“MMMBop” by Hanson.
Sure enough, it came from Heather’s room. It was like the nineties threw up in there. I was tempted to yell up to her window and tease her, but after last night, I didn’t think she’d appreciate it.
So I bit my tongue, shook my head, and walked back to the boathouse.***Later that afternoon, I was back up on the ladder when my heart nearly dropped to my stomach. I looked over to see someone standing on the roof of the main house. The structure was three stories high, so anyone who fell off was going to be seriously injured.
It didn’t take long for me to figure out it was Heather.
What the hell is she doing on the roof?
She was looking down as if she was…pondering jumping? I found it hard to believe she would ever do that. Why then? Adrenaline pumped through me as I climbed down and ran toward the house.
With my heart pounding, I called up to her, “Heather! What are you doing?”
She put her hand on her chest. “Oh my God. You scared the shit out of me.”
I held my hand over my forehead to block the sunlight. “I scared you? Get down! Are you crazy?”
“Why?”
“Because you could fall. Why are you up there?” I swallowed, terrified of her answer.
“It’s an exposure exercise,” she said.
“What? What the hell are you talking about?”
“I have a massive fear of heights. I’ve been listening to this podcast on facing your fears, and the doctor says to overcome any fear, you have to challenge yourself, expose yourself to it. I decided to climb up here and experience the fear for a bit, to habituate to it.”
My mouth hung open. “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard, especially when you can fall and break your neck in the process.”
She crossed her arms and looked down at me. “What did you think I was doing up here?” After a moment, her face changed. “Oh my God, Noah. You didn’t think I was going to jump?”
I let out a long breath as my heartbeat started to return to normal. “I don’t know what I thought. But what in God’s name else would someone be doing up on the roof, standing there and looking down at the ground?”
“I can’t believe you thought I was going to off myself. What—did you think your rejection last night put me over the edge?” She started to laugh.
As sick as it was under the circumstances, I was happy to hear her joking about last night. I’d been worried I’d hurt her.
“You do realize this is the second botched attempt at saving my life you’ve had since your arrival, right?” she shouted down.
I shook my head and couldn’t help but laugh.
She climbed carefully down the ladder and walked over to stand in front of me.
“You’re insane, you know that?” I said. “You scared me. I’m not gonna lie. But now I see how ridiculous the whole thing is.”
Her face turned serious. “Do you really think I could do that to my mother after what happened to my sister?”
That question hurt my chest. “I wasn’t thinking. I saw you up there, and I freaked out for a second. I had no idea what you were doing.”
She reached out to pinch my cheek, letting her hand rest a bit on my face. “It’s cute that you cared.”
My body went rigid at her touch. I was way too aware of the fact that it was the first time I’d felt her hands on me.
“You headed into work?” I asked, trying to shake off this weird experience.
“No…ugh, I actually took the night off.”
“Good. You deserve a break. Going anywhere?”
She looked down at her feet for a moment. “Eric is picking me up.”
My stomach sank. The asshole ex is taking her out?
“Oh.”
“Yeah, I decided to have dinner with him, to at least hear him out.”
I knew I should stay out of it, but...
“You really think he deserves that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re allegedly the more mature one here. You tell me. Doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance?”
“A man who fucks around on his woman doesn’t deserve jack shit. He’s a coward.”
“Did you cheat on your wife?”
This girl did not hold back.
“No, not physically. But there are other ways to hurt someone.”
“Like how? Give me an example.”
“Well, you can want something else. That’s not quite the same as cheating, but in a sense, it’s a form of betrayal.”
“So you emotionally cheated on your wife?”
“I didn’t say that. But the mere desire for something outside of your marriage—whether that be another person or another life altogether—that can be like a betrayal. You have to know how to walk away when it gets to that point—before you hurt the person.”
“And that’s what you did.”
I hesitated. “Yes. Basically.”
“How did we go from you trying to save me from jumping off the roof to talking about your personal life?”