Hummingbird Lane by Brown, Carolyn (good books to read for beginners TXT) 📕

wind blew a few hailstones the size of golf balls across the floor of the cave. The storm had settled right over them, and it was beginning to look more and more like they would be there the rest of the day and probably through the night.

Josh didn’t mind that idea one bit. He could have lived in the small cave for the rest of his life with Emma. “You really love Rebel, don’t you?”

“Oh, yeah!” Emma nodded.

“Then why didn’t you call her when”—he stammered a little—“when that happened?”

“I didn’t want Rebel to think I was a complete idiot,” she answered. “Locking it away in a box and throwing away the key was easier than talking about it to anyone until now.”

“Well, I’m glad you can talk about it,” he said.

“Me too. Did your parents tell you bedtime stories?” she asked.

“My grandfather’s friend, Harry, kind of filled in with that role. He spent a lot of time with me, but his stories were more like fishing stories,” he said. “Mother and Dad were pretty wrapped up in their careers, and still are.”

“Well, I love stories,” Emma said as she looked around the tiny cave. “And I like this place. I’m glad you found it.”

Josh’s heart swelled. Emma liked his cave and had told stories that made him look like a warrior. He wouldn’t mind if they had to stay in the cave for the night—not one bit.

Chapter Seventeen

The story had been just a tale that Emma made up to pass the time when she and Josh were in the cave. The characters weren’t real, and she’d made up the names in her rendition of Romeo and Juliet. But when she awoke for the second morning with Josh spooned up against her back and his arm around her, she wished that it were real. As the characters, they would have already had a first kiss, and most likely even slept together—as in real sex. That terrified Emma more than she would like. What if when she finally did get past the kiss, maybe even the making out, she froze when it was time for sex? She had told her therapists in the counseling sessions that having a relationship terrified her, and they had assured her that when the right time came for that step, she would probably be comfortable with it.

“Yeah, right,” she murmured. I couldn’t even remember why I felt that way, so how could they know how I would feel?

“Did you say something?” Josh tightened his hold on her.

“I was just mumbling,” she whispered. “Oh. My. Gosh!”

“What?” He started to jump up but got tangled in the cocoon they’d made with the quilt tucked in around them.

“Shh . . .” She put her finger over his lips and pointed toward the cave entrance.

“Is that real or are we dreaming? Is that really bright sunshine I’m seeing?” He sat up and untangled the quilt.

“The storm is over.” Emma pointed to the firepit. “There’s nothing left but embers, and I’m starving. Think we could break out the last of those energy bars?”

“Or I could build a fire and warm up a can or two of beans,” he suggested.

“Then we’d have to make sure the fire was put out before we left. How far is it from here to home?” Emma asked. “If we have to walk, can we get there by noon? That’s when Sophie gets back. I’m dying to hear more about her trip. We’ve talked on the phone, but it’s just not the same.”

When they had packed everything into their backpacks and stepped out into the sunshine, Emma noticed that raindrops were still hanging on to the oak leaves, and she took her notebook out of her hip pocket.

“I want to paint that leaf,” she said.

“That would be a great picture for your Hope collection.” Josh carefully buckled the front of his backpack over his chest. “Ready to go forth and overcome the obstacles?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Emma asked.

“We came up the mountain on dry ground. Going down is going to be on a slippery slope, but we have lots of saplings to hang on to,” he explained. “I’ve only made this trip once after a hard rain, and I rolled most of the way to the bottom. Course, only my pride got hurt. I’ll lead the way, and we’ll go slow.”

“I can’t imagine life without art now that I’ve found it again. I love doing the small things.” Emma inhaled the clean morning air and felt happiness surge through her—real happiness. She took the first step and her boot sank down into at least an inch of mud, and even that didn’t spoil the joy in her heart.

A sucking sound came from Josh’s boots every time he moved forward. Emma grabbed a small tree trunk for support with each step. She slipped a couple of times, but she was able to get her balance before she took a tumble or sat down flat on her butt. But near the bottom of the slope, there were no more trees to hang on to, and the mud was even deeper. Josh went even slower at that point.

Emma kept her eyes on the ground and took one step at a time—right up until a big black snake slithered out of nowhere. She froze. Her breath stuck in her chest. Her hands trembled when the thing crossed right over the top of her boots. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. She shivered so hard that she lost her footing and fell forward, bumping into Josh on the way. Together, they tumbled, ass over teakettle, all the way to the bottom. When they finally stopped rolling, she was lying on top of Josh, and they were both covered in mud.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “Snake . . .”

“Where? Are you all right? Did it bite you?” Josh wrapped both arms around her and sat up with her in his lap.

“It’s gone now,” she panted, “but it crawled across my boots.