Leave Me Breathless

On a little pout, Alex holds her hand out to me. I shake my head – more adult disapproval – and stretch forward to take it, holding the blankets to me with my spare hand. ‘Oh my God, Alex, look at you.’

She tugs, catching me off guard, and hauls me forward. And I land with a splat in the pile next to her on all fours. ‘Oh my God,’ I breathe, my face inches away from the mud. ‘Alex!’

She flops to her back in fits of laughter, rolling around some more, holding her tummy. I’m going to wring her bloody neck. I lift a hand, the damn thing squelching as I pull it out of the mud, and grab onto the blanket that’s now draped over me, holding it close as I stand. The little minx finds it in herself to calm enough to register my irritation.

Then she grins at me. ‘Sorry.’

I slowly turn to find Ryan. He has a hand over his mouth covering his smirk. I tilt my head, my jaw tight. ‘Are you going to kill her, or am I?’

He bends at the waist and releases all the laughter he’s been holding back, bracing his hands on his knees to keep himself up. ‘I’m sorry,’ he chuckles, and Alex joins him, both of their bodies vibrating uncontrollably from their hysterics.

‘No, you’re not.’ I look down at the blanket around me. ‘I have to go.’ I make my way to the outside shower, aware of their sudden silence.

‘Wait, what?’ Ryan is in hot pursuit, chasing me down, albeit a little slowly, obviously still sore from his encounter with my knee earlier. Good. I hope they’re blue. ‘You have to help me fix her,’ he says urgently.

I round the edge of the shower out of eyeshot of Alex and turn toward him, throwing off the blanket. He forgets himself for a second, his worried eyes falling into appreciation as they drop the length of my body. ‘You can fix her yourself.’ I open the wooden door and flip the shower on, standing to the side while it heats up. ‘I have to go help Molly.’ I smile sweetly and step under the spray as Ryan moves close to the edge of the stall, peeking over. I can tell by the umbrage on his face that he wishes he could join me.

‘Hannah, come on.’ He looks back over his shoulder to Alex. ‘Oh Jesus.’

‘It’s not so funny now, huh?’ I wash my hair quickly and grab a towel draped over the top of the stall. As I step out I see that Alex has lost her smugness, too, reality setting in. ‘Is that your phone?’ I ask Ryan, hearing a ring from inside.

‘Shit.’ He makes a mad dash for the house, Alex in quick pursuit.

‘If it’s Mum, I’m not here,’ she yells, and I laugh, following them into the cabin. ‘Don’t answer it.’ She wrestles with Ryan when he picks up his phone.

‘She’ll be worried.’ He slaps his palm into Alex’s muddy forehead and holds her back as her arms flail and swipe at him. ‘Darcy,’ he breathes.

I tuck my towel in and take a seat in the nearby armchair, crossing one leg over the other and settling my hands on the arms. I can spare a few minutes to watch them wriggle their way out of this.

‘Stop panicking. She’s here.’ He looks his daughter up and down, still keeping her at a distance with his outstretched arm. ‘I think we have a winner on our hands.’

I don’t bother holding back my amusement. They deserve everything that’s coming to them. I’m checking out. I was never here.

Alex ducks so Ryan loses his hold on her, diving at his body to try to win the phone. He turns just in time and she lands on his back, hanging there as he starts to pace the cabin.

‘She won’t be late,’ he assures Darcy. ‘We’ll meet you there.’ He hangs up and tosses his phone to the side before reaching back and detaching his daughter from his back. She drops to her feet in a huff and pouts, and Ryan scowls at her.

I stand and collect my clothes from the pile by the door, then head to the bedroom. ‘Good luck,’ I sing as I go, shutting the door behind me and shaking out my dress, hearing hushed shouts from beyond as I get dressed.

I pull my wet hair into a knot and when I pull the door open to leave, I’m met with two cheesy smiles. I look from Ryan to Alex, who proceeds to flutter her lashes. ‘Hannah,’ she coos.

‘No.’ I edge past them to avoid being caked in mud again, and get on my way.

‘See,’ Ryan hisses. ‘Look what you’ve done.’

‘It’s your fault,’ she retorts. ‘Mum’s gonna bust your balls.’

‘I already did that,’ I snicker, taking the steps down to the lawn.