Chapter Six
Millie
“You agreed to do what? And with whom ?” Dad asks with his fork halfway to his mouth. The beef tenderloin Mom made for dinner is barely hanging onto the fork, and his jaw looks like it just came unhinged from the socket with how quickly it dropped.
“Bungee jumping, with Rowan Pierce.”
“You keep saying words, but they aren’t making any sense. Who is Rowan Pierce?” he asks as he finally puts his fork down, saving his pants from beef tenderloin that was surely about to drop on them.
“I met him at the house-building site. He’s my age—well, actually, I don’t know that for a fact, but he looks like he is.”
“You can’t be serious right now,” Mom says, astonished.
“What’s wrong? I think it’ll be fun, and isn’t it good to have someone going with me?”
Dad is already shaking his head. “Not when it’s a complete stranger. I mean, your mother and I haven’t even met him.”
“And since when is bungee jumping on your bucket list?” Mom asks.
She has me there. “It wasn’t, but when he suggested it, I knew it needed to be. When I asked him if he wanted to join me, he said yes. It’s really that simple.”
“Simple?” Dad repeats.
I nod, “I know you’re freaked out that you don’t know who this guy is, but isn’t it time you guys trusted me? You can’t protect me forever, you know.”
“We can’t?” Mom asks rather sassily, at the same time Dad says, “It’s not that we don’t trust you.”
“If it’s not about trust, what is it?”
“It’s not that we don’t trust you, honey. It’s the guy I don’t trust.”
“He’s nice, and this isn’t a date. He didn’t ask me out. I mean, if you want to get technical, I’m the one that asked him out.”
“Well, which is it? Is it a date or is it not a date?” Dad asks.
I tilt my head to think about his question.
I don’t think it’s a date, that wasn’t my intention when I asked him to go with me.
Even though I don’t hate the idea of it being one either, it’s highly unlikely that a guy like Rowan Pierce agreed to go on a date with me.
Nervous butterflies take flight in my stomach just from the thought of dating Rowan. “Not a date, I think.”
“Date aside, I’m more nervous about the bungee jumping part,” Mom says.
“I’m pretty nervous too. This is going to be the first time I get to mark something off my list, and that is pretty exciting.
” I think back to all the things I’ve added to my list over the years, dreaming of a time when I could do those things.
It feels surreal to finally be well enough that it’s even a possibility for me.
“I know how important this is to you, and you know we support you. I guess it’s always been a hypothetical notion, or in the distant future.” Mom swallows thickly before continuing, “But looks like the future is here.”
Her words are bittersweet. I feared I would never get the opportunity to start checking things off a list that I started when I was five years old in a hospital bed. I was a scared little kid who didn’t know if I’d live to see my next birthday. And deep down, I know my parents had the same fear.
Tonight is about so much more than a boy. Or a first date. This moment is more than monumental—it’s surreal, scary, and new.
“It is,” I say.
My father closes his eyes briefly, and when he opens them, I see moisture building in the corners. “Just promise us that you’ll be safe and smart.”
Mom is already dabbing at her left eye, and I hear a quiet sniffle.
I can only imagine how hard this is for them.
They have to learn to let go when, for my entire life, they’ve fought to hold on.
I don’t envy their roles in this life because no matter how hard it was for me, it was ten times harder for them.
I will forever be in awe of their strength and resilience. Their unwavering support and love are what have gotten us here today, with me whole and healthy.
“I promise.”
“Okay,” Mom whispers.
Dad nods his head and says, “We love you.”
Mom smiles, but it’s watery and shaky. “With all our hearts.”
“I love you, too. So much.”
We spend the rest of dinner talking about all the things I’ve added to my list over the years—which ones sound the most fun or realistic, and which ones will be harder to pull off. Dad wants to take me to my first concert and rodeo. Mom wants to scuba dive with me.
I don’t think I’ve smiled this hard in a long time.
Even when I fall asleep hours later, I still have a smile on my face.
“Lucy! Come here! Look what I found!”
I bet it’s a lizard or something, Anna always gets so excited over the littlest things. I finally make it over to where she’s standing in front of a tree, as I approach I hear this weird rattling sound. The hairs on the top of my arm stand on end.
I scream as soon as I see it. Then I reach for Anna’s arm, yanking her back and away from the snake that’s curled up on top of the leaves on the forest floor. “What are you doing?! That thing could bite you!”
Anna laughs and shakes out of my hold. My palms instantly get clammy because she’s not acting scared enough, quite the opposite, she seems fascinated.
“Relax it’s not poisonous.”
My question is barely above a whisper because I’m terrified one loud noise or wrong move is going to have that thing lunging towards my best friend. And then I’m going to have to figure out how to drag her limp, snake bit, body out of here to get help. “How do you know that?”
“My dad told me the brown ones with those kinds of stripes are harmless, they are just meant to look like the poisonous ones.”
None of her answers are computing in my terrified thirteen year old brain. “You can’t be sure, can you? It’s not like you’re an expert!” I half yell, half whisper because panic is starting to overtake all of my senses. I just want her to back away slowly so we can get the hell out of here.
“Sissy,” She sasses but at least she’s stopped her forward progression. She’s still entirely too close for my liking but the snake would really have to lunge for her to reach her and that has a big sigh of relief releasing from my chest.
“Am not.”
“Are too. I just want to get a good look at it.”
Meanwhile the snake continues to rattle its tail and now it’s coiling into a tight ball.
“Anna—”
She looks back and smiles at me and just as she starts to turn around the snake lunges towards her.
I scream, the sound echoes around the dense forest. Then she starts to scream as well. I grab her hand and start running. I only slow down after we clear the trees.
