by Lily Danes
But if this small fish could afford offices in Santa Monica and a home in the trees…
“We’ll talk.” She couldn’t agree to anything more. Her head was spinning, and Josh was waiting.
She hurried toward him, but when fifteen feet still separated them, he turned and headed into the trees.
He’d been smiling, though. She didn’t think he was avoiding her.
Josh moved quickly, and soon she’d lose sight of him.
Intrigued, Ruby followed him into the woods.
18
Though it was full night, it was easy to find her way. A long string of fairy lights, the kind used to decorate houses at Christmas, led through the trees. Ruby followed the path, stepping cautiously on the dirt trail. Her sandals weren’t the best footwear for hiking through the forest at night.
After a while, the string ended, replaced by LED tea lights on either side of the trail. Ruby sucked in a breath. There were dozens of them. Josh must have bought them in bulk.
Or, she supposed, he owned a hardware store that sold them. That didn’t make it less beautiful or less romantic.
Ruby reached for the doubts she’d been so sure of two days ago, trying to remind herself of the reasons their relationship—if that’s what it was—needed to end the following day. Those doubts proved elusive, little more than paper-thin excuses.
She followed the tea lights to the end of the path, stopping when she reached their destination. He’d led her to the camp’s new treehouse. Ruby took a moment to appreciate it. Light spilled from the windows, welcoming and warm. From the outside, it looked to be at least fifteen by fifteen feet, and it was nestled perfectly in the branches of the immense tree. She’d heard that it was completely modern, with electricity and plumbing, but looking at it, she felt like she was about to enter another world.
The fairy lights had led her to a fairy’s home, a place both rugged and magical. She grabbed a rung on the rope ladder and climbed up.
The magic didn’t stop when she pulled herself inside. Every surface was covered in candles, and additional Christmas lights were strung across the ceiling, the delicate arcs only interrupted by the single skylight above a very large bed.
Josh stood in the middle of the room. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Her voice wavered. “It’s good to see you.” She winced at the stiff words. “I mean, I’m glad you came. Really glad.”
Ruby swallowed, wondering if she should stop talking for a while.
Josh looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time all over again. “I had this whole speech planned out, but you threw me for a loop. You can sing. I mean, you know that, but damn. That was beautiful. Yes, I kind of want to kill Cory for getting you to play when I couldn’t, but I’ll get over it. You should never stop singing.”
She wouldn’t argue with that. “It wasn’t Cory. It was me. Okay, and Emma.” And you, because you saw me the way I needed to see myself.
“Whatever the reason, it was perfect, but I’ve forgotten half of what I was going to say because that song practically left me speechless. But even if I mess it all up, I have to try, because I can’t remember when I had something more important to say—and so little time to say it.”
Ruby managed a nod. Anticipation grew, and something she was afraid to identify as hope.
“The other night, you said you didn’t really know anything about me, which is why we should end when camp does. You weren’t wrong, but not because I didn’t tell you anything. You know I grew up in Briarsted and Max is my best friend. You know I own the hardware store, and I’m pretty good at fixing things. The reason you don’t know more is I’m not sure I know more.”
“Josh…” She took a step forward, but he held up his hand.
“I always knew what my life was going to be. If it was good enough for my dad, it was good enough for me. I didn’t ask myself if I should want anything else. I settled into the life that was waiting for me. I didn’t challenge myself, and I didn’t ask questions, probably because I was afraid of the answers. I was scared to want things if I couldn’t have them. Then you showed up, and I wanted you so damn much. More than I even know how to say. I know I rushed it. There’s a lot I’m figuring out, but I know this much. You’re not a crush. You’re not some girl I had a fling with at summer camp. And while I’m not sure what my future looks like, I know, without any doubt, that I want you in it.”
The words were everything she longed to hear. Her heart felt like all the pieces were falling into place, but her mind knew better. Ruby swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Josh, I’m not going to be a couple of states away. Not anymore. I’m heading back to Los Angeles. I turned down the job.”
She expected disappointment. Instead, he looked mildly curious. “Why go back?”
“I’m not taking the vocal coach job, and that was the only reason to move to D.C. I want to write music. I still have a few connections in L.A. I’ll record another demo, then see if I can make something happen.”
“Do you have to be in Los Angeles for that? It’s easy enough to send files, right? And the recording equipment is pretty portable. You could work from anywhere. Fly out for meetings.”
“Are you asking me to stay here?” Her heart lurched at the thought.
“Not at all. I’m asking you to go.”
She stared at him, uncomprehending. Josh closed the distance between them and took her hand. He guided her to the opposite side of the treehouse, where a small deck had been built into the side, and urged her through the sliding glass door.
Below them, on the narrow dirt road that had been used to cart in materials for the treehouse, sat Josh’s truck. A small Airstream trailer was attached to the hitch.
Ruby clutched the railing, because it felt like the deck had vanished beneath her feet. “Where are you going?” she whispered.
Josh wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest. She relaxed into his touch, craving his warmth and strength. Two days she’d been without it, two long days she never wanted to repeat.
