The Life and Afterlife of Charlie Brackwood (The Brackwood Series Book 1) (24 page)

"I remember that you escaped into a book every time things got too hard for you.  I remember watching your face screwed up in concentration as you desperately tried to think only about the story you were reading instead of the frightening reality, " I said, moving a step closer.

"I remember the look on your face the first time you read
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
.
"

She smiled and blushed and looked down at the floor, a bit embarrassed by my intensity.

"Why did you do this, Charlie?" she asked, when she was finally able to look me in the eye.

"I told you, you love books so − "

"No, not the library specifically. Why did you build me this beautiful treehouse? Why did you go to all this trouble?  I mean, it's amazing, it truly is, but it must've taken you weeks, not to mention the cost."

I turned to look at the photographs on the wall.  There was a large one in the centre of the display, a picture of me and Lucy in my old treehouse taken the day it was completed.  We had a blanket over our knees and were sitting on the floor. My arm was around her shoulders and we both grinned at the camera, our faces lit up with excitement and joy. We were so happy to be together.

"I wanted to keep you close by," I said, turning to face her. "That night I was called to the hospital − the night you tried to overdose − was the most frightening of my entire life." I swallowed a lump in my throat. "It felt like the sky was falling in.  As if there would be no tomorrow for me either if you died. I cannot explain to you the sheer grief involved when someone you love doesn't want to live anymore."

I saw tears forming in her green eyes once more.  I took her face in my hands and wiped away the tears with my thumbs.

"I have nothing to live for if you are not here," I whispered as I gazed down in to her upturned face.

I felt her cool hands on my face and my senses were heightened almost unbearably. I felt the soft flesh of her lips brush mine.  I opened my mouth and pressed my lips to hers with all the desperation of too many empty years.  Her arms went around me and our bodies slammed into something hard.  I realised that in our eagerness we had backed up against the bookshelves in the library.  She kissed me with an eagerness that made me dizzy and I tightened my grip on her waist.

Finally I broke away and started to kiss every inch of her face, I could taste the salty tears that had fallen moments ago.  My lips traced soft kisses down the length of her neck and behind her ears. She pressed her body so close to mine it was as if we were one.  She was breathing heavily, as was I, and soon we were both swept along in the excitement and passion of the moment.

"Well, that was one hell of a birthday present," Lucy whispered finally as she rested her forehead on mine.

"It will definitely be hard to top," I agreed.

"Does this feel strange to you... us together, I mean?"

I thought about that for a second.  "It feels right."

Lucy smiled up at me. "I think so too."

Suddenly her smile was gone to be replaced by a look of panic. "What time is it? I need to meet my mother."  She grabbed my arm and pulled my watch into view.  Her eyes widened.  "I’d better get home before there's more drama."

She pulled away from me hurriedly but I grabbed her by the waist and we shared another sweet, gentle kiss.

"I'll try and get away tonight. Leave the treehouse door unlocked," she said.

After she had left I sat down on one of the plump throw pillows.  I was on top of the world, the happiest I had ever been in years.  I couldn't believe such a beautiful, smart young woman would be interested in me. Even the sun seemed to shine more brightly, the birdsong appeared more cheerful. I felt a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders and couldn't keep the grin from my face.

After replaying the scene in the treehouse over and over in my head, I made my way back to my own house.  I was halfway across the garden when I saw a familiar face coming through the French doors of the kitchen.  I nodded hello with a puzzled expression on my face but my visitor did not answer my unspoken question.

"How did you get in?" I asked my former best friend.

"I saw Lucy on her way out, she pointed me in this direction...  told me to go easy on you.'"

"I didn't think you knew where I lived."

"Everybody in the village knows where you live, Charlie," Russ replied flatly, and looked back at the house over his shoulder. "Could you not have found a bigger one then?" he asked sarcastically, gesturing towards the large Edwardian building.

"I guess I like my space," I replied.

"Space big enough for two?" he asked bitterly.

"Well, thanks to you, Lucy is living at home... in misery, just so you know."

Russ narrowed his eyes and studied the treehouse that stood tall and imposing behind me.

"Why do I get the feeling I've walked in on something − an intimate moment perhaps?"

I placed my hands in my pockets and fixed my gaze on the ageing bricks of the house behind him.  "I don't know what you mean.”

"Who builds an extravagant, bloody expensive treehouse in the back garden of a house that’s already the size of Buckingham Palace? Because I'm guessing you don't really need the extra space."

I remained silent and continued my analysis of the brickwork.

"Oh, I get it."   Russ laughed bitterly.  "Yes, it all makes sense now," he said, raising his voice.  "Oh, how bloody romantic... rich boy only went and built his lover a treehouse.  How very noble." His voice dripped sarcasm.

"We're not lovers."