She’s breathing heavy next to me and I have to lean over, placing my hands on top of my knees to try to catch my breath.
“That was so stupid! Are you hurt? Did it get you?!” I ask in between labored breaths.
Anna starts laughing, “no it didn’t get me, but you should have seen your face!”
“Hey!” I say, suddenly offended. “You screamed too!”
“Only because you did! It wasn’t even close to me. I wasn’t scared.”
I roll my eyes, then close them, asking for patience. I love her so much but sometimes I want to kill her. “Next time, can we just not get that close, okay?” I need my racing heart to calm down, and I need my best friend to learn some semblance of survival skills.
She shrugs her shoulders, “I’ll think about it. Now let’s go eat. My mom said she would make us grilled cheese.”
“You’re going to be the death of me one day.”
She smiles as she takes off towards her house and I have to run twice as hard to keep up because my heart’s still racing.
“Maybe we should start with something less—adventurous on your list.” I can hear the hesitation in his voice and that has my stomach pitching.
“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” I know he doesn’t owe me anything, we don’t know each other very well and this is my list, not his, but I won’t lie and say I’m not disappointed that he’s bailing on me.
He puts the paint roller down on the tray that’s almost empty. We’ve been working on painting the house all week and for some reason we keep getting paired together. Something I’m not disappointed about.
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to. I just think we need an icebreaker before we pull out the big guns and go straight to diving off a bridge.
” That last part comes out a little strangled and he shifts uncomfortably.
The amount of relief I feel when he says he still wants to should be concerning, but I try not to think too hard about it.
“Okay,” I say as I timidly smile.
His shoulders drop in relief, only making his reaction even more puzzling. Maybe he’s scared, or afraid of heights?
The left side of his mouth kicks up into a half smile, “Okay.”
When I don’t say anything, his eyebrows rise up on his forehead and he asks, “What else is on your list?”
“Oh, right!” I reach up and playfully slap my forehead with my palm. Of course he was waiting for me to offer other suggestions.
I pull out my phone and go to the Notes app on my home screen.
Over the years, my list has grown to an astronomical size.
There’s no way I could get to all of it, but since checking things off has become a reality, I did sort them into three categories depending on my level of interest. Plus the ones I'm doing with my parents.
One being extremely interested—it’s a must-do. Two being moderately interested—it’s a want, not a need. And lastly, the least interested category—these are the if it happens, it happens, but I won’t cry myself to sleep if I miss out on them.
Surprisingly, there are only ten on my must-do list. I’m too busy reading my list to realize Rowan has come up and is standing right behind me, peering over my shoulder. I feel his hot breath across my ear and shiver.
I sneak a peek over my shoulder. As soon as our eyes connect, a slow and sexy smirk grows on his face. My heart rate increases and I feel a warmth spread low in my belly at the sight.
I turn back around before my heated cheeks give me away. One I added last minute after meeting Rowan and would be a perfect icebreaker—no pun intended. “Can you teach me how to ice skate?”
He chuckles, the sound kicks up that warmth in my lower belly to another level. “Can I teach you how to ice skate? What kind of question is that? Hell yeah, I can.”
I feel his chest rub against my back as he leans further over my shoulder. “That’s really on your list?”
I lift my phone up and point to number eight. “Yep!”
“You don’t strike me as a hockey fan,” he says, questioningly.
“I’m not, not really. Ice skating isn’t exclusive to hockey, you know.”
His chuckle is light and more carefree. The tension in his voice earlier is gone now. “That’s a fair point. Figure skating more up your alley?”
I shrug my right shoulder. “I do like the outfits better,” I tease.
He scoffs, “Figure skating is alright and all, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the excitement and thrill of a hockey game.”
I raise one eyebrow, “I wouldn’t know.”
His jaw drops comically, “You’ve never been to a game?”
I shake my head as I watch his facial features turn even more dumbfounded. “Is that on your list?”
I tilt my head to the side, “A hockey game?”
“Yes, a hockey game. Cause if it isn’t, it needs to be.”
I look down at my phone to check even though I know the list by heart, and watching a hockey game isn’t on it. “Maybe,” I answer, the side of my mouth slightly ticks up.
He smiles, and the sight has my heart thudding in my chest once again.
“That’s a no, isn’t it?”
“Maybe.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “Alright then, when do you want to do it?”
I slide my phone into my pocket. “I feel like out of the two of us, you have the busier schedule, so you tell me what works for you.”
Now it’s his turn to pull his phone out. He checks what I’m assuming is his calendar before looking up and asking, “Whatcha doing tomorrow night, Daredevil?”
The way he asks the question has my thoughts running away from me because it sounds an awful lot like he’s asking me on a date. His voice is smooth and sultry. The sound causes a reaction I’ve never felt before, a craving that demands fulfillment.
“Free as a bird.”
His eyes twinkle with excitement, and it’s contagious. Whatever reservations he has about bungee jumping, he doesn’t have for ice skating or hockey games.
“I need to check on something, but it should work. Can I get your number, and I’ll text you when I get it all confirmed?”
Nerves swarm my entire body at the thought of going out with Rowan tomorrow night. “Okay,” I answer as I prattle off my number.
I feel my phone buzz in my hand, and when I look down, I see a text from an unknown number. I swipe to open the message. A smile immediately breaks free when I read it.
Unknown: Save this number, Daredevil. This is your newly appointed bucket list partner.
I look up to find him watching me. “Bucket list partner?”
“Didn’t know what to call it. Never done anything like this before.”
I smile because he looks so darn cute and so unsure of himself, a stark contrast to his usually confident demeanor. “That works.”
His returning smile has me more excited than ever to finally check something off my list. And now it sounds like I have a partner to do them with.