Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(81)

“Good girl. That was the hardest part.”

“Who are you trying to fool?” Krista mumbled.

She stepped with her second foot and inched out, a little at a time. She very nearly closed her eyes to shut out the sight of nothingness around her. Your feet aren’t supposed to feel a breeze beneath them. It wasn’t right.

“Good. Half way.”

A gust of wind shook her, swaying her whole body. Krista tried to clutch to the rope but as she leaned forward, the rope she was standing on went backward. One foot slipped off and the next thing she knew she was confronting her fears—she was dangling.

And then she panicked. And screamed.

“Krista, calm down. Krista, just listen to my voice. Just me and you, baby. Me and you. Stay with me.”

Like the many times Krista freaked out with Sean, he talked her down off the ledge. Only this time, the ledge was real. She closed her eyes and regained her balance slowly. She brought her foot back to the rope and stood there for a minute.

“Take another step, Krista. Loosen those hands and take another step,” Sean coaxed.

“I think I peed myself a little.”

“I…That’s…I don’t know what to say to that. Just keep coming. We’ll get you a Depends when you get down.”

Nearly crying, Krista shimmied her foot out a bit, then shimmied the other closer.

“Great work, baby. A little farther now,” Sean said. He was definitely closer. She could hear it.

“You shouldn’t call me ‘baby,’ Sean. It is sexual harassment.”

“All right sweet cheeks, just a bit more.”

She laughed despite herself. “I hate you, Sean.”

“Love you, too. A little farther.”

She edged out a little more, then a little more. As her foot moved, it hit something hard. Before she could scream she was wrapped in Sean’s arms.

“You did it!” he said as he flattened her to the tree.

She let go of him and grabbed the tree. She felt Sean doing something with her harness, then air, and then a thunk. Then ‘Next’ from below.

“Alright, we need to keep going. You are almost there.”

“I don’t want to.”

“I know. But you have to. Let’s go. Just listen to my voice and trust me, okay? Trust me.”

“Okay.”

They edged along the platform. Sean had his hand on Krista’s back, making her feel marginally safer as she clutched onto the tree. All too soon she felt more draft. A peek told her it was another void.

“Okay, this is a board. Much easier. All you have to do is cross it,” Sean said close to her ear.

Krista opened her eyes to look, but Sean was so close to her face, she couldn’t see anything else besides his lucid green eyes. He leaned closer, and he was kissing her.

She opened her mouth to him, happy to close her eyes again. Sean encircled her with his arms and pulled her closer. Krista lost herself in the kiss and his body. His warmth radiated around her. She felt safe and content…until she got a blast of wind and remembered where the hell she was.

She broke off the kiss aggressively. His eyes were bright and soft, which was not more important than the ground, which was hard and far away.

“What the hell are you doing?” she asked, outraged. What if she had lost herself completely and pitched over the side?

“Taking your mind off of things,” Sean said quietly.

“Sean McAdams, get your shit together and get away from me. I need to get out of this damn tree! I would push you, but you probably wouldn’t move and I would get dumped over the side!”

Sean smiled, those beautiful eyes twinkling. “Follow me.”

They got to the plank.

Yes, a plank is better than a rope. This plank, however, was not.

“Sean, there’s nothing to hold on to.”

“If you fall, the rope will catch you.”

“Then I’ll dangle one-hundred feet off the ground! What the hell is going on here? Are these people sadists?! Who thinks this is fun?!”

“You’re holding us up, Krista,” Donald yelled from somewhere behind them.

“Shut up, Donald!” she screamed into his general direction.

“You can do it, Krista,” Dean said, nearly right behind her.

Where had he come from?

Sean, seeing Krista terrified but ready, turned toward the plank and walked across. He had great balance and loved heights—nothing to it. Krista put him on her ongoing hit list.

“Krista, you have excellent balance.” Dean edged up behind her. “Just look at Sean, keep your head up, and walk.”

“I’m going to have to look down, Dean. Or else how am I going to see where I am walking?”

“It’s a straight line,” Dean said. “Just walk in a straight line toward Sean. Easy.”

“The next person that says this is easy is going to get punched in the mouth.”

“Atta girl, Krista. Take no prisoners!” Georgie shouted up. He thought this was hilarious.

“How many points am I getting for this?” she asked logically.

“One,” Donald shouted.

“I am doing all this for one lousy point? I have to change my underwear! I might not have any more clean ones. Then what?”