Page 45 of Our Little Moments

She giggles with joy. “I feel much better now! And you can tell your sisters they can interrogate me instead of you; I’ll take the fall for both of us if I have to.”

I laugh at her enthusiasm. “Stella, if I open the door for that, they will interrogate both of us every single time we give them the ammunition to.”

She laughs too. “Then take the fall for both of us. I’d rather keep myself away from interrogations.”

“Well, it’s too late for that, Stella!” Isabella calls from the kitchen, laughing her butt off.

Stella buries her face in her hands. “You have got to be kidding me.”

I laugh.Yeah, she’s stuck in this with me.“Come on. Let’s get away from here before we give these two more ammunition against us.”

We’re both grinning and, for some reason, I feel an invisible string pulling me closer to her as she smiles up at me. And with her hand in mine as we get away from my sister’s coffee shop, we feel like a team, Stella and I.

…

We make it to the mountain shortly after that. Stella walks ahead of me, a gorgeous, excited smile on her face.

“Come on! Hurry up! I’ve been waiting all morning to come back here!”

I smile at her enthusiasm. Watching her being so excited to hike makes it feel less like doing something for myself and more like doing something for both of us.

And you’re glad she is as excited to hike as you are excited to hike with her.

Yeah, that too.

We start our trail with the sun high above us, shining its golden rays all around us. The plants, the trees, the rocks . . . Everything is lit up by its light.

But the only thing I notice is how the rays of sunshine highlight the brightness of Stella’s eyes. They are coming alive, and it’s taking my breath away, and making her chestnut curls look even shinier.And her smile . . .

I slow down my pace so the moment can last a little while longer. Watching Stella discover hiking is about as dazzling as listening to her play the piano.

She has that look on her face, like she found something deeper than a simple hobby.

And having seen the lost look on her face so often, pride fills my chest at knowing that, this time,I’mthe reason her face is lit up that way.

Stella

Hiking is amazing. How did I never try it before?

The view, the feel of the wind against my skin, feeling wild and free and grounded all at the same time. It has a magic of its own.

And your opinion might be influenced by the man right behind you.

Maybe.

Probably.

Yes. Totally.

Adrian has been walking behind me since we started, and having his presence around me changes everything.

Having the freedom to not just be as I am, but be wild and out of control, and still be fully accepted, is a feeling I didn’t realize I craved so badly until today.

And he doesn’t just fully accept you, he cheers you on and runs along with you.

Okay, now I need a distraction. If all my thoughts are going back to him, I need to . . . dosomethingto stop it. Because this moment is supposed to be about him doing something for himself, not about me. I drop my bag from my shoulder and grab my bottle of water.

“Do you need to drink?” I ask as I dig around the bag to find the one I brought for him.

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