Chapter 32
With no means of checking, I didn’t know how long I’d sat there but it felt like forever.
Clamped around the tree, my arms ached and damp had seeped through my jeans to my skin.
With the wind getting up, I shivered. A coldness had worked its way into my bones; one that only a long soak in a steaming bath could remedy.
‘Where are the hot sweats when you need them?’ I asked.
The sound of a vehicle in the distance caught my attention and with its engine getting louder, it came into view.
It slowed to a standstill and as the vehicle driver and his passenger got out and approached Theo’s car, I stayed quiet.
The last thing I needed was to find myself in an even worse situation.
Unlocked and keys still in the ignition, the Smart car might not have been going anywhere, but as I observed the new arrivals’ interest, it seemed things might not be the same for our luggage. Chatting in French, the two of them glanced around as if searching for its owner.
I cocked my head at the sound of their voices.
‘Hang on a minute.’ Narrowing my eyes, I focused my gaze and homed in on the passenger.
‘Why didn’t he tell me he speaks the lingo?
’ My stomach sank as I recalled my exchange with the hunter and hearing myself tell Theo I could handle it, knew he must have thought me an idiot; a view I was about to reinforce.
I hated having to ask for help at the best of times and wondered if I should just jump and save myself extra embarrassment.
Maintaining my hold on the trunk with my right arm, I dared to release my left. ‘Theo!’ I called out, waving to catch his attention.
Theo spun round and scanned the wooded area.
‘Up here!’
Finally clocking my presence, he said something to the driver and hastening in my direction, leapt over the ditch.
‘No wonder it took you so long,’ I said, my voice loud. ‘I can’t believe I’m stuck up here while you’re busy making friends.’
‘Why are you up there?’ Theo shouted back.
‘I couldn’t get any phone signal.’
He bit down on his lips clearly trying to hide his amusement.
‘But I ended up dropping it anyway.’
Theo scouted the ground and spotting my mobile picked it up. ‘You mean this phone?’ He wiped it clean with the corner of his coat and stuffed it into his pocket.
‘It seemed a good idea at the time.’
‘Have you tried climbing down?’
‘No,’ I replied, having never heard such a ridiculous question. ‘I thought why not stay a while and enjoy the view? Maybe I’ll spot Santa while I’m at it.’
Theo turned to speak to the driver again, who, as if I wasn’t embarrassed enough, laughed in return.
The driver opened his car boot and shaking his head, pulled out a petrol can, the contents of which he used to replenish Theo’s tank.
‘You need to scoot along the branch,’ Theo said. ‘Away from the trunk.’
‘I most certainly do not,’ I replied.
‘But it’s the quickest way down.’
He was right, of course. But while twelve-year-old me would’ve been happy to impersonate a Lost Boy dangling from a railway bridge and dropping into the ether, fifty-year-old me had more sense.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll catch you.’
I recalled an incident from my childhood.
At eight years old I’d been determined to prove I could match any boy when it came to scrambling trees.
But finding myself stuck, my confidence had outweighed my ability back then too.
‘That’s what Thomas Pickle said.’ Landing on him like a sack of potatoes, he gave a whole new meaning to the term butter fingers. ‘I nearly broke the lad’s neck.’
‘You’re not even that high,’ Theo replied.
Realising that was subjective, I spluttered. ‘I’m high enough.’
Theo took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves. ‘Hold tight.’
Like I wasn’t already.
‘I’m coming to get you.’
Theo expertly negotiated branch after branch and in contrast to my slow and steady ascent, his was way more proficient. His face full of concentration, he kept stopping to assess his route, taking note of what was behind him as much as what was ahead.
The taut muscles in his forearms, his sturdy grip and effortless agility… I couldn’t help but admire Theo’s prowess. Nor could I believe he’d risk his own safety for a woman he hardly knew. Talk about chivalrous. In his shoes, I’d have sent out for a cherry picker.
‘Fancy seeing you here,’ he said when he, at last, reached me. His eyes level with mine, his grin was suddenly replaced with what appeared to be genuine worry. He put a hand against my cheek. ‘You must be freezing.’
I couldn’t remember the last time a man had looked at me with such concern and holding his gaze as firmly as I hugged the tree trunk, I lost myself in his clear blue eyes.
As he stared back at me, screeching from a bird fight in the branches above suddenly brought us to our senses and while I pulled myself together, Theo snapped his hand back, making a show of checking out the greenery around us.
‘Time to get you down,’ he said.
I swallowed hard.
‘It’s okay. I won’t let you fall. I promise.’
As much as I wanted to trust Theo, a part of me resisted. Experience had taught me men had a way of making promises they weren’t able to deliver on and whereas in the past I’d been left broken-hearted, in this instance, I risked broken limbs.
Theo gave me a gentle smile. ‘Honestly, you’re safe with me. You won’t get hurt.’
I took in the intensity of his gaze, questioning if he was referring not just to our situation, but something more. Obviously, I was imagining things; we’d only known each other two minutes, and realising I’d no choice but to take a leap of faith, I nodded. ‘Okay.’
Theo’s smile grew. ‘Let’s do this.’ He gathered himself ready for the task ahead. ‘Right. I want you to swing your right leg over to here, so your whole body is facing me. Then I want you to inch yourself round so your tummy’s resting on the branch and you can let your legs drop.’
‘What if the branch breaks?’
‘It won’t.’
I pictured myself falling and, just like my phone, bouncing from one branch to another, getting ripped to shreds in the process. ‘But what if it does?’
‘It won’t.’
‘But…’
‘Honestly, Erin, you’ve got this.’
The man clearly had more faith than me.
Preparing to follow his instructions, I took a deep breath and filling my cheeks with air, exhaled. I told myself that trusting Theo was no different to the trust fall team-building exercises they’d tried to get me to do at work. Except on this occasion, refusing to partake wasn’t an option.
Theo dug his feet into the branch he stood on and leant against the trunk to centre himself. ‘Ready?’ he asked.
‘Not in the slightest,’ I replied. My hands shook as I let go of the trunk and step by step followed Theo’s instructions.
‘You’re doing great,’ he said as I struggled to manoeuvre my leg over the branch.
‘You’ve got this,’ he said, when whimpering I twisted my torso away from him.
He placed his hands against my hips when, with my whole body shaking, I lowered myself down onto my tummy.
‘Just a bit further,’ he said, as I used what little strength I had left in my arms to ease myself lower still.
Finally, I felt my feet touch the bough. I let out a nervous laugh in celebration. ‘And Rory and Callum think I can’t work as a team.’
Theo looked at me confused.
‘Ignore me. I ramble when I’m nervous.’ I gathered myself for the next leg of our descent.
Keeping one branch ahead of me, Theo’s tone was patient and kind as, step by step, he guided me.
It took a lot longer to get down than it had to get up. I’d never been more grateful to, at last, stand on terra firma. ‘Thank you,’ I said, my voice quivering as much as my being.
The French driver clapped and cheered. ‘Bravo! Bravo!’ he said, but I felt too shaken and stupid to appreciate his applause.
Theo dug into his pocket and smiling, handed me back my phone.
Accepting, I stared at it. Mum’s face was still on the screen and suddenly overwhelmed by a mix of embarrassment and relief and gratitude, my throat thickened and I burst into tears.
‘Come here.’ Theo’s expression softened and pulling me close, he wrapped his arms tight around me.
‘I’m sorry,’ I replied through my sobs. As I continued to cry into his chest, I felt him kiss the top of my head.