Free Listed: Volume IV by Noelle Adams Page B

branch.
    She
grabbed a higher branch and pulled herself into a standing position, bracing
herself on the trunk. She grinned down at him. “I haven’t climbed a tree in
ages!”
    He
tightened his lips, trying not to climb up there after her to make sure she
wasn’t going to fall. Restraining the impulse was harder than he liked to
admit.
    Emily
was right in claiming that he had major control issues, but he usually kept
those issues under better control.
    “Please
be careful,” he murmured, with what he thought was impressive mildness.
    She
peered down at him, and her expression relaxed into something warm and fond. “I
will.”
    Then
he had to stand at the bottom and watch her climb the tree. It was quite a tall
tree, although it looked so sturdy that there probably wasn’t any unusual
danger in climbing it. But he still didn’t like it. Particularly when she got
near the top. The leaf coverage mostly blocked his view, so he just caught
uneven glimpses of her jeans and her gold hair.
    Then
he heard Emily shout down to him, “I see the ocean!”
    He
let out a sigh of relief and waited for her to climb back down. She stumbled a
little as she dropped herself down from the last branch, and he caught her and
pulled her into a hug.
    She
hugged him back, her body practically shuddering with excitement.
    “Pretty
proud of yourself for finding our direction,” he said. “Aren’t you?”
    She
laughed out loud. “Yes. Just call me Daniel Boone!”
    He
laughed too. And he realized there might be some benefits to going against his
controlling, possessive instincts—if it made Emily as happy as this.
    *
* *
    The clouds cleared, and
the stars came out that night.
    By
the time they finally returned to their SUV, the clouds were starting to break
up. They were both tired when they returned to their campground in the
afternoon. So Emily took a nap while Paul lounged in a chair and worked through
some email on his smartphone, which fortunately could get reception from there.
    Emily
hadn’t wanted him to work during the weekend, but he figured it was all right
when she was sleeping.
    They
grilled steaks for dinner and ate them with pasta salad. Then, at Emily’s
suggestion, they built a fire and toasted marshmallows for s’mores.
    Paul
enjoyed the evening more than he’d expected. Despite the fact that camping
would never be his favorite activity, it was nice to feel all alone in the
world with Emily. They felt far away from everything—including her illness,
including the doctors, including her impending death. To his surprise, Paul
managed to relax. He was feeling pretty good when they went to the shower
facilities to clean up before bed, as they had the night before.
    Since
the clouds had blown away completely, leaving the dark sky teaming with stars,
Paul couldn’t object when Emily demanded that they sleep outside tonight.
    They
hauled the air mattress out of the tent and made up the bed again between the
tent and the SUV. He’d left the lights of the SUV on while they worked, so they
would have plenty of light, but then he turned them off, leaving only the fire
to illuminate the campsite.
    Emily
was obviously thrilled by the effect, and she climbed under the sleeping bag
happily, looking over to him expectantly when he didn’t move. Like the previous
night, she wore flannel pajama pants and a sweatshirt, so at least she wouldn’t
get cold, despite the nip in the air.
     “Come
look, Paul,” Emily called out when he emerged again from the tent, where he’d
changed into pajama pants.
    He
went to join her and got into the sleeping bag. He rolled onto his back as she
had and stared up at the sky.
    “Look
at them!” she breathed, gazing up at the brilliance of the stars.
    Paul
had never seen stars so bright. In Philadelphia, he could hardly see them at
all, except from the terrace of the apartment—and even then they looked rather
dim. But even in the outskirts there didn’t seem to be so many stars as this,
and