Russ shook his head angrily.  "I came here to make amends with you, to try and mend the rift between us, because God knows I've missed you, Charlie."  He looked genuinely upset at this point.  "But this is something I can't even begin to deal with, something I can't allow myself to think about."

"I'm sorry," I said, looking him in the eye for the first time.

"I guess Lucy’s made her choice," he said sadly before turning his back on me and walking away.

Chapter Twenty-two

I woke that night in the bedroom of the treehouse.  Something had disturbed me from my blissful slumber but I could not recall the sound.  Blackness enveloped me.  All I could see were the stars directly above through the bedroom skylight.  An owl screeched loudly in the distance. Maybe that was what had woken me.

I felt the duvet move and then a slim arm curled around me.  I could smell the familiar coconut shampoo I always associated with Lucy.  I turned and swiftly held her against me, enjoying the feel of her soft skin on mine.

"Any dramas?" I whispered into her hair.

"Relatively drama-free but I'm currently a jail break.  They nobody knows I'm gone, they think I'm asleep in my room," she whispered.

I held her face and kissed her passionately. She kissed me back while rolling on top of me, her kisses getting deeper and more desperate.  After a while we both fell silent, consumed in our thoughts and overwhelmed by the moment.  I switched on the bedside light so I could see every changing expression on her face.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"How long have you had feelings for me?" she whispered.  “Unless this is just a fling?  In which case − "

I cut her off by pressing my lips to hers and the tension in her face and neck instantly eased.

"I’ve always cared about you but I suppose over the years my feelings towards you changed."

"Just how intense are those feelings?" she asked curiously.

"Pretty intense."

She narrowed her eyes, clearly not satisfied by my answer.

"But... say on a scale of one to ten, how − "

"I'm in love with you, Lucy. Is that intense enough for you?"

I felt her kiss my forehead and then a trail of soft kisses until she reached my earlobe. "I love you too," she whispered.

We lay in silence for a while and I stared up at the stars in the sky, feeling like the luckiest man alive.  I breathed in her scent and felt the warmth radiating from her body.  I was in a haze of bliss and didn't want to wake up from this dream that had consumed my thoughts for so long.  Lucy's breathing started to get heavy and I pulled her tighter in my arms while I listened to her soft breaths.

Something caught my eye, something fast-moving and bright in the black sky overhead.  Another appeared and one more followed straight after it.  I looked down at Lucy, who was still sleeping soundly, and woke her with a kiss.

"The universe is putting on a show for us," I whispered.

She looked up and gasped. "Shooting stars," she exclaimed, and her eyes lit up.

"Make a wish."

I watched as she closed her eyes, her mouth curved in a smile.  After a minute she opened them again.

"What did you wish for?" I asked.

"I can't tell you or it won't come true," she said, poking my ribs playfully.

I grabbed her hands and pulled her towards me again, placing my hands on her bare back underneath her pyjama top.

"Did you make a wish?" she asked as she placed a soft kiss on my nose.

"I already have everything I want," I answered smugly.

"Yes, you do... Mr Mansion."

Lucy laughed heartily at her little joke but then stopped when I didn’t join in.

"I could have all the money in the world and it wouldn't even come close to the happiness I feel when I'm with you," I told her.

"Even when I'm asleep?" she joked.

"Yes," I said, sweeping a strand of dark hair from her eyes. "Even when you're dreaming."

The next morning I awoke from a blissful, dreamless sleep with Lucy curled in my arms.  We had drifted off like this and I had held her tightly against me throughout the night, too afraid of losing her again to loosen my grip.  I watched her for a few minutes.  She looked so vulnerable and exposed.  The lines that often creased her forehead with worry were now invisible and I could clearly see the young girl she had once been in her serene expression.  I could feel her ribcage rise and fall as she breathed deeply, and her thick eyelashes fluttered as she lived out her dreams.

At the time it was strange to me to think that for eight hours of the day my love spent her time in a different world from me.  Did she dream of me there?  What were her green eyes seeing when we were apart? I wondered.

Sometimes she would share her dreams with me and at others I was left in ignorance.  Our time apart while our bodies were still wrapped around each other’s was something I was forced to accept.  Now, I’d do anything to return to those days, the ones when eight hours apart seemed too long.  I’d tell myself to cherish every moment, every embrace, every dream, every breath.

I carefully detached myself from Lucy’s embrace before making my way to the kitchen area.  I didn’t know what she would like for breakfast so I’d ended up buying all of her favourite food the evening before.  I laid the table on the terrace with French pastries, fruit and cereals, and then began to make pancakes while happily humming to myself. 

I saw Lucy begin to stir out of the corner of my eye.

“Hi,” she said groggily as she sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes.

“Morning, Sleepy Head,” I said as I flipped a pancake.

