Page 73 of Jake and Conner
Good times.
Leaving the park, I headed to my parents' place and took a small detour on my way to the backyard to sneak into Livvy's room and place Mary's letter on her pillow. It was easy because my sister wasn't home. She'd recently started helping out at the supermarket for extra money, which kept her fairly busy. Sadly not too busy to date, though.
Done with that particular errand, I made my way out into the yard and let Bailey off her leash for a little bit while I explored the tree house. Slowly, I looked around the place, the wooden beams creaking under my weight. Neither Livvy nor I had taken care of the treehouse inyears.Truth be told, I wasn't sure it was even safe to be up here anymore.
It was kind of sad, really, when I thought back to all the happy hours I'd spent up here and how much fun my dads and I had building it in the first place.
I vowed then and there that once my child was old enough, I would build another treehouse with her.
For now though, I had a hint to find.
My eyes swept the small space around me once more. There wasn't any furniture up here safe for a small trunk in a corner that turned out to hold some old toys when I opened it, and not much more. A poster of my favorite comic book hero was taped to one of the walls. Next to it, my sister had writtencomic books suck, in permanent marker when she was young and mad at me--and beneath the writing on the floor, I spotted a small envelope identical to the one I'd taken out of the tree.
You're the only one who can make me smile on the day I think it is impossible.
This hint, I had to read several times before I realized what Conner might be talking about.
The day he was the saddest and I tried to make him happy the hardest.
I didn't always succeed, but at leastonceI had.
Slowly, I climbed down the tree, and then I got in my car and drove to the cemetery.
"Quiet now, Bailey, that's a good girl," I softly talked to my dog as I let her out of the car at the cemetery. She was getting a little bit excited, because, if there was one thing she loved more than a car ride, it was gettingoutof the car and exploring this wondrous new place she'd been taken too. But I didn't want her to make any noise here, even if we hadn't entered the cemetery yet.
Bailey was being a good girl, though, and quietly stuck to my side as I approached the gates.
It was probably odd to be smiling at the gates of a cemetery, but I couldn't help it. I had a very happy memory here. The day I'd first confessed my love to Conner, and Conner sending me here... that meant that he thought of it too, whenever he passed through here. I liked that idea, that I'd been able to lift the sadness of this place from him, at least a little bit.
Slowly, I was starting to understand why Conner had come up with this wild goose chase. It was his way of telling me what memories he treasured the most and why. It was a way of giving me a look inside his mind.
I couldn'twaitto find the next hint.
After a little bit of searching, I spotted an envelope tied to one of the cast iron bars in the fence that ran the perimeter of the cemetery. I took it, opened it and unfolded the piece of paper inside.
You taught me new things from the day we met. Or you tried to, anyway.
That one was easy. It wasn't like I would ever forget where I'd first met Conner.
"C'mon, Bailey," I said to my dog, leading her back into the car. "We're driving up to the lake."
She yipped enthusiastically, as if she knew exactly what I was saying. She was a good dog, though. I could have told her that I was taking her to the center of a volcano and she would still have been enthusiastic about it--as long as it meant that we were going somewhere together.
As I drove, I wondered what Conner was doing now. Was he at work or was he going to meet up with me at some point? I hoped he would. I wanted to kiss him in the worst way.
I also wanted to know what the key he had given me was for.
When I got to the lake, though, I found neither Conner nor a box that could be unlocked with a key, so this wasn't the end of my journey, yet. Bailey was happy, though, barking loudly at something she had spotted in one of the trees surrounding the lake. I stood for a moment and took a deep breath, drawing the forest air into my lungs.
The lake was quiet--aside from Bailey's barking. It was still too early in the day for teens or families to be hanging out here, even though the weather was warming up.
The day I'd met Conner had been a very hot day. I couldn't remember now exactly what month it was, but I remembered the way the sun beat down on us. I remembered hardly being able to wait to get into the water, and I remembered looking at this strange new boy who didn't seem nearly as excited as I was to cool off for some reason.
Nine-year-old me had had no idea what he was starting when he decided that he would teach this boy how to swim.
Bailey nudged my leg with her nose as if to pull me out of my reverie.
"You're right," I said, petting her ruff by way of apology. "We should walk a little." I led my dog around the lake, lost in thought but mindful of where I was walking. After all, I was still looking for something that Conner might have left here for me.
