The Naked Truth (The Honeybrook Hamdens)

“An old fallen log. I fixed that.”

She took another step and surveyed the sturdy bridge that now stretched across the water. It looked so fresh and new compared to all the overgrowth and moss a

round them. Like it had been planted here on accident. Except it hadn’t been.

It had been very much on purpose. She knew as much without asking a single question.

“You built this?” she asked.

Chase nodded again, then ran his free hand over the back of his neck. “It wasn’t much of a big deal. We had some spare wood left over from finishing the bar and I remembered this old log was here, so…”

She blinked, then took another step forward until her hand was on the carefully crafted wooden railing. Every summer she’d spent in her grandmother’s house, they’d used that old fallen log to cross the creek. One summer, she’d even fallen from the tree and fallen so hard in the water that she’d lost her breath and nearly drowned.

Chase had scooped her out of the water, though, and had carried her back home where she’d spent the rest of the day on the couch, watching a movie with Chase and Luke while Amy rolled her eyes and complained about how they shouldn’t have been out there to begin with.

“Did you use the log, too?” she asked.

“It was gone when I came out here. Dunno what happened.”

She nodded, then looked up to find him crouched down on the center of the bridge, spreading out a huge, blue checkered picnic blanket.

“You did a good job on this,” she said, but only because it was the truth. “I’m sure a lot of kids will be happy to have this here.”

Chase finished smoothing the blanket, then sat down and motioned for her to join him. For a moment, she hesitated. With every passing second, this was feeling more and more like a terrible idea. It wasn’t too late to walk back to the house and come clean. Not too late to leave Chase behind.

But then she thought of Amy. And her mother. Luke.

She chewed on the inside of her cheek, then walked over to the little place he’d made for her on the ground and settled in.

For a moment, she did nothing but survey the trees, the way the canopy stretched higher than she remembered, the way the algae clung to the edges of the creek.

“It’s beautiful out here,” she said.

“Not the city, though,” he answered.

“No, not the city.” She thought of the buses that used to pass by her old apartment, the blaring sirens that sounded at all hours of the night. “Definitely not.”

She swallowed hard, and when she met his gaze again, it was all she could do to keep heat from spreading to her cheeks. “So,” she coughed. “You bring something for us to eat, or what?”

“I did.” He opened the basket, and then pulled out a white paper bag.

“Is that—?”

It was. From the bag, he fished out two round, aluminum-wrapped objects and two tiny boats of french fries.

“You got us fast food.” She blinked.

“Only the best for our date night.” He unwrapped one sandwich, checked under the bun, and then handed it to her. “Double Cheeseburger, no mustard.”

She bit back a smile. “I’m surprised you remembered.”

“A gentleman never forgets.” He tipped his head toward her, and then took a bite of his burger. For a while, they sat there, eating and staring out at the woodlands, both lost in their own thoughts.

Okay, I just have to finish eating. That counts as the date. I’ll just finish this burger and I can go home and forget about this. About him.

“Do you like the city?” he asked, catching her off guard.

“Yeah, of course I do.” She considered, then said, “I mean, it was scary at first. You don’t know anybody and you move to a strange place? That’s bound to be terrifying. But I liked it well enough. My job was good. For a while.”