Page 40 of Adored By the Wolf
“Cheerios?” Millie asked.
“It’s all I have to offer right now. Haven’t done a trip to the store yet.”
“Oh, it’s not a problem. We just ate a big breakfast, so we’re good,” she said.
“That’s for the best then, as I’m not sure how many Cheerios I had left.”
Millie laughed and sat down at the table. “Would you have some water? That would do for me.”
“I can do one better,” Denis said. “I have homemade hot chocolate or tea, if you’d rather have that.” He opened and closed cabinet doors until he pulled out five boxes of tea, most of them full. “I don’t drink a lot of them, but I like to try them.”
“I’ve always loved sleepytime. I’ll take one of those.”
“Excellent choice. One of my favorites.” He made the tea before turning back to us. “Jacob says you wanted to go hang gliding.”
“I did.”
“I’m sorry my hang glider isn’t suitable, but I can look for another one and let you know when I find one.”
“No!” Millie covered her mouth, realizing too late that she was a bit too forceful in her response.
Denis and I stared at her for a few seconds before Denis broke the silence. “Okay. Would you like to see the view from the cliff then?”
“I’d love to,” she said.
With no mention of the glider or her outburst, we got up and followed Denis out the back door and down a well-worn path toward what my brothers and I had called ‘the jumping-off point.’ While fixing Denis’s house, if one of us brothers did something that was deemed stupid by the rest of us, he would have to jump off the cliff. The rest of us would follow him over, and we’d all have a good swim in the lake below. Being the first to jump was always the worst. The anticipation of the fall and the cold water never endeared itself to anyone. However, as we got closer to the cliff, a sense of excitement would start to grow, and if my brothers were here with us right now, I knew I would be encouraging us to jump off it for old times’ sake.
As we exited the woods and saw the cliff protruding in front of us, I inhaled deeply, remembering this place was a time of play when we were growing up. I missed that. Looking over at Millie, I was about to share my story with her when I saw she was shaking.
Immediately, I put an arm around her. “Are you okay? I know you said you’re scared of heights. We don’t have to go any closer.”
She placed both hands on my arm and looked up at me. Her smile melted something inside me, and I realized there was no way I could walk away from her if Bruno won her heart.
“The boys used to take turns jumping off this cliff,” Denis said. “Always thought they weren’t the brightest bunch, but they somehow survived every jump.” He was standing right on the edge, looking down at the water below and shaking his head.
“It’s not that dangerous, Denis. The lake is deep there, and the drop is only about ten feet.”
“Any cliff jumping is dangerous. You could hit your head on the wall if you slip.”
“True, but here we are, still alive.”
Denis shook his head and said instead, “This is one of the few places where I can come and see the stars. Wide-open skies, and a flat place to lie back and enjoy the view.” He looked at me and winked. “You two are welcome to stay and see what I mean, if you’d like.”
“We can see the stars where we are too, Denis,” I said.
Denis scoffed. “You live in a place where there’s too much light because of the businesses and homes. Here it’s much better.”
“It’s also been known to have ghosts here at night,” I said.
“Pishposh. Never heard or seen any in all the time I’ve been here.”
I whispered into Millie’s ears, “Probably because he’s almost one himself.”
She slapped me on the chest and smiled, which I took as a good sign, but I also noticed how pale she had gotten. “You okay?”
“I . . . I don’t like ghosts.”
“It’s just a tale because of the cliff here. We’re told from a very young age to not go close to it. That’s partly why we jumped off it, I suppose.”