She walked over to me and I held her tightly for a moment, letting the warmth of her body seep into my own.  The intense loneliness I had been feeling had melted away completely and for the first time in a long while I allowed myself to feel happy.

“Go ahead and sit out on the terrace, I’ll bring your breakfast through in a minute.”

Lucy smiled at me and slid the glass door open.  The sound of birdsong was deafening up here.  It filled the treehouse with an upbeat chorus that seemed to be exclusively reserved for the summer months.

As I stepped on to the small terrace the scent of sweet peas hit me and I was reminded of the time I’d spent planting Lucy’s favourite flowers in the colourful pots and hanging baskets scattered around the small space.  This treehouse truly was the best I’d ever built.  I placed a plate full of pancakes on the table in front of Lucy.

“You even put Nutella on them for me!” she exclaimed.

“Of course.”  I shrugged.

“How do you know me so well?”

“It’s pretty simple... I’ve been watching you for years.”

“Watching me?”

“Yeah, the little things you do, or else trying to work out what you’re thinking.” I saw her confusion.  “We’re childhood friends, I think I know you pretty well.”

“I’d say there are still things you don’t know about me.”  She smirked.

“Well, I guess I’ll enjoy finding out what they are.”

We ate our breakfast with the sun shining on our faces and without a sign of human activity in proximity.  The view from the treehouse was truly spectacular but the best sight was in front of me.  Lucy, in her pyjamas and with scruffy hair, eating my pancakes.  Life didn’t get any better, in my opinion. 

“I saw Russ yesterday as I left the house,” she said tentatively.

I nodded and averted my eyes.  I still felt uneasy about the way things were with Russ.

“What did he want?”

I took a gulp of orange juice and considered my answer.

“He came to express his opinion on our relationship… mine and yours.”

“And?”

“He’s not happy about us being together.”

“Why?”

I looked down at my glass of orange juice and tried to think of a reply.  I couldn’t tell Lucy about Russ’s feelings for her, that was up to him.  I couldn’t give away his secret.  I still felt I owed him some loyalty, even if he didn’t want to know me any more.

“I think he’s afraid that our friendship will be awkward now the two of us are together. That he’ll be a third wheel or something.”

“But that’s ridiculous,” Lucy exclaimed.

“I think he’s afraid that if something goes wrong with our relationship, then the friendship between the three of us will change too.”

I knew this statement couldn’t be further from the truth.  I knew that Russ was likely counting on there being a strain in our relationship so that he could swoop in and take Lucy away from me.  But I needed to protect her from the truth.  I didn’t want her to blame herself for the end of my friendship with him.

“I might go and speak to him... see how he is,” she told me.

I nodded and told her that I thought it was a good idea.  I knew Russ would never reveal the true reason for the rift in our friendship.  He was in love with Lucy but his biggest fear was that she would find out how he truly felt about her.  I had expected her to want to fix things between me and Russ, her caring personality was why I loved her and I guessed it was the same reason Russ loved her too.

In the weeks that followed, unknown to her parents, Lucy would spend her nights in the treehouse.  She would join me at eleven o’clock every night and we’d fall asleep entwined in a gentle embrace.  It was always my favourite time of day.

One day Lucy’s dad found an empty bed when he went to check on her and consequently told her mother.  When Lucy returned home she was faced with a very angry woman who demanded to know where she’d been.  Lucy explained that she had been spending her nights with me for months and that she planned to move in with me. Her mother didn’t put up a fight.  In fact, she practically packed Lucy’s bags for her.

That night Lucy officially came to live with me and it was pure happiness for both of us.  We spent our evenings together, we cooked together, we completed the morning crossword together, and just when we didn’t think life could get any better, Lucy landed her dream career.  She was ecstatic to find a local job in conservation, not too far from the village.  We were overjoyed that we could stay in our beloved home and continue to live in the house we were still renovating.

Lucy’s job involved the reduction of water pollution in streams and rivers by farmland across the Yorkshire Dales.  It was a subject she was passionate about and she took her job very seriously.  She knew that aquatic life in rivers and streams around the Dales was dwindling due to pollution from pesticides used on farms, and felt a sense of pride in knowing that she was helping to protect local wildlife.

Our lives couldn’t be any better.  My business was doing extremely well and it had even won a few local awards.  News of my treehouses spread far and wide after that and I became inundated with requests.  I would always ensure that I made time for Lucy, however, and weekends were always an adventure for us.  We would switch our phones off and go hiking up hills and fells in all weathers.  Lucy would take her camera and we would search for the most perfect view.  We talked about the future, our plans for the house, perhaps we would be getting a dog, but mainly we talked about our wedding day and the possibility of having children.

Those days were the happiest of my life and I yearned to have them back.  I would do anything to return to happier times.  Surely there something I could do.  Surely even death would not stand in the way of true love.