in the chair and her eyes were on me again. “Okay. Now what?”
I smiled. “Look up.”
When she did, she gasped, eyes widening. “Whoa.”
I plopped down in the chair next to her, shifting us until she was under my arm and we were both reclined back, our eyes on the tin ceiling. It was covered in pin-hole-sized dots that mirrored stars, building constellations that were illuminated by a light hanging outside the treehouse. The holes were covered by glass, shielding any outside weather, and Dad had painted the tin roof above my section a dark, navy blue to make it look like the night sky.
“Is that the Big Dipper?” she asked, pointing to the constellation.
I nodded. “Mm-hmm. And Orion’s Belt, Scorpius, Lyra,” I said, pointing to them as I called out their names. “There are more, but I can’t remember them. Dad knew them all.”
“Why are they only in this corner?”
“This is my corner of the tree house,” I explained. “Dad built this for me and my brothers, and when he did, he tried to put a little bit of each of us in our own sections. At the time that he built it, I was hell bent on sailing around the world one day, and I had a big fascination with space and the constellations.”
She smiled, eyes tracing the man-made stars. “Do you still want to? Sail around the world?”
I shrugged. “I mean, I think it’d be cool, but I think that desire shifted more to just traveling, in general. I’m so tied to this town, to the distillery, that I never leave. I want to change that in the coming years, get out and see the country, the world.”
“I get that,” Ruby Grace whispered. She opened her mouth to say something more, but paused, closing it again, instead.
I swallowed.
“My dad built this for us with the intention of us always having a safe place to run to. He never got upset if we wanted to take time out here, and he told us whenever we got angry, to come here and think it all through first before acting. And I mean, it wasn’t all for angsty teenage boys,” I said on a smirk. “We came out here just to have fun and hang out, too. But, it’s been a safe place. For all of us. And I knew one day I’d bring someone out here, that I’d share it with them, I just didn’t know who. Or when.” I shifted, looking down at her in my arm. “I wanted to wait until it was the right time, the right person.”
She pulled her gaze to mine, then, and her brows bent together. “Noah…”
“I know this has probably been one of the hardest weeks of your life,” I said. “I can’t even imagine what you’ve gone through in the days since I last held you. But, I’m so glad you came tonight.”
Thunder rolled deep and heavy through the treehouse, and gentle rain began tapping on the tin roof, giving me the background music for the declaration I’d been preparing all week.
“Noah, we need to talk.”
“I know,” I said, thumbing her chin. “I know we do. But, can I go first?”
She frowned, but nodded in concession.
My stomach flipped a little as I sat up, turning until I could face her completely. “You aren’t the first girl to come into my life, Ruby Grace, but you are the first girl to come into my life and leave a mark.” I swallowed, searching her eyes with mine. “I’ve never experienced this kind of… feeling. It’s selfless. I can’t stop thinking about you, about all that you are, all that you will be. My thoughts are consumed with the way you make me feel, with the sound of your laugh, with the colors of your eyes, with the passion flowing from your heart for everyone you care about.” I shook my head, taking both her hands in mine. “I thought it was impossible to ever make you mine… truly mine. And I would have settled on being your friend if I had to, but God, I’m so glad I don’t have to.”
Her eyes watered, and she bit her bottom lip, shaking her head and letting her gaze fall to my chest. “Noah…”
“I did something this week,” I said, heart racing a little faster now. “And I know it’s going to probably be a lot to take in, and you have time to consider everything, but…” My smile was so wide, I could barely speak through