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A moment passed, and then his follow-up message came, stating the truth we both knew to be fact:Liar. Just one word, and the funny thing was, I could picture him saying it to me. We’d started out liars, but over the course of those initial weeks, everything had changed.
Maybe we were still liars to the world—couldn’t let anyone know he was actually Brett Banks and not Ian Smith. Yeah, stupid last name. You don’t have to tell me that. But we weren’t liars to each other. We didn’t hide anything, didn’t wear masks when we were with each other.
Another message came from him:I love you. I’ll see you in a bit.
I smiled at my phone, and then I tucked it into my pocket—my flowery shorts actually had sewn-in pockets that were big enough to hold a phone. I know, I know, it was amazing. Anytime you could find girl clothes that had deep pockets was basically a cause for celebration. That was an unspoken rule.
I went downstairs, finding my mom scrubbing the floor in the kitchen. She looked up at me and smiled. “Hey, honey. Your sister texted. She and Tyler should be over soon.”
I ignored the thing about my sister and her fiancé, asking, “Didn’t you just mop this morning?” I didn’t know why I asked. My mom was insane when it came to cleaning before any sort of company came over. Since my birthday fell on a weekend this year, it meant she and dad both had off without having to use up any personal days at their work. Mom spent her time cleaning the house, while my dad did things outside.
“Yes,” my mom said, wiping her forearm against her forehead. Her blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her amber eyes crinkled. “But I saw a spot and thought, might as well try to get it out while I’m looking at it. This is the last thing I’m doing, I promise.” She gave me a smile after that, probably because we both knew once she got that invisible mark off the linoleum, she’d find other things to clean. She’d be on her hands and knees until Claire and Tyler got here.
That’s just how my mom was. Don’t ask me why. It wasn’t like anyone else was coming today, besides Brett, my sister, and Tyler.
I decided to go outside and see what my dad was doing. He’d mowed the lawn and weed whacked earlier, and now he was scraping off the grill. He’d just gotten his brown hair cut short, so he looked a little silly, but I kept that part to myself.
“Don’t start the grill right away,” I said. “Ian just told me he might be running a little late.” As much as my dad would be okay eating without him, it was my birthday, so all he did was nod in response.
The sun shined brightly overhead, not a single cloud in the clear blue sky. The air was a balmy seventy-eight degrees, according to my phone’s weather app. Fortunately, the humidity today wasn’t too high—there was nothing worse than a summer day with a humidity index of eighty or more. The air got so thick it felt repressing.
“I think I’m going to take a little walk in the woods,” I told him.
“All right. Don’t go far. I think your mother said your sister will be here soon.”
My feet took me past the picnic table that was now decorated with a thin plastic table cloth. Past the swing set. My flip flops weren’t the best choice of footwear to take into the woods, but I didn’t plan on going deep. Just to a certain spot.
The treehouse.
I opened the gate in the back of the fenced-in yard, stepping out into the unruly portion of my parents’ property. A little bit further, and I walked under the canopies of the trees that made up the woods. The air was a bit cooler here, but not enough to make me cold with what I was wearing.
I marched through the woods, taking the same path I always did, even before the treehouse had its first visitor in years. When I made it to the base of the tree, I craned my neck back, staring up at the old wooden structure. My dad had certainly built it to withstand the wear of time. Honestly, I didn’t know what Brett and I would’ve done if this treehouse wasn’t here.
Moving closer to the treehouse’s ladder, I set a hand on the step level with my head. I climbed up. Step after step, I went all the way up, and once I crawled inside the treehouse, I let out a sigh. My eyes surveyed the space, finding an empty treehouse, all wood. Everything I’d bought Brett, he’d moved out once he’d gotten his own place.
A lot less cluttered in here, that’s for sure, and even though it was early afternoon and there was more than enough light to see, my mind flashed back to a dark treehouse, where you couldn’t really see anything beyond shadows.
Brett and I were right over there, in the opposite corner, getting to know each other’s bodies for the first time. The way he’d touched me, hesitant, like he was afraid to break me at first, had made me feel so alive.
And scared. God, I’d been so scared of what I was feeling in that moment that, when it was over, I’d pushed him away. Told him to go. And, like a fool, Brett had listened and went. And then he’d killed my ex, something I knew I should be angrier about, but I wasn’t.
How could I be angry with the man who’d come back to me and saved my life? How could I be upset with the man who’d saved me from the demon that had tormented me and abused me for years upon years?
Brett wasn’t a good man. He’d done terrible things, yes, things that no sane person could overlook… but I wasn’t a normal person. I was not God, and so forgiving him for his sins wasn’t my job. I loved him with all of my heart, and only time would tell whether or not it would be a mistake.
No, it wouldn’t be, because itcouldn’tbe. Love was never a mistake.
I sat in the treehouse for a while, reminiscing about the past and how quickly things had changed.
Honestly, this treehouse changed my life. That sounded silly, but it was true. This treehouse allowed Brett to stay close by, which in turn helped fuel our relationship. I didn’t know where either of us would be if my dad had never built this treehouse for Claire and me when we were younger.
Eventually I had to leave the treehouse and get back to the house. Didn’t want everyone else getting there while I was gone; mom would flip if I was MIA at my own birthday party. Although, I really hesitated to call this a party, because other than the cake and presents, it wasn’t really different from any other family get-together my parents had.
Okay, the decorations too, but that was it.
I climbed out of the treehouse, going down slowly. Once my feet were on the ground, I made sure no dust or anything had stuck to my shorts, and then I started the walk back.
A short walk later, I pushed through the gate, heading inside the manicured yard, and at the picnic table, I saw Claire and Tyler had already arrived.
