On Her Own
Chapter 5
Rachel looked up at him curiously. "What was that about?" She was breathing heavy from running after him, although it had felt beyond good.
Bits of his necklace glinted in the sunlight. Richard grinned down at her and shrugged. Honestly he'd do just about anything to see her smile like that all the time again.
"It's nice to see you smiling again." He stated, pulling her a little closer to him as they walked.
He led them out towards the tree line, where there was a small stretch of woods. Getting a devilish idea, he threw Rachel over his shoulder and took off running again.
Rachel hit his back with her fists and kicked her legs demanding to be put down. Though her laughter was contradicting her words as he began weaving in and out of the tree line. He finally stopped somewhere in the woods and lifted her onto a tree branch that was a little above his head.
"What the hell Richard?" She asked wobbling on the branch as he let go of her. Her words were harsh, but her eyes were laughing.
He flashed her a grin before climbing into the tree with her. She watched him curiously as he climbed up to her, before continuing higher. She slowly stood up on her branch and began following him. Curious.
"What are we doing?" Rachel called up to him, they were probably thirty feet up now. She was trying to find another branch to grab with her right hand.
He crouched down on one knee, holding a branch above him with one hand and reaching out for her with his free hand.
He finally replied when she was standing on a branch in front of him. "We're enjoying ourselves."
She looked down, they were easily thirty-five, forty feet up. The ground spun far below and she swayed a bit, Richard put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
"Don't look down. I used to do this with my parents all the time as a kid. It's easier if you don't think about it."
Rachel nodded as he motioned for her to go up ahead of him. So up they went, stopping every now and then to admire the view. Finally finding a nice spot to sit, they settled down in the tree together on an abnormally thick branch with Rachel sitting in his lap, her back against his chest and his arms around her waist.
Rachel leaned back against his chest. "Could we watch the sunset up here?"
He shook his head regretfully.
"Not from this height. It's dangerous to climb down in the dark from this high up, all it takes is one little slip."
He heard her swallow as her eyes got wide. "Then, maybe we should start going down?" She looked down, trying to find the ground.
Richard put a finger under her chin and brought her eyes up to his. "Eyes on me baby." His voice was warm and caring. He knew she preferred to keep her feet on the ground. She swallowed again before nodding.
He guided one of her hands to a branch that was right above their heads and rested a hand against her hip as she stood up.
"I'll go first and guide you down, just go nice and slow." That was exactly what his parents had told him the first time they had all gone tree climbing together. Going up had always been easy for him, but getting down use to terrify him to death.
Together the two of them slowly made their way down. Finally Richard told her to stop.
Grabbing hold of a branch in front of him, he slid off the one he had been standing on and dropped to the ground below. He looked up at her and smiled encouragingly.
Sitting on her branch, Rachel reached forward and grabbed one before sliding off and hanging from the one she was holding. She looked down again, the ground swinging below her feet.
"Let go, Rachel."
Taking a deep breath, she let go and landed in on her feet with his hands on her hips. She smiled up at him. "I did it."
He leaned down to kiss her, murmuring against her lips. "Yes, you did."