“That depends,” he said. “I may go to Los Angeles and find a mobile home park, if that’s where you’ll be. I’ve also looked into a group that refurbishes houses destroyed by natural disasters. Kind of like Habitat for Humanity, but with the original houses. I thought I might volunteer. It would give me a chance to learn about different kinds of homes.”
“That sounds like something you’d enjoy.”
“I think I might. I could keep it flexible. Move around the country a lot.”
“How would you afford it?”
“That’s the thing about working six-day weeks for years on end. You save a bit of money. I can’t do it forever, but I don’t need forever. I need some time and space to figure out what I want to do when I don’t run a hardware store. Max will take over for the winter while I run away from home.” He paused, and she felt her heart still at the same time. “I’m hoping you’ll run away with me.”
That was it. The final piece that made everything fit. Still, she hesitated. Ruby spun in his arms so she could see his expression.
“It doesn’t sound like a very stable life.”
“It’s not.”
Ruby gnawed her bottom lip. “I don’t have a lot of savings left.”
“We can live cheaply. We won’t need to pay rent, at least.”
She did a quick calculation. It would be tight, but she could make it work.
A man she’d known a week was asking her to drop everything and spend the winter in a small Airstream. Granted, she didn’t have a lot of stuff, and Emma would be happy to store it for her. Plus, Josh was right. She could record anywhere. There was no reason to be in L.A. before she’d finished another demo. The songs she would write on the road, surrounded by nothing but nature and an open road…it was the sort of thing that could redefine her career.
And every morning, she would wake in Josh’s arms, and the first thing she’d see would be his smiling blue eyes.
Eve
ry impulse screamed at her to say yes, but still she hesitated. Ruby wracked her mind for questions she hadn’t thought to ask and only found one.
Was she brave enough to take this risk?
It was a question with only one acceptable answer.
She slid her arms around Josh’s waist. “Normally, if a man tells you he needs time to find himself, a sane woman runs the other way.”
“Are you a sane woman?” The words were teasing. His expression wasn’t.
It was probably foolish, and it was definitely impetuous—and if she walked away, she would regret it for years. Maybe always.
Ruby wound her arms around his waist. “I’m not even a little sane. Not when it comes to you.”
He watched her as if he wasn’t ready to trust his ears. “Are you saying…?”
“I’m saying yes. Yes, I’ll go with you.”
Josh’s arms tightened around her, and he lifted her into the air. He stepped backwards into the room and spun her in a circle. Laughter bubbled up, relief and excitement and pure, absolute joy escaping. When Ruby looked into his eyes, she saw every emotion reflected back at her.
But it wasn’t enough to look at each other. They needed to touch, to feel each other’s skin and taste each other’s lips and know, with absolute certainty, that this wasn’t the last time they would do so. They kissed like their bodies could speak all the words they weren’t yet ready to say aloud.
Josh ripped his mouth from hers and pulled his shirt off. They stripped in a hurry, with no finesse, because they had time for that later.
They fell onto the bed with Ruby on top. His hands roamed her back before settling on her ass. Josh filled his palms with her flesh and squeezed, groaning. His erection jumped against her stomach.
Ruby ran her lips across his shoulder, relearning the curve of the muscle. “You think this is what they had in mind when they gave away a night in the treehouse?”
He chuckled. “This is an anything goes week. They knew exactly what they were doing.” Josh flipped her over, then pulled away long enough to grab a condom from his jeans pocket. He held it up with a grin. “Want to break this place in properly?”
With a matching smile, Ruby sat up. She ripped open the foil packet and unrolled it over his shaft. She slowed her movement, loving the feel of his thick length in her hand. The tip pulsed and she squeezed, making Josh gasp.
She pressed her palm to his chest and urged him backward. He lay flat on the bed, watching her with heavy lids. Ruby straddled him, then helped guide the head of his cock to her entrance. She sank down in one movement, and Josh jerked his hips to greet hers.
“God, you feel amazing.” His words came out on a gasp as she began to ride him. He reached up to cup her breasts, flicking his thumbs across her tight nipples.
She moaned at the touch and moved faster. It was perfect, the feel of his hot flesh filling her again and again.
Josh wasn’t the only one trying to find himself. She had her own issues to figure out, and it might be a lifetime journey.
But in this moment, as Josh’s hands slid across her stomach to her hips, and as they picked up speed until sweat coated their bodies and the sounds of their flesh meeting filled the room—in this moment, she was already found, because she was exactly where she was supposed to be.
Ruby arched her back as the orgasm slammed through her, and she distantly heard herself calling Josh’s name over and over. As the waves began to recede, he found his own release, pulling her down to meet him as he spilled inside her with her name on his lips, as well.
It took them a while to return to themselves, but eventually Josh disappeared into the treehouse’s small bathroom. When he returned, he wrapped himself around her tightly, his legs intertwined with hers. It was the afterglow they’d denied themselves before, and it was worth the wait.
Together, they gazed at the stars through the skylight.
“Do you know any of these constellations?” he asked, his voice sleepy.
