Page 74

I slip off my shoes as instructed and watch as Adam ties them together by the laces.

‘Don’t freak out, okay?’ he warns me, and I nod my head. Of course, I immediately freak out as I watch him launch my shoes up into the branches of the huge tree in the park that is on the edge of the beach, near the edge of the temporary fencing. As the laces make contact with one of the high branches they wrap around it tightly, leaving my shoes dangling.

‘I can’t believe you just did that.’

I laugh in amazement.

‘We’ll get them back.’ Adam chuckles. ‘Here, let me give you a leg up.’

Without giving it much thought, I step up onto Adam’s hands and somehow manage to get onto a branch. Thankfully we don’t have to go too high to get over the fence, which is fortunate because my tree-climbing skills were never that good.

Adam jumps and grabs a branch, pulling himself up next to me effortlessly. As we sit there alone together, hidden by leaves, I suddenly feel very safe (even though I’m not entirely sure how sturdy this branch is) and a million miles away from the fundraiser – even though it’s going on only a matter of feet beneath us.

Below, the party carries on without us: muffled music, chatter, bursts of laughter, the glow of light through the branches.

‘Before we get down, do you want to talk about anything?’ Adam asks.

‘That’s okay,’ I say with a sigh. ‘I’m sorry my brother stole your brother’s girlfriend. I really had no idea.’

‘You’re the last person who needs to apologise for that,’ he replies. ‘And, look, I could never get on board with cheating, but that’s in the past now. Rory and Sally are happily married – and they’re obviously in love. There are better ways to go around it, but I know more than anyone that it isn’t always possible to fall for the most convenient people.’

Ah, yes, that girl at work he’s after. He must not be having much luck with her, which surprises me, not only because I think he’s gorgeous but because whenever we go into the office all the girls swoon over him.

‘I can’t believe I’m sitting in a tree,’ I say dramatically.

We stare at each other for a moment before both bursting into laughter; well, quiet laughter – we are hiding in a tree after all.

‘Seeing as though we’re up a tree, and as adults that doesn’t happen so often, why don’t we leave our mark?’

Adam grabs a penknife from his pocket and begins carving his name into the trunk of the tree. He etches an ‘and’ symbol below his name and hands me the knife so I can do the honours. I can’t help but smile as I do as I’m told.

‘There,’ I say when I’m done.

‘Right, now to try and get you down.’

‘Can’t we just stay here forever?’ I ask, and I’m probably only half joking. Plus, there’s no way I’m going to make it out of this tree without breaking a bone.

Adam moves across to one of the other branches and then drops to the ground, landing on his feet with the grace of a gymnast.

‘Yeah, see, I can’t do that,’ I tell him.

‘Move to a closer branch and I’ll catch you,’ Adam insists, but I’m not buying it.

‘No, no, no. You can’t catch me! I’ll squash you!’

Adam chuckles.

‘Lia, you said you trust me. I jumped, you jump.’

‘Oh, and now he’s making Titanic references,’ I mumble to myself as I move to a different branch. Adam laughs at me as I manoeuvre with the grace of a three-legged daddy-long-legs.

‘Okay, jump,’ he insists.

‘Are you sure?’ I call back.

‘Yep.’ Adam confidently holds his arms out.

I make sure I am directly above him before closing my eyes and letting myself fall towards the ground.