who got him his own apron. Jillian lingers for a moment, watching them, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her shorts.

I hold a hand out for her. “Ready?”

She places her hand in mine, no hesitation this time. “Yes.”

We start following the same trail I took her and Jamie before, but I make a turn into the woods, guiding her between the trees and bushes. There’s no trail here, and for someone not familiar with the area, they’d be lost among the dense trees in minutes. But I grew up in these woods, exploring them with my sisters and cousins. Well, Josh not so much. He never liked getting his hands dirty, so it was me and the four girls.

I follow the nonexistent trail with Jillian at my side.

“Where are you taking me? There’s no path.” A note of worry coats her words.

I smile, trying to put her at ease. “There’s a path if you know what to look for. Landmarks. Like that fallen tree.” I point at the tree trunk lying thirty or forty yards to our left. “And that bolder.” I point to the right. “We want to keep walking with these two markers in mind.”

“What happens when we get past them?”

“There will be other markers. Let’s see if you can find them.”

She grins, more at ease now. “Okay, challenge accepted.”

Her gaze focuses ahead as we get closer to the boulder. All around us, the forest plays her song, the rustle of leaves in the trees, the crunch of our steps over dirt, twigs, and pebbles. The birds chirping, insects joining in with the buzzing and the call of an angry squirrel when we pass its nest on a hollowtree trunk. Sunlight filters through the trees in dappled patches, casting everything in golden light. The air smells of pine and damp earth, mingling with the faint sweetness of wildflowers blooming in the underbrush.

I love the way the sunlight catches her hair, turning it into strands of gold. I want to wrap my hand into her hair and pull her to me, kiss her until I can’t breathe anymore. I force myself to keep moving, focusing on the sound of our footsteps crunching over the terrain as we walk in comfortable silence for several more minutes.

“There.” She points to a blackened tree that was hit by lightning years ago.

“Yes. That’s one of them. But there’s more. Pay attention.”

Jillian looks all around, but there’s nothing that stands out. Trees and bushes and green all around us. She stops, tilts her head. “Is that...water?”

I grin. “Yes. That’s another clue. Do you think you can follow the sound?”

She lets go of my hand and takes the lead, her steps careful over the uneven ground. The sound gets louder with each passing minute. After a short hike, we break through the trees, and below us, The Spot comes into view.

She gasps. “Oh my God.”

I try to see it through her eyes, like I’m seeing it for the first time. The wide clearing showcases a small waterfall, no higher than ten feet, that spills into the lake below. The rocks around it covered in deep green moss and ferns. The water foaming at the base of the fall and spreading in concentric waves outward. The water so clear, every rock and pebble on the bottom is visible. The clearing around it forming a small,sandy and rocky beach. Birds singing loudly as if in competition with the falls. The blue sky above, now visible in the absence of trees. It looks like a lost haven, untouched and unspoiled by the human touch.

“You call this—this piece of heaven—The Spot?”

“Yes.”

“Why? This place deserves a much better name.”

I chuckle. “I’m not sure. Since I was little, this was always called The Spot.”

She puts her hands on her hips. “Well, excuse me if I call it something else.”

“Yeah, what will you name it?”

“I don’t know yet. But I’ll come up with something.”

I hold a hand out to her and she takes it. We walk down the path, careful with where we step as we go lower to the small beach.

I slide the backpack to the ground and stretch my back and shoulders.

“Oh, it was heavy? Sorry, I didn’t even think of offering to help you carry it.”

Like I’d let her carry a pack half of her size. “No, not heavy.” I open the pack and remove a thick quilt, then spread it over the pebbles. Pull out two towels and a small cooler.

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