“Of course.” Ruby drew a circle and a line out of the visible stars. “That’s the guitar. Famous constellation. And the one right next to it, that’s the hammer.”
He chuckled, the sound vibrating against her back. “That’s an odd combo.”
“But somehow it works.”
Josh made a contented noise.
She rolled over to face him. “Josh, what’s your last name?”
His eyes widened, and he scrubbed his face. “God, you weren’t kidding when you said you didn’t know me. It’s Fisher.”
Fisher. That was a good name. A solid name. The sort of name she could spend a lot of time with. “What made you decide to live in an Airstream all winter, Josh Fisher?”
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “We agreed to be together so long as we were at camp. Now we can go to a different campsite every night.”
“And camp never has to end,” she murmured.
“Not if you don’t want it to.”
Ruby snuggled closer. “When do we leave?”
Epilogue
Six months later
* * *
The trees had grown in over the winter, and the Airstream no longer fit on the dirt road below the treehouse. It did, however, fit in the currently empty parking lot at base camp. The first summer session wasn’t scheduled to start for a couple more months, but the Tullys had arranged several special events during the off-season. One of those was scheduled for tomorrow night.
“We’ll get the treehouse?” Ruby looked genuinely worried about the possibility.
“It’s ours. I made sure Heather and Michael knew that was a requirement. If they want the incomparable Ruby Tuesday to kick off her tour at their camp, then she gets to stay wherever she wants.” Josh knew he and Ruby couldn’t be the only ones to stay in the treehouse, but in his heart the place was theirs. It was where their life together had truly begun.
“Good.” She rose on her tiptoes to give him a light kiss. “You get the keys while I check the equipment.”
Josh watched her walk away, enjoying the view as much as ever, then headed to the lodge. Heather was there, reorganizing the room to hold several hundred guests. Josh wondered if Heather had enough seats. The first single was already in the top forty and climbing fast.
She greeted him with a smile. “I’m not sure I’m happy to see you. I hear you’re responsible for stealing my head of security.”
Josh grabbed a chair from her and placed it at the end of a row. “What can I say? I made him a better offer.”
It turned out Max enjoyed being a co-owner of Fisher Hardware more than he enjoyed being the skinny-dipping police—especially since his silent partner didn’t interfere with the way he ran the store.
Josh was too busy to care about the latest twine shipment. Somewhere between Briarsted and Cheyenne, he’d figured out that not everyone who wanted a well-built new home wanted a large McMansion. With the recent trend toward smaller houses, a fair number of buyers preferred Craftsman homes or classic bungalows without the maintenance issues of an older house—which was why a small plot of land outside Iowa City was being developed as a community with a modern take on classic design. It had been hard to find the first investors, but Cory knew a lot of rich people, and he helped with some key introductions. Already, the response had been so positive that Josh was considering a second community near Flagstaff.
Heather handed him the next chair. “It worked out perfectly. Max agreed to help out with one session in September, and I found a new head of security for the rest of the summer. He promised he wouldn’t sneak in any friends.”
Josh stopped with a chair halfway unfolded. “You knew?”
Heather rolled her eyes. “Of course I knew. This is my camp. I pay attention.”
“Then why didn’t you stop me?”
She plucked the chair from him and set it on the floor. “Because I’m a sucker for a good love story. I wasn’t going to be the one to end yours.”
Josh raised an eyebr
ow. “That’s all it takes? Every flirt looking for a camp hookup gets to sneak in?”
“Of course not. But I was at the first night’s party. I saw you meet. There was nothing casual about the way you looked at her, and you know it.”
Josh couldn’t argue. He marveled at how much he owed the camp owner. “Then I’ll never be able to thank you enough for letting me stay, but right now, I need to ask for another favor.”
* * *
By the time Josh found her, Ruby had taken a quick stroll of the camp perimeter, enjoying the memories. As happy as she was now, she was jealous of everyone who got to experience camp for the first time. At least in a few months, she could relive it vicariously through Emma. Her friend was returning, and she was determined to do so without poison oak this time.
Josh joined her at the lake, and together they watched the sky turn orange as the sun began its descent. He threaded his fingers through hers and squeezed.
He pointed along the shore. “That’s the dock where you fell in, then stole my T-shirt.”
“I remember.”
“Hmmm. And there’s where I first saw you in that red bikini, and you gave me a hard-on that could crack glass.”
She laughed, but her face grew warm with the memory.
Josh nodded toward a hiking trail in the distance. “If we head that way, we’ll find the tree where we first kissed.”
“You don’t have to remind me. I was there.”
She poked him in the ribs with her free hand, which he caught with his. Josh kissed her fingers, then pressed her hand to his cheek. “I love you so much.”
He’d started saying the words two months after they left Camp Firefly Falls, somewhere around Corpus Christi. She never tired of hearing them, nor of saying them. “I love you too.”
“Good.” She blinked at his satisfaction. It wasn’t his usual response. Josh spun them around until they faced the lodge. “Because that is where I hope you’ll marry me this summer.”
