“If you don’t want to go and told him no, then he should have accepted that,” Teller says and I can hear the steel in his voice.
I wonder why Teller doesn’t like Chet but I don’t want to ask him.
“I told him that it was just as friends so I don’t think that he’s going to try anything.”
Teller just shrugs, getting to work on fixing the step. I sit on the bottom one, picking a blade of grass and twirling it between my fingers as I look around.
It’s silent, except for the hum from the power drill. Maybe that’s why I find myself telling Teller about the list my mom left for me.
“You know, zip-lining was one of the things on the bucket list that my mom left for me.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. She wanted me to go zip-lining or bungee jumping or parasailing. Something extreme and terrifying,” I say with a laugh.
“Well, the step is fixed…” Teller trails off, raising an eyebrow at me in invitation.
“Will Stan be mad? I didn’t pay or anything.”
Teller laughs, throwing his head back at my question, and his easy laughter rolls over me, leaving goose bumps in its wake.
“Nah, Stan won’t mind. Come on, I’ll get you set up.”
“You’re going to do it with me?”
“Yeah, I’ll go first and then be on the other side so that I can catch you and make sure you stop in time.”
He heads over to the small shed and digs around for a minute, coming back with a harness and a helmet. He plops the helmet onto my head and then gets to work on getting the harness ready.
“Step in,” he says, holding the leg parts open for me to step into.
He moves the straps up over my waist and has me buckled into it in a minute. I watch as he does the same to his gear.
“This way,” he says as he leads me up the stairs to the platform.
I try not to look down but I can’t help it and I swallow when I see just how far off the ground we are.
“You’re sure that this is safe?”
“I’m sure,” he says with that easy smile as he hooks another strap to my waist.
This one is attached to the overhead line and I grip it tightly. Teller is hooked up a second later and he joins me at the edge of the platform.
“Ready?”
“Um…”
“It will be fun. You’ll see. I’ll go first. You just need to get a walking start at least so that you have enough momentum to make it to the next platform. If you just step off, you’ll get stuck in the middle.”
“Okay,” I say, my heart thundering in my ears.
“Then when you get close to the other platform, you pull down on this strap. That slows you down so that you don’t go flying into the stop on the line on the next platform. I’ll tell you when to pull it.”
“Got it,” I say but I must look pretty shaky and uncertain.
“It’s going to be fine, Sutton. I’ll be on the other side to catch you.”
With that, he takes a few running steps and flies off of the platform. I watch in wonder as he sails through the air, gliding to a stop as he comes to the other platform.
He makes it look easy. I wait until he unhooks from his line and gives me a nod before I take a deep breath, back up a few steps and then run, jumping off the platform and into the air.
There is something so freeing about leaping into the nothing and trusting that the strap will catch you and keep you safe.
The ride across to the other platform doesn’t last long, just thirty seconds or so, but by the time I coast to a stop on the other side, I’m feeling lighter and happier than I have since my mom’s funeral.
I can’t help but picture her cheering me on as I glide through the air. It was always the two of us and so she made sure to be my biggest cheerleader no matter what I pursued.
Maybe that’s the reason behind the bucket list. She knows me well and if I didn’t have a reason to try new things, then I tend not to step out of my comfort-zone. Maybe this is her way of giving me a nudge to keep living, even now that she’s gone.
She always was clever. Thinking about her watching me as I near the other side has a smile tugging at my lips and I grin, laughing as Teller pulls me more firmly onto the stand.
“So, what did you think?” he asks with a grin and I can’t help it.
I throw my arms around his shoulders, squeezing him tight.
“Thank you,” I whisper against his shoulder as he wraps his arms around my waist and holds me.
“Anytime, Sutton.”
I pull back after a minute and I can feel the blush staining my cheeks. Teller gets to work on unhooking me from the line and we walk over to the other side of the platform. This next line is longer, going between trees along the way.
“Ready to go again?” he asks as he grabs the straps to hook us up to the line.
“Yeah.”
“So, what else was on the bucket list?” he asks after a beat.
“Uh, um not much. It wasn’t very long. I was supposed to spend the summer here and get to know my great-uncle, do something wild like zip-lining or swimming with sharks, dye my hair a crazy color, adopt a pet, go skinny dipping, just stuff like that.”
I leave off the last one, falling in love, and I don’t want to think about why.
“It’s a good list.”
“Thanks,” I whisper as I realize just how close we’re standing.
“If you ever want help with the rest of it, just let me know. I don’t know how to dye hair, but I can give it my best shot, and we don’t have sharks but I can take you parasailing or something.”
“Thanks, Teller. I might just take you up on that.”
He gives me that smile of his and takes a step back. I squint against the sun as I turn to face the other platform and I’m surprised when Teller drops his hat onto my head.
“Same as last time,” he says before he grins as he jumps off the stand.
I watch him glide through the trees to the other side, my heart racing out of control and I know that this time it’s from something other than the zip-lining.
7
I’m flushed by the time that we clean up from the zip line and then head back to the cabin. I have no idea when my shift should be over, but since Lyla is here, I’m guessing that it’s okay to head upstairs and take a shower before Chet gets here.
I wanted to meet the other gift shop employee before she left though, so I head inside after Teller and smile when I see the bored looking girl about my age behind the counter.
She glances up, her warm blue eyes looking me over with interest.
“You must be Sutton,” she says with a wide grin, standing up from the stool behind the counter. “I’m Lyla.”
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” I say as I step closer and I can tell instantly that we’re going to get along.
It’s a weird feeling since I didn’t grow up with many friends, and certainly no one that I felt a connection to right away, but I find that I don’t mind it.
“Cause I’m the youngest person that you’ve met since you got to town?” she jokes and I can’t help but laugh.
It seems that we have a similar sense of humor and Lyla seems friendly and down to earth. Finally, someone in this place that I can see myself getting along with and that I don’t risk losing my heart to.