Chapter Thirty-Seven
Raven
It turns out there are more trees than we could have imagined.
It’s a hard trek through the forest because of all the snow, but both Kylen and I are determined to find his grandparents’ tree. Kylen’s using the GPS on his phone to find the coordinates.
“Almost there,” he says as he stares down at his phone with an excited expression. His other hand is holding mine and guiding me along. I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of holding his hand. It means something completely different now because our whole relationship has changed after the kiss.
“Darn it’s cold,” I say as a shiver takes over my body. The temperature has dropped significantly since we left an hour ago, and it seems it will only get colder as nighttime approaches.
“Want my coat?” he offers as he lets go of my hand and reaches for the zipper.
I place my hand over his. “Heck no. You’ll get sick for sure without a coat in this weather.”
“I just don’t want you to be cold.”
“I don’t want you to be cold, either. Do you want to spend the next few days in the school’s infirmary?”
He looks like he’s really weighing that option. I slap his arm. “Don’t even think about risking your own health for my comfort.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Uh huh.”
“Seriously! Although, I can’t help but have this image in my head.
Of me lying in one of those very comfy hospital beds and then you sneaking inside and climbing into bed with me to make me feel better.
While poor me lies there suffering, the amazing Raven would fill my ears with her awesome music and conversation. I would get healed in an instant.”
I laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“You would heal me for sure. But I wouldn’t want you to get sick.”
“I’d take that risk.”
His brows fly up in surprise. “You would?”
“Of course! I like the idea of sneaking into the infirmary and climbing into your bed, too. And we would hold each other in our arms.”
With a goofy smile, Kylen reaches for his zipper again. “Let’s make the fantasy come true.”
“Kylen!” I slam my hand over his that’s on the zipper.
He chuckles. “I’m just kidding. Besides, I’m sure there will be lots of opportunities in the future for us to sneak into each other’s rooms when we’re sick.”
I’m about to respond, but then I notice a large tree to my left with something carved on it. “Kylen, is that the tree?” I point.
He peers down at his phone. “These are the right coordinates.”
Grabbing his hand, I pull him toward the tree. When we’re only a few feet away, he sprints forward, gently yanking me along with him. And then he stares at it like he can’t believe what stands before his eyes. There are the letters FL+RC with a heart over them.
Pushing through the snow, he reaches the tree and lays his hand over the carving.
“Is this it?” I ask.
He traces the letters, saying, “Francis Lane and Richard Crawford.” He looks at me with a smile. “These are their initials.”
I shove my boots through the thick snow to stand by his side, me, too, staring at the carving. The cut is pretty deep and precise, as though whoever did it used a knife or small blade.
“I didn’t think we’d actually find it,” Kylen whispers, his voice laced with disbelief but also joy.
“Pops and Gran,” he says with profound emotion attached to every word.
“I found the spot where you declared your love for one another. This is where you promised each other that nothing could keep you guys apart, not college or anything else that may happen in life. You guys might not be here anymore, but your love still lingers in the air. I can feel it. I can feel you. I know you guys are always here with me.”
He moves closer and rests his forehead against the tree, closing his eyes. I step to the side to give him some alone time with his grandparents. This might not be their graves, but I know that they’re very much present here.
Even though the temperature has dropped even more, I don’t feel so cold anymore. Maybe because I can feel Kylen’s profound emotions permeating through the area, warming every part of me.
After a short while, he turns his head and smiles at me. Even from here, I can see tears in his eyes. He holds out his hand to me and I walk over, sliding mine inside.
“Can I introduce you to them?” he asks.
“Of course.”
“Pops and Gran, this is Raven Mitchell. She’s come to mean so much to me and is one of the most important people in my life.” A tear slides down his cheek and he quickly wipes it away with an embarrassed laugh. “I didn’t know I’d feel so emotional.”
I wrap my arms around him and press a kiss on his cheek. “You don’t have to be embarrassed in front of me. I want you to feel comfortable to feel how however you want or need to feel. But do you want to be alone? I don’t mind stepping away for a bit.”
He shakes his head. “I’d rather you be here, if that’s okay.”
I nod.
He rests his hand on the carving again. “I can feel how much love they had for each other as they carved this into the tree. They were about to be separated because of college, but they knew they would find their way back to each other. I’m reminded of all the stories they used to share with me.
