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“Honey, if you’re willing to do this with me, you’ll make me happier than I ever imagined I could be.”
She squeals and runs to me, leaping up to wrap her legs and arms around me and hugging me tight. She kisses me hard, then leans in to whisper in my ear. “I’ve finally found where I belong.”
My throat is too tight to speak, so I just kiss her back.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Honey
“It really looks like a skull,” Daisy says as we finally stand in front of the rock that just might hold the treasure we’ve been seeking.
“Are there any clues in the riddle that tell us where in the skull the treasure might be?” Grant asks.
It wasn’t much of a decision to invite my sisters’ significant others with us to find the treasure.
I feel so much closer with my sisters already, and it’s only been a few weeks since my cave confession. We make it a requirement to have a meal together once a week and we always play a game or practice our instruments after, often hanging out and talking long into the night.
All I asked for was the meal. My sisters have made the time for more because they’ve decided they agree with me that it’s important to really get to know each other as we are now.
“In the eye socket, right, babe?” Jaxon squeezes my hand in his. He’s been around as much as he can, between getting ready for the tour and finishing up the commitments he’d made before he decided to slow down. I’m looking forward to traveling the world with him and sharing a bed with him every night.
“One of them.” I study the rock face, searching out toe and hand holds so I can climb the ten feet up to the left eye socket, but the rock is oddly flat.
“This rock is pretty popular for bouldering.” Grant runs a hand over the stone. “It’s been worn smooth in a lot of places by probably decades of people climbing on it.”
“That’s not good news for a treasure still being here.” Why do I feel like I’m on the verge of tears? The whole point of the treasure was bringing my sisters together, and I’ve already done that.
“If it was well hidden, it’ll still be here. People come here to climb, not to search for treasure.”
“So you know this rock?” Jaxon wraps an arm around me, which means I’ve done a terrible job of covering up my sadness at the idea of the treasure not being here. “You could have helped us find it in one day instead of weeks?”
“Sure,” Grant says. “All the regular climbers around here know this rock. Why do you think there’s a trail down to it?”
“We thought it was a deer trail,” I say. “It’s a tiny trail.”
Grant grins. “The trail can’t be too obvious or everyone would find their way here.”
“How are we going to get up to the eye socket?”
“Let’s try the one over here first.” Clover’s already halfway up the boulder to the eye socket on the other side. “There are plenty of foot and hand holds on this side.”
As a group, we move over there and watch as she climbs. My heart pounds and it feels like the whole forest has gone quiet, holding its breath in anticipation.
Clover reaches the socket, a divot in the rock large enough that she can actually climb into it. “Nothing here. It’s just totally smooth rock.”
Asher stays behind to help her down as the rest of us move back to the other socket. It looks to be even larger and deeper than the one Clover just climbed into.
“I’ll boost you up,” Jaxon says. “Just climb onto my shoulders.”
I stare at him. “Just climb onto your shoulders? Is it that easy?”
Before I can question him farther, Asher’s large hands grasp my waist and lift me in the air. Jaxon crouches and Asher holds me up high enough I can put my feet on Jaxon’s shoulders.
It happens so fast, I don’t have time to protest or even be afraid.
Asher holds me steady as Jaxon straightens to his full height. “Can you reach?”
I raise both my arms, which are shaking, as Jaxon takes careful steps closer to the rock. I can get my fingertips on the lip of the eye socket, but there’s no way I can pull myself all the way up and inside. “I’m not tall enough.”
