Page 67 of First Chance

“I’ve never picked wild anything before.” My smile widens in excitement.

“They’re smaller than you’d see at the grocery store, but they’ll be sweeter too.”

I pick a little berry and examine it in the fading sunlight.It’s bumpy and firm, but it’s the richest color of red I’ve ever seen in nature.

“I have a lipstick I love that’s almost this shade of red. I was so excited the first time I put it on, I felt so mature, but my mother told me I looked like a slut… I never did wear it again.”

Talking to my mother last night stirred up bad memories. I place the strawberry in the container and look up to see the most startled expression on his face.

“The more you tell me about your family, the more I hate them.”

“You don’t even know the half of it,” I scoff, but then laugh at the ridiculousness.

“I’d like to, if you want to tell me,” he admits softly.

I fill the rest of the container, wishing I would stop gravitating towards him when he’s so grumpy with me, but every time he blankets me in his warm presence, I can’t seem to turn it away.

“It’d be a long story…”

“There’s a spot I like to go on nights like this, when it’s just me and the bears. Will you come with me?” He asks hesitantly.

There’s a softness in his eyes that isn’t usually there. A different type of sorrow that I’d never be able to turn away from, no matter how hot and cold he acts towards me.

He leads me to the farthest outbuilding, the one that contains all the bear supplies, but doesn’t take me inside. Instead, he grabs a ladder propped up against the outside wall and leans it against the building.

“Are you afraid of heights?”

“I don’t think so, but I’ve never climbed a ladder like this.”

He chuckles and shakes his head. “Go on, I’ll catch you if you fall.”

I grab the metal rungs but hesitate before pulling my feet off the ground.

“Take your time. Three points of contact at all times. Hand, hand, foot, foot,” he instructs from right behind me. I start to move, and he continues talking me through it softly. “Hand, hand, foot, foot. Good. Keep looking up. Hand, hand, foot, foot. You’re almost there.”

“Now, what?” My shaking knees don’t know how to get off the ladder and onto the flat-ish roof without losing my balance and falling backward.

“Plant your hands at the top of the ladder to stabilize your body and step onto the roof. I’m right behind you. I won’t let you fall.”

“Not on purpose, but I’m heavy. I could bring us both down like dominoes.” Now my wrists are trembling, and I feel like the whole ladder is shaking.

“I’d never let that happen, darlin’.” The deep timber of his voice melts over me, convincing me to spur forward and hoist myself off the ladder, but more importantly, to get away from the jitters that nickname causes in my nervous system.

Once I’m on the roof, I don’t know what to do with my body, freezing in a half-crouched stance.

“And, for the record.” He steps onto the roof easily and lays the blanket down. “I could have carried you up the ladder, so assuming you could knock me over is an insult.”

“Gravity doesn’t apply to you?”

“I’m not talking about gravity,” he says pointedly, setting the strawberries down in the middle of the blanket and sitting down himself.

Oh.

I look out over the roof to the view beyond. We’re sitting right above the edge of the bear enclosures. I haven’t been this close yet.

“Will they come over here?”

“Maybe. They roam a little, but they also pick their favorite areas and tend to frequent them.” He shrugs, leaning back on his arm.

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