Both of them said that this is their favorite memory. ”
“It’s so sweet and romantic,” I say. “Their love will last forever.”
Kylen nods, then steps back and studies it. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Very.”
We’re both quiet for a beat as we continue gazing at the carving. Then Kylen slowly turns his head to me and offers me a shy smile. “Do you want to carve our initials into it?”
I gape at him like I’m not sure I heard him correctly. “Really? Of course! I would love that.”
His face perks up with elation, and then he looks around the area. “What should we use? I don’t have a pocketknife or anything.”
“Maybe a sharp piece of stone?” I suggest. “It’ll be hard to find anything in all this snow, though.”
That doesn’t seem to stop him. He falls to his knees and starts digging through the ice, though it’s a little hard to do that because the snow is frozen. I lower myself to the ground and help him, not caring that ice is seeping in through my gloves.
We work for a good few minutes until Kylen finds a stone with a sharp edge. But when he tests it on another tree, he’s dismayed to learn that it’s not sharp enough to cut into the bark.
“Don’t give up,” I tell him as I continue to dig. “There has to be something here we can use.”
It’s starting to get a little dark now, and a part of me wonders if this is futile. Should we just leave and come back later with a knife? But I don’t know if we’ll have time to come back tomorrow morning.
“I got it!” Kylen announces. He once again tests it on the other tree, and then he throws me a big smile. “It works.”
I get up from the icy ground and move over to him. He managed to carve an “R” into the tree, and it’s pretty deep. “Nice,” I tell him.
He slips his hand into mine and leads me back to his grandparents’ tree. “Do you want to carve in your own initials?” he asks.
I shake my head. “You go ahead.”
He nods before focusing on the tree. He touches the area underneath his grandparents’ names, trying to figure out how much distance to put between them so it doesn’t look too crowded. Then he moves closer and bites his lower lip as he begins to carve an “R.”
He puts so much hard work and dedication into it, as though this is one of the most important things he’s ever done in his life.
When he’s done, he moves back to survey his work.
The letters “RM+KB” are carved in such defined and beautiful detail, and he put a heart on either side of the initials as opposed to a huge heart around the letters because there wouldn’t be enough room for it.
He comes to stand next to me, once again locking his hand through mine. “I love it,” I tell him. “Our initials look perfect together.”
“I agree,” he says with a sweet smile.
I close my arms around him and press my cheek to his. “Thanks so much for all of this, Kylen. It means so much to me.”
“It means so much to me, too, especially that it’s here with my grandparents’. They’ll always be with me.”
“Yes.”
He leans closer and places a soft kiss on my lips. “Thanks so much for coming here with me, Raven. It wouldn’t have been the same without you.”
“I’ll go with you wherever you want,” I promise.
He presses his forehead to mine and murmurs, “And I’ll go with you wherever you want.”
***
“About time you got back!” Carly exclaims when I walk into the room about two hours later.
“Were you out with Kylen all this time?” Sophie asks.
“What do you think?” I say as I drop on my bed, trying to hide my smile. Today was perfect in so many ways. I hope I’ll remember it for as long as I live.
“Something’s different about you,” Addie says as she narrows her eyes at me. “You look like you’re glowing.”
“Oh my gosh, you’re right!” Carly says. “Did you and Kylen do anything special?”
I tell them about the tree, and they don’t waste a second rushing over to the large bed and demanding to know every detail.
“That’s so romantic,” Addie says as she narrows her eyes at me again. “But I feel like something else happened.”
With my cheeks blazing, I say, “There’s no hiding anything from you, is there?”
“Not when it comes to love,” she says.
With a gasp, Carly grabs my hand, squeezing me just a bit too tightly.
“Carly!” I cry. “You’re stopping my blood flow.”
“Oh my gosh, Raven,” she gasps. “Did you and Kylen…?”
No longer able to hide my smile, I nod. “We kissed!”
All three of them cry out in joy and once again demand to know every little detail.
They are firing so many questions at me at once that I swear my ears will explode.
I motion for them to slow down, but they’re far too curious and excited.
Eventually, I manage to tell them—in detail—everything they want to know.
“Was it just as romantic as when you kissed at camp?” Sophie asks.
“It was much better. Back then, I didn’t think it could improve, but darn was I wrong.”