Page 139 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

I glanced over at her in the passenger seat, sitting patiently with the blindfold on, humming along to the music.

I didn’t think that was the case, but if it was, I’d regret not telling her over letting her leave without knowing.

At the inn, I parked and got out of the car before opening her door to help her out.

“Hold on to my arm,” I told her, wrapping her hand around my bicep.

“Don’t let me fall.”

“I won’t, I promise. You want me to carry you?”

She laughed. “I can walk.”

I led her into the forest, along the path towards the twinkle lights. Over the past three days, my family and a dozen others from town scrambled to put this thing together while Hannah occupied Sadie with decorating the baby’s room.

“Where are we?” Her head whipped around, still blindfolded. “Are we in the forest?”

“You’ll see.” I squeezed her arm.

We came around the bend in the path and stopped in front of it.

“Alright, Sadie.” My hands came up to her blindfold and I tugged it off. “You can look.”

Her eyes opened. The twinkle lights shone in her eyes as she craned her neck to see.

“Oh, Holden,” she breathed.

“Do you like it?”

She turned her face to me and nodded, and the look in her eyes was everything I ever wanted.

52

Sadie

I staredat the treehouse in the woods, surrounded by twinkle lights. My heart beat hard in my chest and my eyes stung like I was going to cry. A metal staircase wrapped around the tree, leading to the platform twenty feet in the air.

“How did you…?” I trailed off, jaw slack as I took it all in.

Holden took my hand and tugged me towards the bottom of the staircase. “Come on.”

He led me up the winding steps, our footsteps clinking against the metal until we reached the platform, where he opened the door and I stepped inside.

My breath caught. It wasmytreehouse, the one I had told him about while we wandered through the forest. Four barstools sat around the counter, and behind the bar, a wall of windows overlooked the forest and the tiny, sparkling lights. A small antique chandelier hung above the bar, casting a soft glow over everything while a record spun. The record player sat on a shelf built into the wall, playing speakeasy jazz music over the speakers installed in the ceiling. The other shelves were stocked with multi-colored liquor bottles and cocktail glasses.

My gaze landed on the wallpaper and my heart stopped. I covered my mouth with my hand.

“Holden,” I said through my fingers. “That’s my wallpaper.”

Red wine and navy blue stripes, with gold and white birds floating every foot. The one I had designed years ago.

The treehouse was beautiful, like something out of a fairytale, filled with magic and whimsy. My heart lit up like a sparkler on a birthday cake.

And it was for me. Holden built this for me.

It clicked. The phone calls he didn’t want me to overhear. The drywallers taking three days to fix a window when it was a job that should have taken one. It all made sense now.

“Why?” As soon as the word was out of my mouth, I knew the answer.

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