Page 15 of Passing Notes
“So, there’s a bug in your bedroom, and you came out here to sleep where all the rest of them live?” I teased.
Two adorable scarlet circles appeared on her cheeks. “It made sense at the time. I was tired and all out of logic, okay? This bug meant business. It had facial expressions, Nick. It wants something from me.”
“Is your house locked?”
“Yeah, I mean, I could just go inside, but I really don’t want to. If it was a spider, I’d have just caught it and put it outside, but this was a big bug, Nick—huge. I have no idea what kind it is, but it’s on a mission. I know it.” She threw a hand over her eyes. “God, I’m being such a baby about this.”
I caught a glimpse of Sasha and Ethan watching me as I spoke to Clara as though I knew her—which obviously I did, but had been pretending not to.
Damn.
“Uh, we went to high school together,” I muttered while trying to figure out the best way to help her.
Sasha wasn’t buying it. “Sure, Dad. Get the ladder and climb up there. You can go inside, find the bug, and like, save her life or whatever.” She bit her lip to hide a laugh.
“Can I go too?” Ethan asked. “I’ll catch it.”
“No,” Sasha answered him before I could. “We have to get ready for school.”
“You’re not climbing up there, Ethan,” I confirmed. “Good idea, Sash.”
“Hang tight,” I told Clara. “I’m coming over with my ladder.”
“This is so stupid. You don’t have to do this.” She stood, putting a hesitant hand on the knob of her French door. “Okay, never mind. Come up, please. I can’t. I?—”
“Shh, I got this.” I held up a finger. “Don’t worry.” I turned back to Sasha and Ethan, who were watching me with rapt attention. “Y’all get ready for school now or you’ll miss the bus.”
Sasha grabbed Ethan by the arm. She was making connections in her brain. I could see it in her eyes. “Come on, Eath.”
Whether she was figuring out Clara and I had a past together or she was making plans to meddle in the future, I couldn’t tell. But one thing was clear: she was about to start running mental rings around me too.
I dashed down to the garage, grabbed the ladder, and walked through the gate in the low fence that led to Clara’s backyard.
Crystal-blue eyes met mine as I extended the ladder up to her balcony. “It’s okay, Clara. I’m coming.”
The time that had passed between us somehow ceased to exist as, rung by rung, the years between us vanished.
“Thank you,” she murmured as I threw a leg over the rail and landed in front of her.
I didn’t answer her. I couldn’t find the words. I reached out, trailing a fingertip down her soft cheek before brushing her hair over her shoulder. My god, she was beautiful. Her face was delicate and lovely, but strength had always shone through in her expression. Her full lips parted, and she let out a tremulous sigh.
The barrier of anger and confusion that had formed between us was gone, at least for the moment. My heart thumped wildly in my chest and a fresh rush of pink stained her cheeks as we moved closer, pulled together like magnets, unable to resist the attraction that still, after all these years, drew us to each other.
My face lowered inch by slow inch as past and present collided and instinct took over. “Look at you,” I choked, swallowing the lump in my throat. “You’re right here. God, how I’ve missed you.”
“Nick, it’s been so long...” Her sweet voice, barely a whisper, faded away into the hushed stillness of the morning. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips as her dark lashes swept down across her cheekbones.
“Dad!” Ethan yelled from below. “Can I come up and help?” Startled, I spun around to see him about to climb the ladder.
“Ethan!” Sasha hissed as she ran up behind him. “Ugh, you’re such a dumbass. Come on. The bus will be here in five minutes. Forget we were here, Dad. See you later.”
Too late.
The moment was broken. “Bye, be good. Love you!” I called out as I watched them walk to the corner to meet the bus.
I turned back to Clara. She’d shut down. “Thank you for coming up here,” she muttered, gesturing toward the door.
“Yeah, no problem.” I went inside. A giant black bug—I thought it was a stag beetle, but I wasn’t sure—sat plumb in the middle of her bed. Those things freaked me out; I didn’t blame her for sleeping outside.
