Ascent to the Clouds
Judah returned his attention to the house for a moment before he looked back at her. “I’d invite you up to see the view, but the climb’s a little difficult. If I’d made it too easy, George’d be up there all the time. I let him and Ginny visit, but only when I’m around to give ‘em a hand. I’d hate for one of ‘em to get hurt.”
Hope looked at the base of the tree and saw several planks hammered into the side at wide intervals and realized that’s what he was talking about. Rather than a ladder or even a rope, one had to climb the rungs. The first one was probably waist high on her and would be difficult for the children to access. She thought she could manage, and she was curious to see the view, though it did enter her mind that technically she’d be going into a single gentleman’s house without a chaperone. Still, what were the chances anyone would find out?
“I’d like to see the view, if that might be possible,” she said, looking him in the eye. It wasn’t the boldest action she’d ever taken where he was concerned, but it did still seem a little out of character for her.
“I’d be happy to show it to you, Hope. But... do you think you can manage gettin’ up and down? Up’s not nearly as tricky as down, and yer gown is awful long.”
Hope glanced down, trying to remember what she was wearing. She’d put on one of her better weekend dresses. It had a full, dark blue skirt and a matching top. She was wearing her regular boots underneath, though. “I think I can manage.”
Judah looked back up at the treehouse and then at her, and she thought he was going to tell her no for a moment. It was awfully high, and she certainly wasn’t dressed for the occasion, but eventually, he said, “All right. But you’ll have to be careful, Hope. I don’t want nothin’ to happen to you.”
Hope scoffed, thinking that was the understatement of the year. He’d all but said he couldn’t be around her because he seemed to be under the impression his mere existence was dangerous to women. “I’m sure I’ll be all right.”
She approached the tree, and he walked along with her. Once she made it to the rungs, she inspected them for a moment and then looked up to see there was no door, only a bit of a step from the last rung into the house itself. It didn’t look too difficult if she could get her foot up onto the first rung. But coming down would be trickier.
“I can give you a boost, if you’d like,” Judah offered.
Even standing right next to him made her breath catch in her throat, and she couldn’t imagine having his hands on her again, not after the last time when he’d kissed her in the moonlight. “Let me try,” she said, not looking into his eyes.
He stood back a bit, and Hope grabbed hold of a higher rung before attempting to swing her foot up to the lowest one. She couldn’t quite manage; it was just out of reach due to the way her skirt gathered. She put her boot back down and tried with the other leg but still couldn’t get there.
Judah cleared his throat, and she turned her head to look at him. A smile broke across his handsome face. “Fine,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him.
A chuckle escaped his lips as his hands came around her waist, and Hope let out a little gasp, not realizing his intentions. He lifted her right off of the ground high enough that she was easily able to place her foot on the first board. “You got it?” he asked, not yet letting her go.
“Yes,” was all she could manage considering how unusual, yet enticing, it felt to have both of his hands around her. He’d picked her up like she weighed no more than a small child, and when he released her, she hated how suddenly cold she felt.
After she found the first footing, the rest of the climb was easy enough. She tried not to think about the fact that he was right behind her and was either staring right at her bottom or potentially up her skirt. Thank goodness she’d worn her nice knickers. When she got to the top, she pushed down on the floor of the treehouse and raised her trunk up enough that she could sit on the floor and scoot out of the way, leaving room for Judah to finish his ascent. He took a large step right into the room, like it was nothing at all, and moved across the space to a wide window.
Hope needed to catch her breath. It wasn’t any more vigorous an activity than walking to school or climbing a flight of stairs, but her heart had been beating rapidly the entire time, and being close enough to Judah that she could smell that woodsy scent of his had emptied her lungs even without the trials of getting to the treehouse.
She turned and took in the room. There was another window across the way. Both of them had red curtains that caught the breeze. A small bed sat beneath the far window with a little table next to it, and nearer the center of the room was a cabinet. She thought it must be odd to keep one’s clothes outside and wondered if it served some other purpose or was just there to make it seem more like home. In front of the other window, where Judah was standing, pushed back in the corner, was a rocking chair. All of the furniture looked to be handmade, and she imagined he’d done it himself. So much for not being a carpenter.
“Do you need helping getting up?” he asked after giving her a moment to compose herself.
“I’m fine,” she assured him, reaching up to grab hold of one of the tree branches to pull herself to her feet. A glance at the opening reminded her she’d have to be careful when it was time to go back down. Reaching the first step would be a strain, and she wouldn’t be able to see the rung below her because of her skirt.
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